06.15.22 - Luke 23:1-12 - Jesus On Trial (Preliminary Hearings)

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Main Point/Theme: Jesus before Pilate and Herod.

Bible Text: Luke 23:1-11

Luke 23:1–11 NIV

1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.” 3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. 4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” 5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” 6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.

Introduction

We are at the point in the story of Jesus there we are now going to begin to see the power of persuasion and how peer pressure can play a part in our lives. We have had these amazing months speaking of the life of Jesus and what he has done and who he is as a person, and we are at the point now where we will see what sinful nature in the world really does. Our anger, our selfish desires, our insecurities, all these things that play a role into what can happen if taken to the extreme. Today we’re going to begin with the beginning stages of the trial of Jesus Christ and see how the starting process of being pressured will play a role into the crucifixion of Jesus.

1 - Expository preaching through the passage:

Luke 23:1–2 NIV

1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”

Subverting - undermining the authority of an established system or institution.

When they took Jesus to Pilate they have already falsely accused Jesus because Jesus did nothing wrong. So they instead needed to make up something to seem as if Jesus was going against Rome. At this they said Jesus was telling people to not pay their taxes which would directly be against the interest of Rome and be a crime. But what was not understood was that Jesus was not the King of the world and was not saying don’t pay taxes, in fact in

Mark 12:17 NIV

17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.

So Jesus did in fact tell those to pay the taxes, but these leaders are now turning this around in order to try and make a crime against Jesus.

In verse 3 we see Pilate asking Jesus if he is the king of the Jews but Jesus replies in a way to show the misunderstanding that is taking place. Jesus replies you have said so. Implying that what Jesus is saying is that they’re saying he’s king of the Jews in the sense of the earthly king, but Jesus is explaining and has been saying all along is that he is the king over all in the heavenly sense. So they are just not getting it so his response is because they are not understanding.

If we go to John 18:36

John 18:36 NIV

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

So knowing this Pilate takes Jesus back to the people in Luke 23:4

Luke 23:4 NIV

4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

Pilate doesn't find anything wrong with what Jesus is saying because Jesus explained he was the King in a different realm which obviously pleased Pilate at this point. So now we see how the people start stirring the pot to try and frame Jesus.

Luke 23:5–7 NIV

5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” 6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

So, the people are trying to blame Jesus and trying to frame Jesus in a way that will show that he is breaking the laws of the Jews. But pilot is now growing frustrated and wants nothing more to do with this whole situation.

Instead, he just says take him away and take him to Herod because that is who needs to listen to this. He didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Once pilot learned that Jesus was under the jurisdiction of Herod he wanted to pass their responsibility.

Luke 23:8–12 NIV

8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

When they take Jesus before Herod he is once again questioned, and Jesus once again does not answer or give any reason to show that he is guilty of anything. But the crowd keeps persisting and keeps fighting to accuse Jesus so then we see Herod pretty much just kind of join in, maybe have a little fun with the situation to please the angry crowd. But at the same way since there was nothing that I was able to prove or show that Jesus had done anything wrong Herod send him back to pilot.

What we are seeing here during this whole exchange is the power of peer pressure. As we go in the next week, you’ll see how this pressure to falsely accuse Jesus is pushed and pushed to the point where Jesus is indeed found guilty and crucified. Now yes this needed to happen because our sins in this world needed to be paid for. But you can see that even through this moment even through this sinful nature that they are using to frame Jesus, Jesus still submits to the authority of God the father to fulfill what is needed to be done to save those from their sins that they are directly doing in that moment.

And that is the power of what Jesus Christ did for us. He lived that life perfect and although there was nothing that he did wrong and he could’ve said anything, but instead he said nothing because this situation needed to be seen through and Jesus Christ was where I need to do that knowing that in doing so you know how the ability to be saved from your sins if you accept Jesus Christ into your heart.

Over the next few weeks as we really dig into this whole process and the crucifixion of Christ, I would really like you guys to listen to your heart and to hell God may be speaking to you through this. Because all of us whether we believe it or not or whether we choose to accept it need to ask for forgiveness in our lives. And Jesus is that forgiveness through this process.

Lets Pray