Introduction
We continue along the road that for Jesus has been a travesty of justice and friendship. First, Jesus, the Messiah of the Jews, is conspired against by their leaders. Judas, one of his disciples, sells his loyalty to the conspirators. The rest of the disciples abandon him at his arrest. None stood beside him during his time of wrestling in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. A fraudulent trial is held by the Sanhedrin to condemn him. Peter, who is the most loyal and devoted of the disciples, denies him. And now this road of disgrace continues.
Text
Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
I mentioned when in the text that covers the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus, that though verse 64 speaks of the leaders condemning him, it would not be until later when they issued the official verdict of guilty. One of their tasks to take care of was to come up with the appropriate accusation to then take to the Roman governor, Pilate.
We need to take time now for an overview of the Roman involvement in this case. For a nation bent on conquer and world domination, Rome was a fairly enlightened and tolerant country. For the most part, it allowed the conquered countries a fair amount of autonomy. Kings and local rulers could continue to govern their countries and territories to a certain extent, provided they were loyal to Rome and ruled tolerably well. Herod the Great was a case in point. He ruled Israel for forty years almost as an autonomous king. After his death in 4 B.C., his territory was divided three ways by the Emperor Augustus as a compromise to satisfy Herod’s three bickering sons. Archelaus’ territory included Judea, where Jerusalem is located. Archelaus was so ruthless a ruler that both the Jews and Samaritans (who hated one another) went together to Rome and complained to the Emperor. He then deposed Archelaus, but instead of giving the territory to one of the brothers, the Emperor placed a Roman official, called a prefect or procurator, in charge.
Israel, and particularly the territory of Judea, was a difficult land to manage. Think how Muslim extremists despise American infidels for being stationed on the “holy” land of Saudi Arabia. This was how the Jewish people felt about Roman occupation. We think the Jews despised the Romans over the issue of freedom. The Jews had relative freedom, as much as anyone else. It was not lack of freedom that embittered them, but the blasphemous condition of pagans occupying and ruling the chosen people of God in his own territory. There were many uprisings in the land, and almost all of them had something to do with this issue. Early in his reign, Archelaus suppressed an uprising that resulted in 3,000 deaths. What caused the uprising? The Romans had placed their eagle insignia on the Temple gate, which was subsequently cut down. Herod had the men killed who cut it down, which sometime later led to the uprising.
The Emperor wanted a Roman official who be both loyal and capable of wise governing. For a prefect, this assignment was probably the worse that one could be assigned to because of what was mentioned above. Besides, Judea was “Nowheresville,” as far from Rome as one did not want to be. Pilate was assigned to this position in 26 A.D., twenty years after Archelaus and about the time that Jesus would have begun his ministry in Galilee. Pilate’s headquarters was not in Jerusalem, but Caesarea, sixty-five miles NW of Jerusalem on the coast. Pilate traveled to Jerusalem only on feast days, to keep close watch over the festivities which were ripe times for fomenting revolt.
Where now does the Prefect or Procurator Pilate fit in with the trial of Jesus? The Sanhedrin did have authority to hold its own trials and for the most part render its own punishments. What it could not do, however, was execute a condemned man. For that, a decision must be rendered by the Roman authority, in this case Pilate. As prefect, Pilate served as judge and jury. Though he may have counselors, he alone decided a case, which was on ongoing responsibility.
Now, let’s consider Pilate himself. He does not make the lists of “Best Roman Prefects.” Josephus, an historian in the same century, reported an incident that displayed Pilate’s brutality and general lack of common sense. He robbed money from the Temple treasury to pay for an aqueduct system. A crowd gathered to protest this action. Pilate sent in undercover Roman soldiers to mingle among the crowd, and then at signal, to bludgeon and massacre the people. Luke passes on a report (13:1) of an incident in which Pilate had Galilean worshippers massacred and their blood then mingled with the blood of the animals they were taking to the Temple to sacrifice. Philo, a Jewish philosopher of the first century listed his complaints of Pilate’s rule: the briberies, the insults, the robberies, the outrages and wanton injuries, the executions without trial constantly repeated, the ceaseless and supremely grievous cruelty.” Finally, the governor of Syria took action and had Pilate removed from office.
The only thing Jesus had going for him was that Pilate despised the Jewish leaders. Pilate is not a man of integrity worried over condemning an innocent Jew; but he hated the idea of the Jewish leaders using him to carry out their personal agenda and certainly suspected their intentions, not only in regard to Jesus but to him. So, what does Pilate do?
2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
This is one time we want to say to Mark, “A little more detail please.” Pilate asks Jesus his question because this is the case that the Sanhedrin is bring against him. They have condemned Jesus for blasphemy; Rome and Pilate could care less; to get their way they needed Jesus to be charged with treason. Their charge, by the way, fits in with their own concerns. Jesus has confessed to believing he is the Messiah. The Messiah is by definition the king of the Jews.
