Pilate On Trial (Part 2)-Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:6-25

As we begin this morning, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to the Gospel of Luke. This morning we will look at the verses 6-12 of Luke chapter 23. Please have these verses marked and ready, as we will read them shortly.

Last Sunday, in part 1 of Pilate on Trial, we examined the 4 Gospels as they laid out what took place as the Sanhedrin brought Jesus before Pilate for the purpose His facing the drummed up charges that they were hoping would lead to a death sentence.

We noted the false picture of piety displayed by the Sanhedrin throughout the entire process, as well as their extreme hypocrisy in a refusal to enter Pilates quarters, and risk being ceremonially unclean, which would result in their not being permitted to celebrate the Passover, yet they had no issues with their multiple lies in an effort to have Jesus wrongly put to death.

From there we moved to our beginning look, not at Jesus trial before Pilate, but Pilates trial before Jesus. We went through the first part of the encounter between Jesus and Pilate, making it all the way to the point where Pilate came to the realization that Jesus was, in fact, from Galilee, which was the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas. Well it just so happened that Herod was in Jerusalem at that time, so in an effort get out of a very dangerous and uncomfortable situation, Pilate sent Jesus to be tried by Herod.

Before we look at this brief trial between Jesus and Herod, let’s go before the Lord in prayer, and then we will read through our passage in Luke.

Heavenly Father,

What a joy it has been for us this morning to come together and corporately worship You, through prayer, through singing praises lifting high Your Name as our great Shepherd, to proclaim the beauty of You our shepherd as we, together, read Psalm 23! Reading of our Shepherd Who supplies for all of our needs, from providing us a place of comfort rest for our weary heads, to the safety of “still waters” And Father, so long as we stay near You, our loving Shepherd, we walk on paths that lead us in righteousness. Father, we thank You that even when “we walk through the valley of the shadow of death”, we don’t walk even one step, that You are not right there with us, comforting us with You rod of protection and you staff of rescue!

Father, we understand that even as Your sheep, there will be times when we are “in the presence of my enemies”, yet even there, Your loving Hand “prepares a table”, even there, “You anoint my head with oil”, even there our cup of blessing overflows.

As we walk with You, Your “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”, and as those who have placed their faith and trust in You as our Lord and Savior, we look forward to an eternity where we “shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”!

O Lord our Shepherd, we thank You that You are unlike the false gods of the world. For “No one understands like Jesus”! You are “a Friend beyond compare”, When we “falter on the way”, when we come to You in confession and repentance, You readily and lovingly pardon. We come to You this morning marveling that “No one understands like Jesus. When the days are dark and grim. No one is so near, so dear as Jesus.” And it is because of that truth that we can “Cast our every care on Him.”

Father, as we look at passages like those we will be looking at this morning, we are reminded that You care for us, You understand our trials, tribulations and the dark valleys we travel through, because You have been there, and You did so willingly, that through Your blood, shed on the cross of Calvary, we can look forward to dwelling “in the house of the Lord forever”!

We ask You to speak to us through the powerful truths of Your Word this morning, that we would be transformed by those truths.

We pray this in the matchless Name of Jesus, Amen

Now, would you please stand, in honor of the reading of God’s Word?

Luke 23:6–12 ESV

When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the Man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see Him, because he had heard about Him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by Him. 9 So he questioned Him at some length, but He made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing Him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers treated Him with contempt and mocked Him. Then, arraying Him in splendid clothing, he sent Him back to Pilate. 12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

Herod Before The Real King. Luke 23:6-11

Herod was, to a large degree, a family name of a ruling dynasty in Israel. There were several who went by the name Herod, 4 of which were mentioned in the New Testament.

The first and most famous was Herod the Great. He ruled between 33-34 years, from 36 BC to 4 BC. Herod the Great was a violent ruler, who lived in constant fear of anyone he felt was a threat to his rule. Which was why, sometime after the birth of Jesus, he had all the baby boys in Bethlehem, 2 years and under put to death, fearing one of them was to become the king of Israel. We read about this in Matthew 2, when the Magi came searching for the newborn king.

