Luke 23:1-25

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Indicted (Luke 23:1-25)

23 Then the whole company of them arose, and brought him before Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king. 3And Pilate asked him, Are you the King of the Jews? And he answered him, You have said so. 4And Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no crime in this man. 5But they were urgent, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.

6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8When 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. 9So he questioned him at some length; but he made no answer. 10The chief priests and the scribes stood by vehemently accusing him. 11And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then, arraying him in gorgeous apparel, he sent him back to Pilate.12And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him; 15neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him; 16I will therefore chastise him and release him.

18 But they all cried out together, Away with this man and release to us Barabbas19a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.20Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus; 2lbut they shouted out, Crucify, crucify him! 22A third time he said to them, Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise him and release him. 23But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24So Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be granted. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for; but Jesus he delivered up to their will.

Luke 23:1-5 Pronounced an Insurrectionist: Matthew records the remorse of Judas (Matthew 27:3-10) in advance of its chronological order apparently so as not to interrupt his subsequent narrative of the trial before Pilate. Judas-' regret (Gr. metameletheis, not metanao which means repentsee 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 where these two words are shown in contrast) must have taken place after Pilate's ratification of the Sanhedrin's sentence because they had returned to their Hall of Hewn Stones (cf. Matthew 27:3). Most harmonies of the gospel accounts place Matthew's account of what Judas did before the Sanhedrin's trip to Pilate's judgment hall. There is a sorrow of the world that produces deathit is a remorse or regret without the decision to change. Repentance, on the other hand, is a sorrow that is climaxed by change. It is significant that the complete innocence of Jesus could have such impact on one who was so devoted to crass materialism. Certainly if the one who betrayed Him testifies to His innocence in such a manner, he was innocent.

Pilate's judgment seat was in the Tower of Antonia, the Roman army barracks just north of and attached to the Temple courts. Pilate's permanent residence was at Caesarea on the sea coast of Palestine. Pontius Pilate, it is alleged, was the son of Marcus Pontius, a general of the Roman army in Spain during Agrippa's war against the Cantabri. He was a friend of the famous royal prince Germanicus and married to Claudia Procula, granddaughter of Augustus the emperor (see our comments on Pilate at Luke 3:1-6). To understand Pilate's behavior at the trial of Jesus, one must be aware of his former dealings with the Jews and the pressures he felt from the terrifying political inquisitions perpetrated by Tiberius Caesar in his later years. Pilate had a relatively free hand in ruling Judea responsible directly to Tiberius. In Pilate was vested the power of life and death for all Roman provincials. He was both final judge and governor. The territory of Judea, being under the direct rule of a Roman procurator, was not allowed to execute capital punishment even on a Jewish citizen (cf. Josephus, Antiquities IX: Luke 1:1; John 18:31). Pilate was in continual conflict with the Jews. Most procurators were. The Jews would not let them be otherwise. When Pilate first came to Palestine he wanted to abolish all Jewish laws and customs, but found this politically impossible. He brought effigies of Caesar to Jerusalem and set them up at night. When the Jews heard, they came by the hundreds and camped around his palace at Caesarea imploring him to remove them. He refused, called them to his judgment seat, surrounded them with an army in ambush, and threatened to kill them. They refused and threw themselves down on the pavement baring their necks to the sword. Pilate had to retreat. Another time he ordered an aqueduct to be built to improve Jerusalem's water supply and attempted to pay for it with Temple treasure. The Jews rioted, Pilate ordered them slain, but had to face continued hatred of the Jewish populace for having used sacred funds. Later, he ordered some Galileans slain as they were in the act of offering sacrifice (cf. Luke 13:1) for some reason known only to him. This may have been the reason he and Herod Antipas were at odds with one another. Finally, about A.D. 36, a self-appointed prophet asserted that Moses-' tabernacle and holy vessels were buried on Mt. Gerizim (in Samaria). A multitude of Jews, attempting to climb the hill and dig these alleged vessels up was slain by order of Pilate. Pilate was then called to Rome, banished, and, tradition says, he committed suicide near Vienne (Gaul). The relations between the Jews and Pilate were very strained. He detested them, and they hated him. The Jews were on the lookout for some cause to petition Tiberius Caesar for the removal of Pilateand Pilate knew it. Only by yielding to the clamor of the Jews for the death of Jesus (30 A.D.) did he last until 36 A.D.