The NIV records Jesus has saying, “Yes, it is as you say.” Literally, Jesus says, “You say.” That’s what you say. The NIV translators are taking into account the local idiom and that this is most likely a way of affirming what Pilate says. But I think Jesus intentionally gives an ambiguous response so that he neither denies what in one sense a true statement, nor affirms clearly a title that would be misconstrued on the other hand. What Jesus means by king and Pilate means are two different things, which John more clearly brings out in his gospel. If Jesus really had clearly affirmed that he was king of the Jews, the trial would have ended at that moment and he sent on his way to the cross.
Instead, he accusers are compelled to push their case. We know from Luke 23:2 a couple of the other accusations: subverting the nation (i.e. causing unrest) and opposing the giving of taxes to Caesar (an outright lie).
Following the same pattern as before the Sanhedrin, Jesus remains silent before his accusers, which astonishes Pilate. The most powerful (and dangerous) leaders of the nation are presenting accusations that call for execution, and Jesus says nothing. I think there is more behind just the matter that Jesus keeps quiet. A defeated man will do the same thing. This type of incident is not new to Pilate. He is not a novice at dealing with serious charges and with victims. There is something in Jesus’ composure that astonishes him. Again, we see this more in John’s record:
“Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 18:9-11).
Jesus is neither defeated nor frightened. If anything, it is Pilate who increasingly is becoming agitated. Pilate has never met a man like Jesus. I think Pilate does want to find a way to let Jesus go, if only for the opportunity to irritate the Jewish leaders, but the accusations cannot be so easily dismissed since they portray Jesus as an enemy of Rome. Then another situation comes to his rescue.
6 Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
This was not a common practice, but neither was it unheard of that a Roman official would condemn or release a man to appease a crowd. Surely in a place like Jerusalem, such an act of benevolence would be considered a politically astute thing to do. So Pilate sees his opportunity. 9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
What are the leaders envious of? Jesus’ popularity with the people. Surely, when they learn of Jesus’ arrest, they will be thrilled with his arrest, and Pilate, for a change, will be the good guy. And by pitting Jesus against an insurrectionist like Barabbas, he dodges the charge that he is not protecting Rome. Whatever the leaders may accuse Jesus of, the clear fact is that Barabbas has actually committed violence whereas Jesus has done nothing. Sure, Jesus got away, but not the worse man guilty of treason.
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
What happened? It is one thing for the leaders who had conspired against Jesus to be hostile; what’s with the crowd? The people love Jesus. How could they have turned on him? Mark says that the chief priests stirred up the crowd. But still, how were they able to that considering that a few days before they were afraid of the crowd’s reaction if it were found out they had arrested Jesus? It is not too difficult to figure out. Who is in the crowd? It would be surprising if many were not friends of Barabbas and secret insurrectionists themselves. This, anyway, is not a crowd who has come to release Jesus. No one knows that he is on trial. While Pilate is inside his house trying Jesus, the leaders are on the outside. They would have met the party coming first, and had time to tell of Jesus’ supposed blasphemous remarks before the Sanhedrin. With their own sympathizers in place, it would not have been too difficult to manipulate a crowd into mob-like activity.
Why does Pilate give in? He can’t go back on his word in front of the crowd. He did offer them a choice. Isn’t he afraid of Rome’s reaction to releasing Barabbas? Perhaps, but John gives a fuller report of all that was said. Consider this exchange: Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12). That finalized the decision. 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd [Wanting to save his hide.], Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Lessons
So Pilate handed Jesus over to his soldiers to be crucified. Jesus keeps passing through hands. Judas handed him over to the arrest party, who handed him over to the Sanhedrin, who then handed him over to Pilate. One more pass to make. You might say that Pilate tried to hand Jesus over to the crowd, but they refused him. Jesus seems nothing more than a tainted object that everyone is trying to dispose of. They just want him off their hands. But do you recall Jesus’ last words on the cross? Luke records them (23:26): Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
I want you to remember that. The passion of Jesus, as terrible as it was, is not like one of Shakespeare’s tragedies in which the main character is plunged into ruin because of either some character defect or forces beyond his control. The passion of Jesus is happening precisely because Jesus is perfect and in perfect control. All this handing over is going according to script.
33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law (check). They will condemn him to death (check) and will hand him over to the Gentiles (check), 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.
Jesus told his disciples of what was to come to restore their faith. Keep his words always before you when you read of his passion. Keep before you that he is going through this parody of justice to make you just before God; that he has consented to be handed over to evil men that you might be committed into the hands of God. Keep before you that he gladly descends into this valley of humiliation that he may be raised to glory and bring you to be with him.
And when you go through your trials, remember in whose hands you are. Though it may seem that you are being handed over to your enemies, you are always in the hands of your Father, for his Son has handed you over to him, and no one, no one can snatch you out of his hands. And to you who think you hold him in your hands. You think that you have the power to take him or discard him at your will. You have only what power is given you to serve his purpose. What role will you play – to embrace him as Lord and Savior or to pass him off as a fraud? He will be who he is – the Lord God – and he will have you in his hands. Choose life that you may be under the protection of his hands. To pass him off is to pass your life away.
