Acquitted (Pontius Pilate: Part 1)

Series: The Last Day of Jesus’ Life

Introduction: This morning we continue our study in the last day of Jesus’ life. We have gone from the Garden of Gethsemane, to the homes of Annas and Caiaphas, and last month we followed Jesus to the Sanhedrin. This morning the story picks up at the seat of power in Jerusalem, the Praetorium, where ruled the Roman Prefect over Judea, Pontius Pilate.

Among baby names for boys with Roman origins, “Pilate” has failed to catch on, much like Ahab, or Cain, and likely for the same reason. Pontius Pilate is synonymous with indecision, passing the buck, weakness, and cowardice.

*Show Picture of Pilate played by Andrew James Allen*

But at our point in today’s story, Pilate hasn’t demonstrated those qualities yet.

This morning I’d like to focus on three aspects of Jesus’ first interaction with Pilate, using the three main texts that describe Jesus’ first encounter with the Roman ruler.

Title Slide: As we move through this today I’d like us to consider how Jesus was acquitted of the crimes for which He was accused, and confirmed to be the very Messiah that the Jews refused, but Rome, Judea, and the world needed.

Rome & Pontius Pilate (Matt. 27.11-14)

Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea

First ref. in Luke 3:1 in the time stamp given for the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,”

There are several historical references to Pilate, who ruled as Prefect of Judea between 26-36 AD.

Josephus records two incidents in his Antiquities of the Jews:

Pilate brought effigies (statues) bearing the image of Tiberius Caesar into the city of Jerusalem, which to the Jews were seen as “graven images” of a false god, which was forbidden in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20.3-4). The Jews strongly objected to this, even to the point that when Pilate ordered his soldiers to have the protesting mob dismissed under pain of death, the Jews “threw themselves on the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said that they would take their death very willingly, rather than the wisdom of their laws should be transgressed” (Antiq. 18.3.1) In this case, Pilate relented, and brought the images back to Caesarea Philippi.

In another incident, Pilate “took funds from the Temple’s sacred treasury to build aqueducts. (Something he probably had Sadducean support when he did, as Pilate had authority to appoint the High Priest - K.S.) When Pilate visited Jerusalem, his actions caused uproar among the Jews. He mixed his own soldiers into the crowd disguised as civilians. At his signal, they beat the protestors with clubs. Many Jews died from the beatings or were trampled by the crowd. (Josephus, Jewish War 2.9.4 §175–77; Antiquities 18.3.2 §§60–62).

Philo (Leg. to Caius, 299–305) describes an incident where Pilate, in an attempt to honor the Emperor Tiberius, placed shields bearing the emperor’s name in the former palace of Herod in Jerusalem. By placing the shields in the headquarters of the Roman administration, not the temple, Pilate was attempting not to offend the Jews (Bond, Pontius Pilate, 36–48; Thatcher, “Philo on Pilate”, 215–18). However, the leading Jews, along with four of Herod’s sons, requested that Pilate remove the shields. When he refused, they appealed to Emperor Tiberius by letter. Tiberius was infuriated and ordered Pilate to remove the shields and place them at the temple of Augustus at Caesarea. (Michael Brandon Massey, “Pontius Pilate,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Lastly, and possibly in reference to one of the above events, Luke 13:1 records a notorious interaction of Pilate with the Jews: “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” Apparently, either one of the events we’ve described already or an additional event occured during one of the Jewish feast days.

This helps us understand the context of Jesus’ interaction with Pilate. Pilate openly hated the Jews. The Jews felt likewise. Pilate’s position as Roman Prefect over Judea is tenuous at best, since Tiberius isn’t too happy with him.

The last thing Pilate needs the morning Jesus is brought before him is another uproar, and another “incident”.

The Text: A Strange Scene

Let’s look specifically at Matthew 27.11-14, which is the shortest of the accounts of this event. (and Mark 15 gives almost exactly the same account)

Jesus is brought in to Pilate, and asked by Pilate whether he’s the “King of the Jews”. (a ludicrous notion: The Jews “have no king but Caesar” - John 19.15)

Jesus indicates that Pilate is correct. (Exactly the same answer Jesus gave to the Jews to the question of whether HE was the Christ, the Son of God, in Matt. 26.64: “You have said so.”)