He is also the one who had the temple in Jerusalem, which had been rebuilt by Nehemiah, refurbished and enlarged. When all was said and done, it was larger and more magnificent than even the temple Solomon built. The project began in 19 BC and wasn’t completed until 63 AD. He died around 4 BC, when the area he ruled was divided into 4 separate regions and divided among 4 of his sons.

Herod Antipas was one of those sons. Herod had sought on several occasions to meet Jesus. because he was fascinated by Him. Particularly since he had John the Baptist beheaded, as there were rumors Jesus was John the Baptist reincarnated. Thus we read in Luke 23: 8; “When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see Him”.

However, his interest had little to do with Jesus trial and more to do with wanting Him to perform miracles. As was the case with Jesus initial trial with Pilate, he remained silent, despite Herod’s lengthy questioning. As a result, after treating Jesus with contempt and mocking Him, he had Jesus arrayed in, what was likely a royal robe, in a continued effort to mock Him, and returned Him to Pilate.

In sending Jesus before Herod Antipas, Pilate was doing his best to be removed from being the judge over an Man he knew to be innocent. Those efforts didn’t end with sending Jesus to be judged by Herod. He had yet one more attempt to be removed from this dangerous situation.

The Governor’s Passover Feast Tradition. Mark 15:6-15; Mt. 27:15-23; Lk. 23:18-24

While I titled this slide the governor’s Passover Feast tradition, Rabbi Charles B. Chavel, a Jewish Rabbi who lived from 1906-1982, believed that the tradition began between 140 & 37 BC during the Hasmonean Dynasty. If that is the case, the Roman Empire continued the tradition.

The city of Jerusalem was busting at the seams every year during the Passover Celebration. Jews, as well as those who had converted to Judaism would frequently do their very best to make the journey to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a place like no other when it came to celebrating the Passover, and anyone who was a follower of Judaism, whether a Jew or a convert to Judaism, had celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem on their bucket list. With the incredible increase in the population in Jerusalem during the feast, the rulers of the land of Israel, whether Hasmoneans or Romans, sought to appease the great crowd by permitting the release of a prisoner during the feast.

Pilate saw this tradition as yet one more opportunity to be freed from having the death of Jesus hang over his head. The Gospel of Mark, in chapter 15 verse 10, and Matthew 28:18, we read that Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and that the Jewish Council wanted Him put to death for no other reason than envy. He rationalized in his mind hoping that it was only the Jewish Council that wanted Him dead, and that if he appealed to the crowds, they would, by virtue of sheer numbers, overrule the Sanhedrin. Which honestly made perfect sense. Just 5 days earlier, as Jesus made His way into Jerusalem, huge crowds were celebrating His arrival. The shouts from the crowd were deafening. In his mind it was virtually impossible that the hearts of the crowd could have shifted this quickly.

With that in mind, when he was approached about fulfilling the Passover Feast tradition of releasing a prisoner, he determined to give them 2 options, that he was certain would bring about their requesting the release of Jesus.

The first option was , of course, Jesus, Whom Pilate knew to be innocent. The second option was Barabbas.

Barabbas had been convicted of murder and was a part of an insurrection. Now some have speculated that he was a political prisoner and that the insurrection would have been popular among the Jews, who hated Roman rule. While that certainly could have been the case, I tend to have a different view. With it being very clear that Pilate wanted Jesus released over Barabbas, I tend to believe that the insurrection that Barabbas was a part of was not a popular one, but was an insurrection for the personal gain of those who were a part of the insurrection, and not for the benefit of the Nation of Israel as a whole. In other words it was based on personal gain and not on patriotism.

Anytime there was an insurrection against Rome, Rome came down hard, not just on those who were a part of the insurrection, but on others in the area as well. While they gave conquered nations a lot of freedoms, those freedoms did not include rebelling. If that was the case, then the insurrection that Barabbas was a part of brought the arm of Rome down on the area as a whole. He would have been an unpopular prisoner to be sure. In fact, chances are, the cross Jesus died on wasn’t constructed for Jesus but Barabbas.

So he gives them, what appeared to be an obvious choice, Jesus, Whom they had celebrated just 5 days earlier, or Barabbas, who’s insurrection brought the arm of Rome down on many of them as well. In a head scratching decision, they asked for the release of Barabbas, not Jesus. This, no doubt baffled Pilate.

I am guessing that there are possibly 2 things at play in this head scratching decision.

The first is this, during Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, when the shouts of Hosanna to the Son of David rang out, the expectation of the people was that Jesus would immediately lead them in a rebellion against Rome. I mean the timing could not have been more perfect. There were as many as 2 million visitors in Jerusalem at the time, most of whom were committed to the Nation of Israel. And don’t forget, less than 2 weeks earlier Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead. And He had raised others from the dead in the past. Time was of the essence. But as hard as they tried, Jesus turned them down, He had come for another purpose altogether. As He said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world”. When it became apparent that Jesus was not going to be the type of King they wanted, they turned on Him. While this first possibility it certainly a viable option, there is another thing that is most certainly at play.

As we have been making our journey through the Gospel of Mark, it has been made clear throughout, that our God is sovereign in every way. There is absolutely nothing that can stop the perfect will of the Father from taking place. This includes moving a crowd who 5 days earlier was shouting “Hosanna, blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna to the Son of David!” to a crowd who was not shouting, “Give us Barabbas, and Crucify Jesus.” All that at the perfect timing, determined by God the Father, Jesus blood would be poured out at the exact moment lambs were being slaughtered in the temple, not much more than a stones throw away from Golgatha.

Now we move to;

Pilate’s 3-fold Trial.

In many ways, Pilates trial was 3-fold. Of course first and foremost he was on trial before Jesus. We will look more into that trial shortly. But the second trial was, in many ways, before Rome itself. And lastly, to a certain degree, he was facing a trial with his wife, which we will also discuss shortly.

As a ruling empire, Rome sought to maintain peace and prosperity in every region it conquered. As a result, unless the conquered people were unreasonable, Rome sought to honor the customs and wishes of the people.

However, when Pilate began to rule Judea, in 26 AD, he came in with a bang.

Pilates trial before Rome.

The Jewish historian, Josephus wrote that early in his rule, Romans marched into Jerulsalem under the cover of darkness with imperial standards emblazoned with images of Caesar. Romans considered Caesar a god, thereby the Jews saw this as bringing idols into the city of God. As a result, a large crowd surrounded Pilates palace in protest. This lasted for 5 days. Fed up, on the 6th day Pilate had Roman soldiers hidden around the protesting crowd, and when the protests continued, he had the soldiers enter the arena with drawn swords. He threatened to have every single protester killed unless they stopped. His expectation was that they would immediately end the protest, instead, the protesters knelt before the soldiers, bared their necks before them, and challenged Pilate to put them all to death. Pilate came to his senses, the soldiers sheathed their swords and the imperial standards were removed.

In yet another instance where Pilate showed his great disdain for the Jews, Pilate, in an effort to build a massive aqueduct in Jerusalem, used money from the temple treasury to pay for the construction, money that was to be used only for the temple. Shortly after this took place, Pilate visited Jerusalem, and was faced with a great protest. Pilate ordered Roman soldiers to beat the protesters with clubs, protesters were also trampled under the hoofs of horses, many were killed and the rest were dispersed. It was as if Pilate was doing everything in is power to make enemies of the people he was called to govern, which was not at all what he had been charged by Rome to do as governor.

Philo, another Jewish historians recorded that there was another time where Pilate brought golden shields, not just into Jerusalem, but directly into the temple, and while the shields did not include an image of anyone, they did include inscriptions which named the individual who placed them in the temple as well as to whom they were to honor. Again the Jews saw them as idolatry, again they protested vehemently. Pilate refused to have them removed, so the Jewish leaders sent men to appeal to Tiberius Caesar, who was furious with Pilate and forced him to remove them immediately.

As a result of these instances, Pilate was under a great deal of pressure to stop making waves with the nation he was to rule as governor. He feared that if anymore complaints made it to Tiberius Caesar, he would be removed from leadership.

