Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Jesus Before Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.

13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.

16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.

19 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.”

20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.

21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”

And they said, “Barabbas.”

22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

They all said, “Let him be crucified!”

23 And he said, “Why?

What evil has he done?”

But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”

25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

In our last time together, at the outset of chapter 27, we looked at Matthew’s brief story of Judas’ demise after betraying Jesus.

However, Matthew began in verses 1-2 by introducing Pontius Pilate, and saying,

27 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.

So, when we reach verse 11 Matthew is picking up where he left off in verse 2 when he introduced Pontius Pilate.

Now one of the reasons Matthew interrupts the timeline of Jesus’ trial to discuss Judas is to drive home the point that Jesus is innocent.

The story of Judas’ remorse for betraying Jesus is rooted in his conviction that he has betrayed innocent blood, and I think it’s one of Matthew’s aims for us to notice this.

And more than that, when Matthew returns to verse 11, back to Jesus’ trial before Pilate, we’ll see that Matthew highlights aspects of the trial which emphasize Jesus’ innocence.

As we’ve walked through Matthew’s Gospel the last few years we’ve repeatedly relied upon the other Gospels (Mark, Luke, and John), to bring additional clarity and insight to our study of Matthew, because much of what Matthew writes is also included in the other Gospels.

However, the other authors often include different details than the others, which often gives gives us a fuller picture of the events of Jesus’ ministry, and it’s also true that the differences between these Gospel accounts is by design.

Each author has an audience in mind, and therefore goes to great lengths to emphasize and highlight certain aspects of Jesus’ ministry where the other writers might not, and so I believe it is here.

As I mentioned in our last time, the story of Judas hanging himself, for instance, is only included in Matthew’s Gospel, therefore we should ask ourselves why.

Why is that?

And similarly, while the story of Jesus’ trial before Pilate is found in all four Gospel accounts, Matthew includes at least two elements that are not at all found in the other Gospels.

And both of those unique elements emphasize Jesus’ innocence.

Matthew is the only Gospel writer to include the story of Pilate’s wife pleading with him to have nothing to do with “that righteous man,” that she had suffered much because of him in a dream.

Matthew is also the only Gospel writer to include the story of Pilate’s famous handwashing, when it says he washed his hands before the crowd, saying “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”

In other words, Pilate wanted no part in the Sanhedrin's effort to put an innocent man to death.

So as we walk through verses 11-26 I want you to keep this in mind, that central to Jesus’ trial before Pilate is that an innocent man is being condemned.

That an innocent man had been betrayed by one of his closest disciples, that an innocent man was condemned by Israel’s chief priests, and that an innocent man will be condemned to crucifixion by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

Changing accusations

That being said, let’s begin there in verse 11,

Jesus Before Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.”

Now, at first, notice Pilate’s question.

It has nothing to do with what the Jewish Sanhedrin had condemned Jesus for earlier that morning, it has nothing to do with blasphemy.

To the Jews they were deeply concerned with blasphemy, to speak of God or sacred things (like the Temple) in a profane manner was deserving of death, and this was the reason they demanded a hearing before Pilate, because he was the only government official with the authority to carry out capital punishment.

However, they most assuredly knew that the accusation of blasphemy wouldn’t carry any weight with their Roman governor.

So, when they bring Jesus before Pilate their charges against him begin to morph, the chief priests alter their reasoning for Jesus deserving death.

In fact, in Luke 23:1-2, we see this more clearly, it says,

23 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 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.”

You see, the Jews were fully aware that in order to compel Pilate to put Jesus to death they were going to have to charge him with crimes that Pilate will find punishable by death.

So all of a sudden the chief priests, who were otherwise mortal enemies of Pilate and Rome, are now claiming to bring a man to him who’s preventing them from giving tribute to Caesar, that this Jesus has become a threat to Caesar himself by claiming to be a king.

In other words, their accusations are meant to portray Jesus as a threat to Rome and by extension Pilate himself.

And just like that, the Jews are beginning to sound a lot like Roman allies.

“You have said so.”

So after Jesus is brought to Pilate outside his palace, and the Jews have brought their accusations against him, John’s tell us in his Gospel that Pilate retreated back into his palace and called Jesus to himself and asked him this question that we see here in Matthew, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

And Jesus answered him, “You have said so.”

Now, if you were here when we looked at Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas and the Jewish Sanhedrin you may recall that when Caiaphas, the high priest, demanded that Jesus tell them if he was the Christ, that Jesus answered him in very much the same way, he simply said, “You have said so,” and then proceeded to go on to explain himself.

And if you remember Jesus answered him this way because to him the high priest was asking a loaded question, and so it is the case here again.

Pilate’s question, whether knowingly or unknowingly, contained all sorts of assumptions within it, that Jesus would not have ascribed to or agreed with.

For instance, Pilate’s idea of what it meant to be the “King of the Jews” would have been different than how Jesus understood himself as a king.

That his kingdom was not of this world, that his kingdom was not like the earthly kingdoms or kings that Pilate would’ve had in view, so it would have been impossible to answer him accurately without explanation and qualification.

In fact, in John’s Gospel (chapter 18), Jesus does go on to explain and qualify his answer, and there when Pilate asks him, “So, are you a king?” John records Jesus as saying, “You say that I’m a king.”

That is to say, “Yes, but those are your words.”

He gave no answer

Yet Matthew doesn’t spend time to include Jesus’ explanation here, instead he intends for us to notice something else, he goes on there in verse 12, saying,

12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.

13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now, I want you to notice a couple of points about this text, the first is that it’s hard not to see the connection between Jesus’ actions here and Isaiah’s servant song in Isaiah 53:7, describing Israel’s future Messiah, when he wrote,

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.

One of the most painful experiences that all of us can probably attest to at some point in our lives is false accusation.

To be falsely accused of something can be quite painful, to have your reputation maligned in public, or punished for something that you didn’t do.

In fact, it can be so painful that it’s almost impossible to refrain from defending yourself.

Which is what makes Jesus’ silence here so profound.

Yet, he goes as the Scriptures foretold, “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.”

Entrusting our lives to him who judges justly

And I think, it’s at this point, we can learn something from Jesus’ silence.

If you would, turn with me for a moment to 1 Peter chapter 2, starting in verse 18. There, Peter is talking about submitting to authority and enduring sorrows while suffering unjustly.

He says there, starting in verse 18,

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?

But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Now, Peter isn’t saying that there isn’t a time and a place to defend yourself, but he’s saying that the overarching tenor of your life ought to look like the example that Jesus has set for us, that when he suffered for doing good he continued not by reviling those who reviled him, but by entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

That at the end of the day, he entrusted himself to God.

Therefore, Jesus’ example to us is that we too should find rest by entrusting our lives to him who judges justly.

Pilate is amazed

And the second point that I want you to see is that even Pilate seemed to notice this.

He’s surprised that Jesus is unwilling to defend himself, so much so that he says there in verse 13, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?”

Why are you not interested in defending yourself?

And while Pilate could have taken Jesus’ silence as an admission of guilt, instead verse 14 says that he was “greatly amazed.”

Jesus’ silence seemed to lend to his innocence by Pilate’s estimation.

Jesus or Barabbas