The whole company (Gr. plethos) of the Jewish council (not the multitudes) rose as an official body and took Jesus before Pilate. The Sanhedrin began to accuse Jesus (Gr. kategorein, from which categorize originates) charging Him officially with a capital crimeinsurrection. They said they had found (Gr. heuromen, to find by investigation) this fellow (Gr. touton) perverting the Jewish nation. The Greek word diastrephonta is translated perverting and means literally, turning through. The accusation is that Jesus has been going throughout the nation subverting, twisting, distorting and corrupting people by the thousands, teaching them to resist Caesar's taxes and claiming himself to be a king. Pilate later uses the word, apostrephonta, (Luke 23:14) which literally means, Turning away the people. Of course, Jesus was not guilty of the charge of forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar. In fact, He had advocated just the opposite (cf. Luke 20:21-26). And, He was not guilty of the charge of claiming to be king in the way the Jews intended Pilate to understand it.

Pilate did not observe the full legal procedure carried out in the courts at Romehe was not required to. But he did imitate it to a certain extent. He had full discretion in judgment. No Jew had the right of appeal to Caesar unless he was also a Roman citizen. Roman procurators were usually content for the provincials to govern themselves provided they did nothing to impinge upon the authority of Rome. Any conviction on a capital charge had to be referred to the Roman procurator for ratification or reversal. The Jewish council could condemn but not execute (cf. Josephus, Ant. IX:1:1; John 18:31).

When Pilate accepted Jesus as a prisoner he did not do so as a court of appeal. Jesus made no appeal. Pilate was bound to review the proceedings themselves by which Jesus had already been tried and brought before him. And that was all Pilate was bound to do. The Jews would not enter the Praetorium (Gr. praitorion, lit. general's tent but later, residence or judgment hall of the provincial governor) because they believed they would be defiled (John 18:28). It appears Pilate, by his question about accusation (John 18:29) was going to try the case in due form of law and for some undisclosed reason the Jews had not expected him to adopt this attitude (John 18:30). They act as if they had reason to suppose Pilate knew quite well why they had brought Jesus before him. They apparently thought Pilate would just do what they wanted him to do with the prisoner, assuming they had already found Him guilty! Pilate either guessed, or had advanced information, that Jesus-' Jewish trial was a farce. We are told later that Pilate knew the Jews had delivered Jesus for envy (Matthew 27:16). Pilate evidently saw an opportunity to agitate, belittle and get back at these Jewish hypocrites. Realizing Pilate was going to insist on a formal trial, the Jewish rulers began to accuse Jesus of perverting their nation in a tax revolt against Rome and making Himself a king. These accusations were lies. These rulers knew Jesus had never done any of them. They are accusing Him of what was the desire of their own hearts. The Jewish refusal to pay tribute to Caesar a few years after Jesus-' death is what precipitated the conflict ending in the destruction of Judaism (70 A.D.).

The charge of sedition made, Pilate's next step was to interrogate the prisoner (Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3; John 18:33). He began by asking, Are you king of the Jews? John tells us Jesus first answered by asking Pilate, Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me? (John 18:34). In other words, In what sense do you use the word -king-'?as a Roman official trying to decide whether I claim to be an earthly king in opposition to Caesar? Or, are you merely repeating a question put into your mouth by my Jewish countrymen who know quite well that I do no claim to be that sort of king? Pilate replies: I am repeating the charge of your country-men (John 18:35). You and they are Jews. You must know in what sense they use the term king and you will know what they mean better than Iwhat then have you done, exactly?

