LUKE 23: 1–5-7
JESUS BEFORE PILATE [JESUS’ LAST DAY SERIES]
[Mark 15:1–5; Mt. 5:10-12]
Jesus’ last day begins with Him being rejected and condemned by the Jewish ruling counsel and then being hauled before Pilate. The irony of their judgement is that Jesus will be crucified for being who He is. Who is Jesus? The answer came from His own lips (22:71) and is clearly understood by the Sanhedrin. Yet He is more than “the Christ.” He is “the Son of Man” who will share divine rule (22:69). And He is even more. He is the very Son of God Himself.
The trials on Jesus’ last earthly day picture the religious and political world’s rejection of Jesus and His claims. He came unto His own and they did not receive Him. Sin’s blindness leads to Jesus’ dying because of who He is, God in human flesh. Though Pilate may believe that Jesus is innocent of the charges brought against Him, he cannot rid himself of his responsibility to take sides. Neither can we. Do we rejected Him as being our Messiah as the Jewish council, Pilate and Herod did, or will we bow before Him as our Lord and God as His disciples did?
[The sequence of events which occurred during the last hours of Jesus’ earthy life and ministry may be arranged as follows: (1) the Last Supper (vv. 17–20); (2) Gethsemane (vv. 39–46); (3) the betrayal and arrest(vv. 47- 53); (4) the preliminary trial in the house of Annas (John 18:19–23); (5) the illegal Sanhedrin trial (Mt. 26:57–68; Mk 14:53-55); (6) the morning Sanhedrin trial (vv. 66–71); [See my ‘Jesus’ Last Night’ Series] (7) the first appearance before Pilate (Lk. 23:1-7; John 18:28–38); (8) the referral to Herod (23:6–12); (9) the second appearance before Pilate (23:13–25); (10) the scourging and mockery (Mt. 27:26); and (11) the crucifixion (23:26–33).]
I. THE SANHEDRIN’S TREACHERY, 1-2.
II. PILATE’S ASSESSMENT, 3-4.
III. THE SANHEDRIN’S DETERMINATION, 5.
Verse 1 links the Jewish and Roman trials. “Then the whole company of them arose and brought Him before Pilate.”
Pilate, the Roman governor (procurator) of the province of Palestine from A.D. 26–36, was in Jerusalem for the Passover feast. His name appears in an inscription found in 1961 at Caesarea, his official residence. Caesarea was a large, magnificent city boasting Roman culture, where Pilate would no doubt have preferred to be at the time of Jesus’ trial, were it not the Passover season, when special precautions were needed in Jerusalem against civil disturbances.
The “whole assembly” is the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin brings Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, because only imperial authorities could impose the death sentence (Jn. 18:31).
After manipulating the Jewish high court, its leaders waste no time bringing Jesus before the Roman court authority.
In verse 2 the religious leaders make three charges against Jesus. ‘And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a king.”
On arriving before Pilate, governor of Judea (3:1; 13:1), the Jewish authorities charge Jesus falsely. “This man” is emphatic and derogatory. The charges brought by the Sanhedrin against Jesus were transferred from the religious grounds for which they condemned Jesus to political ones for which Pilate might condemn Him. A Roman governor would not listen to ‘questions about words and names and your own [Jewish] law’ (Acts 18:14–15), nor sentence a man to death merely on the basis of a theological issue, so the Jews had to furnish trumped-up charges that Rome would condemn.
The Sanhedrin’s accusation contains three distinct charges. The first, subverting the Jewish nation, would have been of concern to Pilate, who wanted no internal strife among the Jewish people. But it was not a matter for Roman jurisprudence. The second, the opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and third, claiming to be king, were more potent. Luke has already shown (20:20–26) that the second charge was untrue. Had Jesus forbidden His followers to pay taxes? No. He did just the opposite (Matthew 22:21).
The third one, worded to sound as if Jesus was an insurrectionist, became the key issue. The title Christ, or Messiah, was deliberately used to imply to Pilate that Jesus was a political activist or rebel. The word “king,” put in apposition to Messiah, implies a threat of sedition against Roman sovereignty to the point where Pilate would have to take action. [In v. 5 the Sanhedrin summarized all this by insisting that Jesus was guilty of sedition.] The Sanhedrin wanted the Roman governor to believe that Jesus is a political rival and threat to Caesar’s authority. Jesus though did nothing to encourage seditious action. He did nothing to advocate governmental change. His kingdom is far above and beyond the kingdoms of this world. His glory is to be realized at the time of the Fathers good pleasure. [Butler, Trent. Luke. Holman NT Com. Nashville. 2000. P 388.]