The Jewish elite accuse Jesus of many things, to which Jesus says nothing.

Pilate is incredulous: “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?”

All this resulted in Pilate’s being “greatly amazed”. Why?

This Jewish man, accused of “kingship” by fellow Jews, very clearly wasn’t having a successful ascension to his “throne”. This man had clearly been beaten and abused all night. His clothes and hair are matted with blood, he’s cut and bruised all over. To claim “King over the Jews” doesn’t seem to be going over well with the Jews!

On top of that, to claim “kingship” was laughably unwise, and a capital offense, but that this bound and beaten Jew would do so was even more laughable.

Locally, PILATE HIMSELF was “king of the Jews”, since in the Roman system prefects served the role formerly held by client kings. Nearby, HEROD ANTIPAS was “king of the Jews”, having inherited the tetrarchy of Galilee & Peraea from his father, Herod the Great. Globally, TIBERIUS CAESAR was “king of the Jews”. Tiberius was Emperor over the Roman Empire, who ruled over the entirety of the Jewish people.

Furthermore, to this charge of claiming to be king, this strange man refuses to 1. Defend Himself, 2. Beg Pilate for mercy, or 3. Resist or Answer His accusers in any way.

To say this was strange was an understatement, and yet the strangeness of this situation was precisely what God said would happen in regard to His servant.

Isaiah 52:13–15 “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.”

Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

Application: Strangeness points to the truth of the text.

Ever heard the phrase “Truth is Stranger than Fiction.” The phrase comes from a poem by Lord Byron, entitled “Don Juan” ‘ Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction; if it could be told”

The strangeness of this account only adds to its truthfulness. No one would make this up as the origin story for the leader of any religion, much less the Savior of the world.

Furthermore, this account is NOT how someone making this up would portray the Messiah, the man who rules the world in far greater fashion than even the Roman Caesar.

This interaction is yet another example of God using that which is “weak” confound the strong, that which is “foolish” to confuse the wise: 1 Corinthians 1:27–29 “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

Transition (add in the Jews to the picture): Matthew’s brief text leaves us with a couple of important questions: What specifically did the Jews accuse Jesus before Pilate? What did Pilate decide in regard to Jesus in this moment? For that, we’ll have to read Luke’s account of the incident: Luke 23.1-5 As we do so, we will consider the Jewish perspective on the interaction.

Luke 23.1-5: The Jews & Pontius Pilate

Three Jewish Accusations Against Jesus

First, Jesus was “misleading our nation”.

This charge is re-worded by Pilate in v.14: “misleading the people”

The Jews would bring the same charge against Paul and Silas in Acts 17:6–7 “And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.””

In short, Jesus was upsetting the “natural order” of things. He was a “change agent”, rocking the boat, someone that would bring unwanted attention and scrutiny to Pilate.

***However, don’t miss this: One cannot “mislead” unless they are LEADING!*** I love this: The Jewish LEADERS implicitly admit that JESUS is leading their nation!

Second, Jesus was “forbidding tribute to Caesar”

This is a blatant lie: Jesus never forbade any such thing. This is a deliberate twisting of Jesus’ response to the Jewish leaders OWN questioning of whether they should pay tribute to Caesar, or not.

Luke 20:21–25 “So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.””

To even ask this question is nigh unto treason, in Roman eyes.

In that passage, Jesus actually defends paying tribute to Caesar. But then again, the Jews never let the truth get in the way of their case against Jesus.

Third, Jesus was “saying that He Himself is Christ, a king”

Here we get a little necessary nugget of clarification for Pilate, who would have probably not had the slightest clue what the word in Gk. “Christ” or in Heb. “Messiah” would have meant.

The Jewish leaders provide Pilate with a one-word summary of what that meant: “king”, a title that was sure to get his attention, and hopefully draw his ire against Jesus.

As wrong as they were in regard to Jesus, they got this part right. Being the Messiah was exactly the notion of being God’s anointed one, His king. 2 Samuel 7:12 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” Daniel 7:14 “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” Psalm 2:6 ““As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.””

Pilate’s Initial Judgment: “I find no guilt in this man”

This is the first of Pilate’s three declarations of Jesus’ innocence in Luke’s gospel. (Luke 23.14-15, 22)

But it does make you think about why Pilate declared Jesus’ innocent. Why did Pilate acquit Jesus?

