Pilate On Trial-Mark 15:1-15

As we begin this morning, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to the Gospel of Mark. This morning we will be in chapter 15 and looking at the first 15 verses. Please have these verses marked and ready, as we will read them shortly.

Our last Sunday in the Gospel of Mark, we examined how Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin, over and over again, cast aside the Mosaic Law, for the purpose of delivering a death sentence for Jesus. A sentence that was determined even before they had decided on the crime! I read back through the message from last Sunday morning and counted at least 12 separate violations of the Mosaic Law by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. Violations of Laws they were sworn to uphold and judge rightly.

But throughout the entire process on this dark night, we noted that the Sovereign God was in complete control of all the events, all the way down to the timing of everything. Additionally, we looked at how Jesus carefully fulfilled prophecies along the way. But we also looked at Caiaphas, unwittingly fulfilling prophecy as well.

As we closed out our time, we came to the conclusion that Jesus was not the One on trial. It was Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin who were on trial, and Jesus announced His verdict, in a powerfully riveting way in Mark 14:62

(Skip reading the verse outright, instead, move to the paragraph below and highlight as you read)

Mark 14:62 ESV

And Jesus said, “I Am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

when Jesus began; “I Am it was a very clear declaration from Him that He was God in the flesh!, and you will see the Son of Man (yet another declaration that He was God in the flesh) seated at the right hand (a declaration that He would be enthroned on high) of Power (notice the capital P, this was a figurative title for God, Who is All Powerful and Jesus declaring to them that He would be enthroned on high and seated in judgement over them), and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

This brings us to chapter 15, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word? We will be reading verses 1-15:

Mark 15:1–15 ESV

1 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led Him away and delivered Him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked Him, “Have You no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against You.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. 6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered Him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the Man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify Him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

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

We begin with a;

The Picture Of Piety In An Illegal Trial. Vs. 1; Mt. 27:1

As we begin this morning in the first verse of chapter 15, we find Jesus in the midst of His third illegal trial, in just a few short hours, as He stands before the Sanhedrin. By now the verdict had already been delivered, but it had never been formalized. The shrewd men of the Sanhedrin were very careful not to sign on the dotted line until after the sun had risen.

In verse 1 we read; “And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led Him away and delivered Him over to Pilate”

As we have already discussed, the late night meeting of the Sanhedrin was an illegal meeting. So in an effort to disguise their treachery, they needed to hold another meeting after the sun had risen. Chances are, they briefly reviewed their illegal trial, but it is more likely that much of this meeting was spent discussing how best to approach Pilate. The Jewish council was unable to carry out a death sentence of this nature, which meant they had to come up with a crime that would stand up in the Roman judicial system. They had to convince Pilate that Jesus had committed a capital crime against Rome that was worthy of death. We find out in Luke 23:1-2 that they made up charges. William Barclay, in his commentary of Mark notes that their accusation of Jesus included that He was;

“perverting the people, forbidding them to give tribute to Caesar and calling himself a king (Luke 23:1–2). They had to evolve a political charge or Pilate would not have listened. They knew the charge was a lie—and so did Pilate.” (The Gospel of Mark-William Barclay).

Pilate only ruled as a Roman governor in the region of Judea for about 10 years, and his rule was marked by ineptitude, arrogance, and mistake after mistake after mistake. When the Jewish Council brought Jesus before him, he was already skating on thin ice, his next mistake could easily be his last, and when it came to Rome, a demotion often times came at the end of a blade! So despite the fact that he knew the charges were drummed up, he found himself between a rock and a hard place.

Looking at this account in the John 18, we get a vivid picture of the hypocrisy of the Jewish Council. When they got to Pilates quarters, they refused to enter them, because doing so meant they would be ceremonially unclean, and therefore unable to participate in the Passover Celebration. Yet they had no issue lying in order to have Jesus put to death. One of the things they accused Him of was forbidding them from paying taxes to Caesar, but what did He really say?

Let’s look at Luke 20:21-25

Luke 20:21–25 ESV

So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

In other words, the opposite was true.

They also accused Him of calling Himself King, yet we find out in John 18:36

John 18:36 ESV

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

They were lying, and both they and Pilate knew it, yet this mock trial continued.

If you look at the heading of most of your copies of God’s Word for the beginning of Mark 15, most will say something along the lines of “Jesus Delivered to Pilate”, or “Jesus Before Pilate”. But if we take a closer look at these verses, as well as the same account recorded in the other Gospels, we find out what we found out our last time in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus wasn’t the One on Trial. Our last time in Mark it was Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin who were on trial, this week it was Pilate:

Pilate Before Jesus.