You may not have intentionally been hurting anyone yet have been accused of hurting others. Take heart by remembering that it happened to Jesus also. If they misrepresented Jesus, it could also happen to us (Mt. 5:10-12; Jn 16:33).
II. PILATE’S ASSESSMENT, 3-4.
Pilate hears the accusations, and senses the great hostility of the Jewish leaders, but before things proceed further he himself needs to ask Jesus questions. Ignoring the first two Jewish accusations, in verse 3 Pilate focuses in on the third. ‘And Pilate asked Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “You have said so.”
In Pilate’s blunt question, the word “you” (su) comes first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. When Pilate asked Jesus if He claimed to be a king. Jesus’ responds asks Pilate to decide for himself if He is. Jesus’ answer, like His replies in the Jewish trial (22:66–71), implies a positive answer and at the same time returns the issue to Pilate. Jesus gives a somewhat cryptic answer, because obviously Pilate didn’t understand the meaning of Jesus’ kingship any more than the Sanhedrin did. [Jesus’ answer (su legeis, “you say”) is the same in all three Synoptics as is the title “King of the Jews” because of it’s messianic implications.]
In verse 4, Pilate, in his official position of authority and justice, pronounces the faultlessness of Jesus. ‘Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”’
Despite the Jewish leaders’ heated accusations, Pilate exonerates Jesus. The trial should have ended right there, but the Jewish authorities insisted on pursuing it, and in effect lodged an appeal against Pilate’s verdict. [Parallel accounts appear in the other three Gospels (Matt 27:11–14; Mark 15:1–5; John 18:28–38).] Pilate would have questioned Jesus closely before reaching his verdict that there were no grounds for a political charge against him.
Several times Pilate pronounced his verdict, “I find no fault in this man” (vv. 4, 14–15, 22).
Luke is the only Gospel that has Pilate’s declaration of Jesus’ innocence. Presumably the source containing that statement was not available to Mark or Matthew, for they would certainly have wanted to make that point.
III. THE SANHEDRIN’S DETERMINATION, 5.
Verse 5 reveals that the insistent Jewish leaders grew angry and actually intimidated Pilate (Jn 19:12). ‘But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
“They,” meaning the whole counsel, are vehemently urging that Jesus be put to death as they adapt their first charge against Jesus. The response from the Sanhedrin is clever. It implies seditious actions by saying that “the people” are being stirred up by Jesus’ (unspecified) teaching. [Walter L. Liefeld, “Luke,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 1039–1040.]
From Galilee (Act 5:37) to Jerusalem presents the extent of His ministry or a far ranging charge of sedition. Now Galilee was not under Pilate’s direct jurisdiction which he will attempt to use as a way out of this malicious situation as we will see next time.
IN CLOSING
Jesus is innocent and was wrongly put to death. The Roman governor himself declared it. This declaration of innocence will be repeat at least two more times by Pilate (vv.14 & 22). Jesus’ criminal innocence is quite evident in the accusations against Him. If justice had prevailed, Jesus would have been released. But He is not treated with justice. Sinful humanity vehemently rejects Him in order to have their own way no matter how unjust it is.
Albert Einstein said, “As a child I received instructions both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene . . . No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”
In our passage Jesus once again affirms or confesses that He is the Messiah, King of the Jews. He even bids Pilate, as He had just bidden the Sanhedrin, to acknowledge and confess it. But not only does He ask them that rendered judgement upon Him that day. He asks us each to examine Him and reach our own verdict also. Is He a seditious insurrectionist, or the long awaited Messiah who comes to take away the sins of the world? What say you?
CLOSING PRAYER: Almighty Son of God, I bow before You because You are awesome and worthy of all the praise. You are the great I AM. You are faithful to Your promises and will defeat my enemies, though numerous and powerful.
We will not be discouraged because we walk in Your divine presence. We will live in Your strength and courage, for You are our God. We have faith in You and Your word because we believe that Your word never fails. We thank You for the many promises You have spoken over our lives, and we place our trust in You. Loving Lord, You are our confidence and blessed assurance. You are the Rock of our salvation and the strength of our lives. Thank You, that Your promises are sure and that Your grace is sufficient for all our needs. Our hope rests in You for You are our faithful Shepherd & the Song that rejoices our heart. Amen.
OPENING PRAYER: Lord, You are the God of hope and joy in Whom we stand secure. Give us a spirit of devotion that worships only You so that we may be a worthy witness that points to Jesus, for in Him is all peace and love and comfort and rest and hope and joy and love. Lord, You have promised to guide all Your children in all truth. Teach us Your truth of abiding in You and trusting in Your Word. We place our trust in You, Lord Jesus, who taught us to pray:
