Luke 23:16

And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, For the exposition see the notes at ; For the exposition, see the notes at John 18:38; John 19:1. This episode-unique to Luke-is one of the grandest in the Gospel History. If only hellish ingenuity could have suggested the expedient of crucifying our Lord between two malefactors, in order to hold Him forth as the worst of the three, only that wisdom which "taketh the wise in their own craftiness" could have made this very expedient irradiate the Redeemer, in His hour of deepest gloom, with a glory as bright to the spiritual eye as it was unexpecte...

Luke 23:16._I will therefore chastise him, and release him. _If any slight offense had been committed, which was not a capital crime, the Roman governors (262) were wont to cause the offenders to be beaten with rods; and this kind of punishment was called, in the Latin language, _coerctio _ Pilate, therefore, acts unjustly when, after pronouncing Christ to be free from all blame, he resolves to punish him, as if he had been guilty of an ordinary offense; for he not only declares that he has found in him no crime worthy of death, but asserts his innocence in the most unqualified manner. Why, then, does he beat him with rods? But earthly men, who are not confirmed by the Spirit of God in a constant wish to do what is right, even though they are desirous to maintain integrity, are accustomed, in this manner, to yield so far as to commit small inju

13-25 The fear of man brings many into this snare, that they will do an unjust thing, against their consciences, rather than get into trouble. Pilate declares Jesus innocent, and has a mind to release him; yet, to please the people, he would punish him as an evil-doer. If no fault be found in him, why chastise him? Pilate yielded at length; he had not courage to go against so strong a stream. He delivered Jesus to their will, to be crucified....

I WILL THEREFORE CHASTISE HIM - The word “chastise” here means to “scourge or to whip.” This was usually done before capital punishment, to increase the sufferings of the man condemned. It is not easy to see the reason why, if Pilate supposed Jesus to be “innocent,” he should propose publicly to scourge him. It was as “really” unjust to do that as it was to crucify him. But probably he expected by this to conciliate the minds of his accusers; to show them that he was willing to gratify them if it “could” be done with propriety; and perhaps he expected that by seeing him whipped and disgraced, and condemned to ridicule, to contempt, and to suffering, they would be satisfied. It is farther remarked that among the Romans it was competent for a magistrate to inflict a “slight” punishment on a man when a charge of gross offence was not fully made out, or where there was not sufficient testimo...

EXPOSITION LUKE 23:1 _The trial before Pilate_:_ First examination._ LUKE 23:1 AND THE WHOLE MULTITUDE OF THEM AROSE, AND LED HIM UNTO PILATE. The Sanhedrin had now formally condemned Jesus to death. They were, however, precluded by the Roman regulations then in force from carrying out their judgment. A capital sentence in Judaea could only be inflicted as the result of a decision by the Roman court. The Sanhedrin supposed, and as we shall see rightly, that the judgment they had pronounced would speedily be confirmed by the Roman judge. The Sanhedrin condemnation to death was, however, from the Jewish standpoint, illegal. In capital cases judgment could not be legally pronounced on the day of trial. But in the case of J

I WILL THEREFORE CHASTISE HIM,.... Give him some correction, as by scourging, or beating with rods: this he proposed, not because he thought him deserving of it, but in complaisance to the Jews; since it would look as if their charges were not altogether weak and groundless; and that Jesus was not entirely innocent: this would carry a show of guilt and punishment, and he hoped this might be thought sufficient, and so he should please them, and save Jesus from dying, which he much desired: and release him; from his bonds, and let him go....

Luke 23:1. _And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate._ Our Lord had been taken to the tribunal of Annas and of Caiaphas, and sow the whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate. The first two tribunals were ecclesiastical and religious. There they charged him with crimes against the law. Now they take him to Pilate, and bring accusations against him, concerning Caesar and the Roman Government. «The whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate.» Luke 23:2. _And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King._ A wily charge. It was the duty of the ruler of the province to protect the province from any rebellion against Caesar; so

CHAPTER 23 _ 1. The son of man before Pilate and Herod. (Luke 23:1)_ 2. Pilate Yields to the People's Will; Barabbas Freed and the Son of man Condemned. (Luke 23:13) 3. The Crucifixion of the Son Of Man. (Luke 23:27) 4. The Penitent Thief. (Luke 23:39) 5. The Death of the Son of Man. (Luke 23:44) 6. The Testimony of the Centurion. (Luke 23:47) 7. The Burial. ...

PILATE, HEROD, AND JESUS (Lk. only). The historicity of this incident has been questioned on two grounds. (1) There was not time for it before the Crucifixion at 9 A.M. But the Crucifixion may have been really nearer noon. (2) It seems made (_cf._ Luke 23:8) to connect with Luke 9:9. This is not a strong argument. For a defence of the story, see A. W. Verrall in JThS, April 1909 (x. 321). Lk. may have found the story in some very early form of the Gospel of Peter and used it as emphasising the innocence of Jesus, the goodwill of Pilate, and the insults of the Jewish (rather than the Roman) ruler and his guard. The Herod is Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, and therefore Jesus'sovereign; he may have been in Jerusalem for the Passover. Jesus is silent when questioned, as Mk. ...

TRIAL BEFORE PILATE AND SILENCE BEFORE HEROD (Luke 23:1-12)...