Moving forward, I’d like to lay out for you, as best I can, how things unfolded early that morning. To do so, I am using a book written by John MacArthur titled One Perfect Life. What MacArthur seeks to do in this book is combine all of the Gospels in one book, seeking to the best of his ability to place them in a chronological order. I will also interject my thoughts of what may have been taking place between the lines of recorded history.

Understanding the ways of Roman leaders, and with a sense that time was of the essence, the Jewish council, Jesus in tow, made their way to the Praetorian. Generally, much of the business of Roman leaders was done in the morning, and the rest of the day was devoted to leisure. Which meant, if they were to have an audience with Pilate, it had to take place early in the morning.

Again, they refused to enter Pilates quarters, so he had to come out to see them. Some have speculated that as Pilate made his way out to see them, he wasn’t sure why they had summoned him. That certainly could be true, but I tend to think that he had a pretty good idea why he was being summoned. It was only 10-12 hours earlier that between 600-1,000 Roman soldiers had been sent to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I would imagine that something of this magnitude would not have taken place without his knowledge. It would also be my guess that what took place in the Garden had been reported to him. If that was the case, perhaps he was told what took place when Jesus, in response to their alerting Him of whom they were seeking, said “I Am He”, or more accurately, “I Am”. Do you recall what took place when He said “I Am”? (That army of 600-1,000 fell on their backs before Him.)

That adds credence to what is noted on our current slide, it was Pilate, who was before Jesus, it was Pilate who was on trial. And Jesus had a power beyond anything Pilate could fathom!

Well Pilate makes his way out to the courtyard, probably having an idea of the purpose of the meeting, but not likely prepared fully for what he was about to see. Upon entering the courtyard, he stood face to face with, not just a representative few from the Jewish Council, but with the entire Sanhedrin, minus Joseph of Arimathea, whom we find out in Luke 23:50-52, dissented to condemn Jesus.

At the front of the crowd stood Jesus, bound before Pilate, clearly having been severely beaten. He’d been blindfolded earlier, spit upon, slapped and beaten with their fists. Mockingly they would say, as they struck the blindfolded Jesus, “Prophesy, who is it that is striking You?” Keep in mind, though Jesus was blindfolded, He not only knew the names of every individual who struck Him, He could see into the depths of their blackened, hateful hearts and, just as we will see from His declaration on the cross, He was ready to forgive the repentant, even men such as these. I think that there are times we struggle with those to whom Jesus will freely forgive.

“You’re telling me Jesus would forgive the very men who orchestrated His death?!”

“You’re telling me Jesus would forgive a mass murderer, a rapist, a child molester….” the list goes on and on.

Perhaps the better question is;

“You’re telling me Jesus is willing to forgive me?!”

You see, you and I are far closer to the character of those I just listed than we are to the character of Christ, and the only chance we have of an eternity in heaven on our own merits, is if our character matched the character of Jesus.

To give you a point of reference for what I mean by this, the character those on that vile list compared to our character, well it’s like they are standing right here, virtually hand in hand with us. Where as the character of Jesus, compared to ours, is on the far side of the sun, 93 million miles away, and even that is an infinitely weak comparison between us and Jesus.

The point is, you and I are no more worthy of forgiveness, than the vilest of sinners, yet Jesus willingly forgives anyone who comes to Him in confession and with a repentant heart.

And I am here to tell you that I thank God for that truth, because the only thing I am deserving of is God’s eternal condemnation, the only thing I am worthy of is an eternity in hell, yet Jesus, through His death on the cross, Jesus, through the crimson blood He shed that day, has washed me clean, whiter than new fallen snow.

Let’s get back to Pilate and the Jewish council.

Speaking to the council, Pilate asks; “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

Their reply; “If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.”

I could be wrong, but I get a sense of indignation, in both Pilates question and in the reply of the council. They no more wanted to be in his presence as he wanted to be in theirs. Yet here they were, intrinsically linked for all times.

Then Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.”

Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death”.

Now from a technical standpoint, this statement was correct, they were not technically permitted to take the law in their own hands when it came to a death sentence. Yet what do we see in Acts 7:54-60

Acts 7:54–60 ESV

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

So, while in a technical sense they were not permitted to put a man to death, that didn’t stop them in other instances.

By the way, Stephen was put to death in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Mosaic Law, by stoning. Yet if we go back to the prophecies concerning the death of the Messiah, including His own statements, we read things like this from Psalm 22, “…all my bones are out of joint”. Which was exactly what took place when the cross Jesus hung on dropped into the deep hole that had been dug for it.

One more from Psalm 22, “they have pierced my hands and feet”.

Perhaps we will look at more from Psalm 22 in the coming weeks, but the point I am trying to make is this, had the Jewish Council taken things into their own hands and had Jesus stoned to death, that would have left prophecies unfulfilled, and it is absolutely imperative that Jesus fulfill every single prophecy written about Him. Which leads me to what the Apostle John records directly after the Jewish council states; “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death”.

He goes on to write “This was to fulfill the word Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death He was going to die.”

It was at this point that the Jewish council had to come up with charges worthy of capital punishment in the eyes of Rome.

“We found this Man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Ceasar, and saying that He Himself is Christ the king.”

Now I want to make sure we all understand something at this point. Pilate had had countless men stand before him with a death penalty hanging over their heads, and virtually everyone of them denied the charges, probably pleading for their life’s at the same time.

Right around this time Pilate takes Jesus into his chambers and begins to question Him separate from the Jewish Council.

Pilate, turning to Jesus asked Him; “Are You the king of the Jews?”

Had any of us been in Jesus sandals that morning, chances are our response would have been, “These guys are lying through their teeth!” I’m sure that was the type of response Pilate was expecting. Instead, Jesus answered “Are you speaking for yourself about this, of did others tell you this concerning Me?”

Not only was this not the type of response Pilate was expecting. but I think it got him a little miffed at Jesus!

“Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

In answering him, Jesus replied;

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but My kingdom is not from here.”

This response from Jesus causes me to wonder a bit at what kind of thoughts Pilate may have had at that moment. Did his mind go back to 600-1,000 soldiers falling on their backs before Jesus after just the words “I Am” flowed from His lips? Had he heard of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead only a week or 2 earlier?

Pilate responded; “Are You a king then?”

I wish were were able to determine the emotions of the moment as we consider what we see here in this episode between Pilate and Jesus. What type of voice inflection did Pilate have in asking this question? Was he asking with a worried tone, understanding Jesus was no ordinary man? We don’t really know, I’m kinda hoping we get to watch this scene unfold in real time when we get to heaven!

Non-the-less, Jesus replied, “It is rightly as you say, that I am a king, for this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into this world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Now for Roman’s, very similar to what has become prevalent in society today, truth to them was a relative term, what was true to one person may not be true to another person. I mean we have people today that can’t even define what a man and woman is! With that in mind, Pilate asks, “What is truth?”

At this point I believe Pilate was beside himself. He needed a path of escape, he needed a way out. Knowing of the innocence of Jesus, “….he went out again to the Jews and said ‘I find no fault in this Man at all.”

Not willing to stop this charade of a trial, and filled with deep anger and hatred, the council replied; “He sirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.”

As all this was taking place, Jesus stood by in silence, not ever defending Himself.

This baffled Pilate.

So Pilate once again addresses Jesus; “Do You answer nothing? Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?”

I get the sense that there’s almost a pleading in Pilates questions to Jesus.

Help me out here Jesus, I’m doing my best to get you out of this sham of a trial, can you at least defend Yourself, at least deny their accusations!

But we read on; “But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.”

All of the sudden, something dawned on Pilate, something the Jewish Council had just said, they implied He was from Galilee, Galilee.

The wheels began to turn, he looked at the Jewish Council and asked if Jesus were Galilean, to which the answer was Yes.

Well it just so happened that Herod Antipas was in town, and Galilee was his region.

With a sigh of relief, Pilate sent Jesus to be judged by Herod.

And that is where we will stop for this morning. We will continue looking at Pilate On Trial next week.

But there are 2 keys I don’t want us to miss this morning. The first key is this, our God is completely sovereign and in control of all things. In His sovereignty, He saw to it that Jesus fulfilled every single prophecy relating to His first coming to earth, including the type of death He would face. Death, not by stoning, as was the custom of the Jews, a death that would have left multiple prophecies unfulfilled, but death on a cross, thus fulfilling what had been foretold.

The second key is this, we need to always understand, none of us is worthy of the forgiveness Jesus freely gives to anyone who comes to Him in confession and with a repentant heart. The standard with which God judges is not by comparing us with any other man of woman. The standard is not whether the good things we do outweigh the bad. On the scales of God’s justice, we, in our sinfulness, are on one side, Jesus, in His perfection is on the other. And if our righteousness doesn’t match His, which it doesn’t, we are condemned to an eternity in hell. Which was the purpose behind why He went to the cross, that through His blood, He might tip the scales, paving the way for us, through confession and repentance, through placing our faith and trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, and as a result we would be clothed in His righteousness, thereby balancing the scales of God’s justice in our favor.

Let’s close our time this morning in prayer.