Jesus was not a credible threat as king. No army, no territory, no defrauding the Romans of tax $$, and no power. This man is perhaps insane, but harmless. Achish, king of Gath, once dismissed David himself on the premise that he was a madman (1 Sam. 21.12-15).

The Jewish accusations weren’t credible. Pilate repeatedly states Jesus’ innocence. That’s a strange thing for a Jew-hating Roman prefect to do for someone as “meaningless” as Jesus appeared to be. Perhaps Pilate saw this for what it was: A Witch hunt, and preferred to irritate and frustrate the Jewish leaders rather than bend to their will, at least at this point in the story.

This wasn’t worth his time. In John 18.31; Pilate ordered the Jews to judge Jesus by their own law, and in Luke 23.6 as soon as he learns of Jesus’ connection to Galilee immediately ships Him off to Herod Antipas. Plus, John 18.28 indicates that this happened during “early morning”. Who wants to deal with these insufferable Jews and their endless squabbles first thing in the morning?

Whatever the reason was, little does Pilate realize that the role he has been cast to play in the story of Jesus is the official herald of Jesus’ innocence.

Application: Jesus was truly innocent.

Jesus once challenged the Jews “Which one of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8.46)

To the Jews who were unable to do so, we can add the name of the Roman ruler Pontius Pilate.

This is of course in keeping with prophecies concerning the Messiah: Isaiah 53:9 “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

Hebrews 7:26 “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”

If Jesus was supremely innocent, ultimately innocent, perfectly innocent, then Jesus of Nazareth was and is the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world!

Can any of us truthfully claim innocence not from one sin, but from all of them? Ever?

How many of us are willing to stand before God in Judgment and rest on our own perfection as reason for access into the presence of God?

Friends and brethren, the truth is that we are not innocent. That’s why we require the intercession of the One Who Was Innocent.

Romans 8:33–34 “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

John 18.28-38: Jesus & Pontius Pilate

Gnats & Camels: How the Jews confirmed Jesus’ teaching as true. (John 18.28-31)

Jesus once said about the scribes & Pharisees in Matthew 23:23–24 ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”

In our final text of the morning, let’s see how they did exactly this in their interaction with Pilate.

First, “They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover.” (John 18.28)

They had purified themselves in order to eat Passover, and as such it was defilement to enter the dwelling of a Gentile, because Gentiles had not purified their homes/buildings from leaven, as the Law of Moses required during Passover (Ex. 12.15, 19)

“O impious blindness! They would be defiled, forsooth, by a dwelling which was another’s, and not be defiled by a crime which was their own! They feared to be defiled by the prætorium of an alien judge, and feared not to be defiled by the blood of an innocent brother” (Augustine of Hippo)

These Jews are SO CAREFUL to maintain faithfulness to the ritual law of Passover, while trampling faithfulness to God as a whole!

Straining a gnat in order to swallow a camel.

Second, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” (John 18.30)

In this insidious side-step, the Jewish leaders refuse to be the ones who formally accuse Jesus. These Jewish leaders knew that their religiously-grounded accusations (claims to destroy & rebuild the temple and blasphemous identification as the Messiah) would hold no water here with Pilate.

Further, this meeting was public: The people would surely hear that they had accused and delivered the Jewish Jesus into GENTILE hands, and respond with displeasure.

Lastly, the Jews weren’t seeking a conviction: They were seeking someone to carry out their sentence, according to their law.

Jewish law forbade the death penalty unless there were a plurality of witnesses (Num. 35.30). Just like the Hebrew writer references in Hebrews 10:28 “Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.”

Question: How many credible witnesses did the Jews present that morning against Jesus?

THE JEWS CONDEMNED JESUS TO DIE ON THE CREDIBLE TESTIMONY OF ZERO WITNESSES!

As they did with their faithfulness, so too did they abandon the mercy God requires of us all!

One more gnat, one more camel.

Third, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” (John 18.31)

“not lawful”: According to who? THE ROMANS!

These Jews were so careful to make sure they did what was just under Roman law, while trampling underfoot the justice demanded by God’s law!

JEWISH LAW STATED THAT A FALSE WITNESS MUST SUFFER THE PUNISHMENT THAT WAS TO BE INFLICTED ON ONE WHO WAS WRONGLY ACCUSED! (Deut. 19.18-21) It was THESE JEWS who deserved the just penalty of death, not Jesus!!! THEY had violated God’s standards of justice, just as they had done with the rest.

