Luke 23:1-7

Applebury's Comments

The First Trial Before Pilate
Scripture

Luke 23:1-7 And the whole company of them rose up and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king. 3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest. 4 And Pilate said unto the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no fault in this man. 5 But they were the more urgent, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judaea, and beginning from Galilee even unto this place. 6 But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. 7 And when he knew that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him unto Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem in these days.

Comments

and brought Him before Pilate.In the three Jewish trials, the leaders had satisfied themselves that they had found an excuse to put Jesus to death. But what about the governor? Why should a Roman care if the God of the Jews had been blasphemed?

The Jews were well aware of this; they, therefore, brought an entirely different charge against Him when they appeared before Pilate. There were three counts against Him: (1) Perverting the nation, (2) Forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and (3) He said that Himself is Christ the King.

The most dangerous of the three, they seemed to think, was the firstperverting the nation. But it was the lastmaking Himself a kingthat finally caused the governor to give in. Against his better judgment, against the advice of his wife, and against the concurrence of Herod in his own opinion Pilate granted the Jews-' demand that He be crucified. See John 19:12.

They may have thought that such evidence as the presence of large crowds following Him wherever He went, especially at the triumphal entry where they praised Him as king, would be sufficient evidence to sway Pilate's judgment. Roman governors were responsible for keeping the peace and putting down any uprising that might challenge the authority of Caesar. The charge about forbidding to give tribute to Caesar was plainly a perversion of the facts in the case. See Luke 20:20-26. The third charge was true but not in the sense in which they presented it, for His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:26). Moreover, Pilate was well aware of the fact that they had delivered Him up out of envy (Matthew 27:18).

I find no fault in Him.Pilate pronounced Jesus innocent three times; yet in the end, he acceded to the demands of the Jews and ordered the innocent Christ to be crucified.

He asked whether the man were a Galilean.Jesus-' ministry, for the most part, had been carried on in Herod's territory. Learning of this, Pilate eagerly sought to shift the responsibility of Jesus-' case to Herod. But Herod, after examining Him, sent Him back to Pilate who announced that Herod had found nothing worthy of death in Him (Luke 23:15).