Jesus did not back away. He said, My kingship is not of this world.. He asserted that He did have a kingship in the sense in which He had often made the claim to Messiahship. But He would have Pilate understand that His kingship was not of this world (cf. John 18:36). He made no claim to any worldly throne as the Jewish council had accused Him. Jesus said, in effect, I am not guilty of sedition against Rome's political sovereignty.

Pilate again said, So you are a king? Luke and the other Synoptics record Jesus-' second answer, You have said so. Modern speech would translate that into, You have it correct, I am the Messiah of the Jews. John records the additional statement of Jesus here, For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice, (John 18:37). Pilate's soliloquy, What is truth? was not said flippantlyhe was wrestling with his conscience. He had a premonition where this would eventually come to a head. Eventually he would have to decide either to release this idealistic, but innocent, Jewish rabbi and incur the wrath of these detestable rulers, or give in and execute Him. Truth is justice in action. Pilate knew that. Everyone knows that by instinct or conscience. Pilate also knew he had better make no political blunders with Tiberius on the throne in Rome. So, while he was being pressed by his conscience to act justly and truthfully, and with the desire to get one up on these antagonists of his, the Jews, and considering the practical consequences of what he would do, he philosophized on, What is truth? He probably asked the question to himself as much as to anyone else. The more he reflected on this question and the more he thought about Jesus, the more he was convinced that Jesus was not guilty of sedition or political rebellion against Rome.

Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes (Luke 23:4), I find no crime in this man. The Greek word aition is strictly a legal term meaning, a crime, a legal ground for punishment. It was clearly a verdict in the judicial sense of not guilty. Here, the trial should have been over. The highest tribunal in the land at that point had spoken. The prisoner should have been freed.

The verdict of Pilate sent the Jews into a fit of rage. Luke uses the Greek verb epischuo which means literally, intensely strong to describe their reaction. Mark says at that point the chief priests accused him of many things (Mark 15:3) and Pilate asked him, Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you? But Jesus said nothing more to Pilate not even answering one of the charges. Pilate was amazed.

Luke 23:6-12 Perverse Interrogation: Amid the shouting and tumult of the accusations of the Jews against Jesus, Pilate overheard the cry that the prisoner had been teaching in Galilee. This gave Pilate an idea. He inquired whether Jesus were a Galilean. Pilate and Herod (tetrarch of Galilee) had been political enemies for some time. Each had probably tried to court the favor of Rome by slandering the other concerning their administration of assigned portions of Palestine. Pilate did not want to intensify the estrangement and saw at once an opportunity, since this prisoner was a Galilean, to appease Herod and express his contempt for the Jewish rulers in one stroke. He would send the prisoner to Herod as a gesture of political courtesy. Herod was in Jerusalem at that moment having come to observe the Passover.

Herod had been wanting to see Jesus to make sure He was not John the Baptist returned from the dead (cf. Luke 9:7-9). Herod knew he had blundered in the execution of John the Baptistthe deed had intensified the hatred of the populace against him; it alerted Rome to his ineffectiveness; it bothered his conscience. Rome would depose him, and he knew it, if he should blunder in public favor again like he had with John the Baptist. So Herod intended to play this one close to his vest. He would not plunge into this without thinking. Herod besought Jesus to do some sign for him, Apparently Herod, too, recognized that Jesus posed no real political threat or he would have found some way to condemn Jesus to execution. Since Jesus presented no political problem, Herod decided he would not make trouble for himself where there was none. All he intended was to amuse himself with some signs from the Galilean prophet, talk with Him about His teachings, and send Him back to Pilate. But Jesus would do no signs nor would He talk. Herod was the pig and dog of Matthew 7:6. He wanted to see the power of the miraculous and hear about Jesus-' teachings only for carnal reasons. He wanted to be amused. He wanted to exploit Jesus, not learn from Him for any righteous reasons.