Second we see;

Pilate’s trial before his wife. Matt. 27:19

In Matthew 27:19, Matthew briefly mentions yet another trial, this was before his wife. we read;

Matthew 27:19 ESV

Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man, for I have suffered much because of Him today in a dream.”

John MacArthur writes;

“It was surely not her practice to interrupt her husband when he was in the midst of a trial, especially one so sensitive as this. To be sitting on the judgment seat was to be acting in the official capacity of judge, and not even a governor’s wife would have dared intrude on such proceedings except in a serious crisis. She knew what Pilate’s original verdict had been but was afraid that the Jewish leaders would coerce him into changing his mind.

It is possible that Pilate and his wife already had discussed Jesus many times that week. His triumphal entry was common knowledge, as were His healing miracles, including the recent raising of Lazarus just outside Jerusalem. They knew of His daring and dramatic cleansing of the Temple and probably laughed over the consternation He caused the chief priests and the Temple merchants by that act.

Whatever the wife’s personal understanding of righteous may have been, she was correct in her assessment of this Man, and she suffered greatly because of that awareness. Matthew does not explain the source of her dream, and there is no justification in insisting it was given directly by God. Everything that happened here was according to “the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). But although God worked supernaturally through the dream, Pilate’s wife may simply have been convinced of Jesus’ innocence in her own mind and had the dream as a result of that concern. In any case, she was frightened for her husband and insisted that he have no part in Jesus’ condemnation or punishment. In doing so, she added her attestation to Jesus’ perfection and innocence.” (Matthew, vols. 1-4:The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: The Animosity of the Crowd)

Pilate ignored the pleas of his wife and proceeded to stand in judgment over Jesus. In his eyes, there was no other viable option, and thus we move to Pilates last trial;

Pilates Trial Before Jesus. John 19:1-11

While we are given evidence in all of the Gospels of Pilate on trial before Jesus, what we read in the first 11 verses of John 19 really drives home what was taking place. Let’s take a look at these verse together.

John 19:1–11 ESV

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His Head and arrayed Him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck Him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to Him, “You will not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin.”

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His Head and arrayed Him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck Him with their hands.

At the beginning here I believe we are seeing yet another attempt by Pilate to satisfy the crowd short of having Jesus put to death. Having Jesus flogged, having a crown of thorns thrust upon His head, arraying Him in a purple robe, all attempt to appease the crowd. Perhaps if the people saw Him beaten beyond recognition they would have pity on Him.

This becomes even clearer in verse 4, where we read;

4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

But as hard as he tried, he was unable to sway the crowd.

6 When the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

This statement in verse 8 brought great fear in the heart of Pilate, likely for more than one reason. One reason would have likely have been the belief of many in Rome that some men could actually become a god. That coupled with the dream his wife warned him with, just added to his fears.

Once again looking for a way out, we read on in verse 9;

9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” You can almost get a sense of great fear as Pilate questions Jesus. But Jesus gave him no answer. Extremely frustrated at Jesus refusal to answer him we read; 10 So Pilate said to Him, “You will not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?” Finally Pilate receives an answer, but it wasn’t an answer that in anyway would calm his fears; 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin.”

And thus Pilates trial before Jesus continues.

In the end, we all know that Pilates trial before Jesus, at least on this day, did not end well, at least not for Pilate.

The same cannot be said for the one who places their faith and trust in Jesus. For those individuals, things could not have ended better.

While I have stated several times in the past weeks that ultimately it was the Jewish Council that was on trial, and then it was Pilate. Jesus was also on trial that day, but His trial was not before the Jewish Council, it wasn’t before Pilate or Herod Antipas, His trial was before God the Father, and He stood clothed that day not in His own guilt, for He was righteous in every way. Rather, He stood clothed in the filthy rags of our guilt, and thus He, the spotless Lamb of God, with the weight of the sins of all mankind, past present and future, thrust upon His shoulders. As a result, He drank the cup of the wrath of God, let me change that, He drank the cup of the wrath of God that we should have drank, clothed in the filthy rags of our guilt, that we, based on faith and trust in Him, based on our confession of sin and repentance, would be clothed in His righteousness, and thus be given His cup of blessing.

Thank You Jesus for the cross!

Let’s close our time this morning in prayer.