Truly these men exemplified the words of Psalm 94:21: “They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.”

Justice. Mercy. Faithfulness. The fundamental expressions of service to God. All crushed under the weight of their hatred of Jesus.

Witness to the Truth: The Purpose of Jesus & His Kingdom (John 18.37-38)

Jesus does have a short conversation with Pilate in this text, and notice what Jesus does here.

First, Jesus first declares that His kingdom isn’t like other earthly kingdoms: It neither came from another kingdom, nor is its nature like other kingdoms. Jesus’ kingdom is divinely ordained and originated, and its citizens/subjects are those who listen to the words of Jesus. As such, Jesus’ servants were not ordered to fight the Romans when Jesus was arrested.

Second, after Pilate notices that Jesus does admit to kingship by referring to a kingdom, Jesus agrees, and states that His purpose for coming into the world was to “bear witness to the truth”, and that “everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

To this Pilate scoffs: “What is truth?”

“truth” does not mean only that which is factual or correct. In the Greek culture, αληθεια “aletheia” also referred to that which was real, or ultimate reality.

Consider how truth is talked about both ways in John:

“grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (1.17)

“You sent to John, and John has born witness to the truth” (5.33)

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (8.32)

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (14.6)

Jesus was both the messenger of Truth, and Truth itself!

Consider now Pilate’s scoff: “What is truth?” The answer is both the message, and the MAN present in that very moment!

Application: Jesus Even Gave Pilate a Chance to Hear the Truth.

Do you know that in in the Coptic and Ethiopian branches of the Eastern Orthodox church, Pontius Pilate is believed to have OBEYED THE GOSPEL later? He and Claudia his wife have even been declared saints by the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Whether or not he converted, we don’t know. Some hold that Pilate committed suicide, others that he got in trouble again with Caesar and was exiled to Gaul.

But why would the belief that Pontius Pilate became a Christian gain any traction at all, with anyone?

I think it’s the hope that ANYONE, even Pilate, could repent and obey the Gospel of Jesus.

Think about it this way: Does this conversation in John 18 change the narrative at all? If we knew nothing about this back-and-forth (as recorded in Matthew and Luke), Jesus is still sentenced to die, and the story goes on toward Calvary.

But this scene shows us that Jesus even gave Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect, this Gentile Jew-hater, a chance to hear and respond to the truth.

The Jews had already rejected that truth, which could be why Jesus didn’t interact with them further. But Pilate hadn’t had his moment with Jesus yet. And beaten, bloody, and exhausted as Jesus was, Jesus still gave Pilate a chance.

Friends and brethren, what right do we have to refuse the gospel message to anyone, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves or whatever state their heart is in? Do we not think that Jesus knew Pilate’s heart? If Pilate was absolutely going to reject the Gospel message and not stop the proceedings to Calvary, do we not think Jesus would have known?

There is NO ONE we meet or NO ONE we interact with on a daily basis who has been vilified more than Pontius Pilate.

Our God-given mission as Christians isn’t to coerce or shame individuals into obeying the Gospel. Their response to Jesus is their own.

Our job as Christians is to make sure everyone we know has their opportunity to stand before a representative of Jesus, to hear the simple truth of His kingdom, because Jesus gave everyone a chance.

Conclusion: What does “acquitted” mean anyway?

In criminal law, an acquittal means that the accused is free from the charge and it occurs in a criminal case where a defendant is found not guilty by a judge or jury.

Jesus was declared “not guilty” by Pilate, and thus was free from the guilt of all the chargest against Him. Jesus was acquitted, not once but three times. But the Jews rejected that verdict, pressured Pilate, who gave in to their wicked hunger and sentenced Jesus to die anyway?

That innocent death is the very reason why we gather today and profess Jesus as Lord and Christ.

Romans 8.3b-4: “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8.3b-4 ESV)

We begin our walk in the Spirit by the same means Jesus described to Pilate that day:

“Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” (John 18.37)

Have you heeded the voice of Jesus? Have you obeyed His gospel message?

Pilate had his chance. Today, you have yours. Where does your verdict stand for Him?

Or, more importantly, where does His verdict stand for you?