Luke alone records the details of Herod's interrogation. Jesus-' refusal to speak to Herod shocks our sensibilities at first. It seems too out of character for Jesus to pass up an opportunity to speak to the worst of sinners about his soul. Apparently Jesus was manifesting for the record that Herod had evidence enough and teaching enough to which he might respond to God's will should he choose to do so. Jesus-' silence is saying that any further discussion with Herod about spiritual matters would be to no avail until Herod should repent in accordance with the truth he already had. Those who have no love for the truth, but take pleasure in unrighteousness will be allowed to continue in their self-chosen delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, etc.). Herod is the one person in all the New Testament Jesus refused to talk with. He talked with Pilate and Judas, but not with Herod.

All the time Herod was trying to get Jesus to answer his questions, the chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently (Gr. eutonos, lit. well-stretched or extending) accusing Jesus. They were raging beyond all boundaries of propriety for spiritual leaders and judges of the nation. Herod would not allow himself to be trapped into another faux pas. He refused to be swayed by the Jewish priests and pronounced no sentence. Herod was the craftier of the two governors. He ridiculed Jesus as a nobody and sent Him back to Pilateperhaps with a written note of conciliation. But Herod did display his perverse and wicked mentality. When Jesus would not satisfy his curiosity with a sign or a word, Herod had Him mocked and physically abused. Herod and Pilate became friends (Gr. philoi, sometimes translated lovers) from that very day.

Luke 23:13-25 Proclaimed Innocent: Pilate did initially what his conscience told him was right. He called together the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews and the people. He told them he had examined (Gr. anakrinas, a legal term denoting the preliminary investigation for gathering evidence for the information of the judges) Jesus and indeed (Gr. kai idou, lit. and behold) had found Him not guilty of any of the charges they had brought against Him. Eight times Pilate would insist Jesus was innocent:

a.

John 18:38, before He sent Jesus to Herod.

b.

Luke 23:15, immediately after Jesus-' return from Herod.

c.

Luke 23:20, again he tried to release Jesus.

d.

Luke 23:22, Pilate said again he found no crime in Jesus, and offered to chastise Jesus and release Him.

e.

John 19:4, after Pilate had scourged Jesus.

f.

John 19:6, when Pilate said, Take Him yourselves and crucify him, I find no crime in him.

g.

John 19:12, after Jesus warned Pilate of his sin, Pilate again sought to release Him.

h.

Matthew 27:24, Pilate tried to convince himself he had released Jesus and was free of the criminal actions of the Jews.

Pilate also insisted to the Jews that Herod found Jesus innocent of their charges against Him.

No matter how much Pilate implored, the Jewish rulers were implacable. They would not listen to reason; they threw caution to the wind and shouted down the Roman procurator. Pilate had to find an alternative. Suddenly he thought of the Roman custom of releasing a prisoner (cf. Matthew 27:15; Mark 15:6; John 18:39) (probably a political prisoner) on festival days in the provinces. Some say Pilate was following the normal practice by offering the Jews the choice between Jesus and Bar-Abbas; not really! Matthew (Matthew 27:15) says the usual custom was to let the provincials choose whom they wanted. Pilate offered them only one alternativeJesus or Bar-Abbas. Pilate capitulated! All jurisprudence has been abrogated. Pilate did not insist on law. He found a way to compromise, but it was a capitulation of principle. He hoped the Jews had rather have the harmless Jesus loosed than a murdering, thieving insurrectionist and troublemaker like Bar-Abbas. About that time Pilate's attention was diverted by a note from his wife. This gave the Jewish rulers an opportunity to stir up the crowd to cry out for Bar-Abbas, (see Matthew 27:19-20). After reading his wife's note he asked again for their choicethey cried again, Bar-Abbas! As for the one who called himself, Christ, they cried, Crucify him! Pilate insisted a third time that Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:18-22). He then compounded his compromise and offered to chastise Jesus.

The name Bar-Abbas means, son of the father. That may be, as G. Campbell Morgan notes, a title rather than a name. Peter's name was Simon, but he was titled, Bar-Jonah, son of Jonah. Matthew and Mark say the insurrectionist the Jews asked to be released in place of Jesus was simply a man called Bar-Abbas. This man may have given himself the title, son of the father, claiming to be the Messiah. From the time of the Hasmonean family until long past the time of Jesus many false Messiah's arose seducing some of the Jews to follow them. Bar-Abbas was not a common criminalhe was a political radical, a terrorist, who had attempted to overthrow the Roman rule of Palestine. He had been captured and imprisoned and awaited execution. Pilate, cagily, left them with only a choice between a man who had tried, by force, to set up an earthly Jewish kingdom (Bar-Abbas) or a man who claimed to be the only true Messiah but who maintained the kingdom was a spiritual relationship to God by faith and that it could exist in this world even under Roman political rule. The Jews, in demanding the release of Bar-Abbas and the crucifixion of Jesus, manifested their carnal expectations concerning God's kingdom.
Once he compromised justice by not releasing the innocent prisoner, Pilate feels like he must continue in the course at all costs. Actually, Pilate could have freed Jesus at any time. All he had to do was say the wordand suffer the consequences. When his first compromise did not work, he tried another. He offers to chastise Jesus and then let him go. He hoped scourging Jesus would placate the emotions of the mob. The Greek word for chastise is paideusas from the root word which means child. The word means literally, instruct, correct, discipline. Sometimes the chastising was used to cross-examine a defendant to see if he was telling the truth or not. Sometimes it was used as a form of punishment for one found guilty of a crime to correct the wrongdoer. Pilate wanted to subject Jesus to this last-resort form of cross-examination hoping it would convince the Jews once for all that He was innocent.

The Roman scourge was a whip with several thongs, each loaded with acorn shaped balls of lead, or sharp pieces of bone or spikes. Stripped of his clothes, his hands tied to a column or a stake, with his back bent, the victim was lashed with these whips by six soldiers. Each stroke cut into the flesh until the veins and sometimes the intestines were laid bare. Often the whips struck the victims face knocking out eyes and teeth. It sometimes ended in death.

John's gospel tells us that at this moment Pilate took Jesus (into the procurator's judgment hall) and scourged him (John 19:1-12). Pilate then brought Jesus out before the Jews and made his famous statement, Ecce homo (Behold, the man). Three more times here he tried to proclaim Jesus innocent and release Him. The third time the Jews cried out, If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend; everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar (John 19:12). Luke simply says, And their voices prevailed (Luke 23:23). Indeed, their implied threat to represent Pilate as an enemy of Caesar prevailed over the voice of conscience in Pilate's heart. Up to this point he kept trying every way he knew to release Jesus and placate the Jews at the same time. But now it is Pilate's neck or Jesus-'! So at 6 a.m. Friday morning, Nisan 15, 30 A.D., Pilate said to the Jews, Here is your king (John 19:14). But the Jews shouted all the more, that he should be crucified. Pilate said, Shall I crucify your king? But the chief priests, not being altogether truthful, said, We have no king but Caesar (John 19:14). Pilate saw that he was not going to get by without ordering Jesus crucifiedthe Jewish mob looked like it was about to riot. He took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves (Matthew 27:24-25). The mob shouted back, His blood be on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25). Pilate gave official (Gr. epekrine) sentence that their demand (crucifixion) should be granted. He released Bar-Abbas and gave Jesus up to their will (Gr. thelematî). Crucifixion was exclusively a Roman method of executing criminals. The Jewish method of execution was death by stoning. Jews considered any one crucified (hanged on a tree) to be cursed (Galatians 3:13). They specifically wanted Jesus to be crucified. Such an execution would imply innocence on their part in His death and it would infer that Jesus was cursed. Little did they know that this was God's plan for Jesusto become a curse for the whole world (Galatians 3:13; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

We would expect Jesus to be the central figure at the trials. But the more we look at the narrative, the more we are impressed with the fact that Pilate and the Jewish rulers are the focusat least on the surface. That is because it is not really Jesus who is on trialit is mankind represented in Pilate and the Jews. Men are in the docks, not the Son of man. He is innocent. What they do with Absolute Innocence incriminates them!