Luke 23:1-25, “Three Trials Before
The Roman Authorities: Jesus Goes Before
Pilate, Herod, And Pilate”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 38-71 of chapter 22 of the book of Luke.
1.1.1. Jesus took His disciples to the
1.1.2. Jesus was in agony in the garden as the guilt of the sins of the world
weighed heavily down upon Him.
1.1.3. Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested by soldiers.
1.1.4. We saw that if we look at all of the gospel accounts that Jesus faced
six different trials, three before the Jewish leadership followed by three
before the Roman leadership, in this order:
1.1.4.1. Before Annas, the former high priest who was still looked up to in
1.1.4.2. Before Caiaphas, having been sent by Annas his father-in-law (Matt.
26:57).
1.1.4.3. Before the Sanhedrin just after daybreak (Luke 22:66-71).
1.1.4.4. Before Pilate (Luke 23:1-4).
1.1.4.5. Before Herod, having been sent by Pilate (Luke 23:6-12).
1.1.4.6. Before Pilate, having been sent by Herod (Luke 23:13-25).
1.1.5. We looked at the first three of those trials, the ones before the
Jewish leadership.
1.1.6. We saw that just as Jesus predicted it would happen that Peter denied
Jesus three times before the cock crowed signaling the end of this evening.
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at the first 25 verses of chapter 23.
1.2.1. We will look at the three trials that Jesus is given before the Roman
governing authorities: Two before Pilate
and one before Herod Antipas.
1.2.2. We will see in this study that there is blame everywhere for Jesus’
having been crucified. The Jewish
leaders are perhaps most guilty, but so are Pilate and Herod Antipas who tried
Him. Governor Pontius Pilate in
particular was a man who had the chance to make a decision for Jesus and
thereby make a difference in whether Jesus would be beaten and murdered, Even though Pilate three times declares
Jesus’ innocence, still he was indecisive and in the end gave in to the demands
of people rather than do what was right and just and give in to God.
1.2.3. In our study today, there is a crowd of people who try to persuade
Pilate to murder Jesus, however this group assembled early on this morning
primarily consists of chief priests and scribes, not the general populace.
1.2.4. In Jesus’ trials, it becomes very obvious that He is completely
innocent of any of the charges that are brought against Him. The gospel writers tell us of six
witnesses who proclaimed Jesus’ innocence at this time:
1.2.4.1. Pilate (declares Jesus’ innocence three times- Luke 23:4, 14, 22).
1.2.4.2. Pilate’s wife (Matt. 27:19).
1.2.4.3. Herod Antipas (Luke 23:15).
1.2.4.4. Judas Iscariot (Matt. 27:4).
1.2.4.5. A Roman centurion at the foot of Jesus’ cross (Matt. 27:54).
1.2.4.6. One of the thieves on the cross (Luke 23:41).
1.2.5. There are a number of scriptures that tell us about the fact that Jesus
was not merely overcome by wicked men, nor wicked spiritual forces in the
spiritual realm, but rather Jesus’ crucifixion at this time occurred according
to God’s plans that were made from all eternity, including:
1.2.5.1. Acts 2:23, “23
this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and
foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put
Him to death.”
1.2.5.2. 1 Peter
1:20, “20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the
world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.”
1.2.5.3. Revelation
13:8, “8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone
whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the
book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”
1.2.6. In these
trials that we see Jesus in in this chapter you must be aware of a certain
dynamic that is occurring, namely, the fact that it is really the people who
are being tried by Jesus not the other way around. Jesus is innocent and against their own
consciences men determine to have Jesus punished and murdered.
2. VS 23:1-2 - “1 Then
the whole body of them got up and brought Him before Pilate. 2 And
they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and
forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a
King.”” - The
elders, chief priests, and scribes who had arrested Jesus and then tried Him
before their religious authorities, including the Sanhedrin, now bring Jesus
and make formal charges against Him to the Roman governing authorities
2.1.
Matthew and Mark in their
accounts tell us that Jesus was brought bound to Pilate.
2.2.
Warren Wiersbe writes the
following about this man Pilate who tries Jesus twice in our study, “Pontius
Pilate served as governor of Judea from A.D. 26 to A.D. 36, at which time he
was recalled to
2.3.
Josephus, the Jewish
historian who was not a Christian but was under employ of Rome during Jesus’
day, wrote a lot about Pilate and in Antiquities chapter 18 he wrote about
Pilate’s part in Jesus’ crucifixion, “Now there was about this time Jesus,
a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful
works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over
to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And
when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned
him to the cross, (9) those that loved him at the first did not forsake him;
for he appeared to them alive again the third day; (10) as the divine prophets
had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And
the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”
2.4.
We saw in our previous study
that when the religious authorities tried Jesus that they needed to find something
by which they could have Him condemned to death. Then, as they were interrogating Jesus they
finally asked Him outright whether or not he was the “Christ” (Messiah) the
“Son of God,” and Jesus stated to them that He was this indeed. This was all that the Jewish religious
leaders knew that they needed to have Jesus condemned to death, so they brought
Jesus immediately to Pilate.
2.5.
In this study, we see that
when the Jews bring Jesus before the Roman governing authorities that they have
to bring charges against Jesus that Rome would be concerned about. The Roman authorities could care less about
Jesus’ beliefs and observance of the Jewish Laws, however what they were
concerned about was whether or not Jesus was an insurrectionist and whether He
might raise up a rebellion against
2.6.
The three charges that the Jewish religious authorities brought against Jesus to the
Roman governing authorities were:
2.6.1. Perverting or ‘misleading our nation.’
2.6.1.1. This is a false charge. This
charge has to do with how the Jewish religious authorities perceived
Jesus. They saw Him as a rogue and
renegade deceiver who went around disguising Himself as a spiritual authority
and teacher and whose teachings and doctrines were not sanctioned by the
religious governing body.
2.6.2. ‘Forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar.’
2.6.2.1. This charge has absolutely no truth to it. In fact, when the Jewish leaders had tried to
trick Jesus at one point by asking Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to
2.6.3. ‘Saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.’
2.6.3.1. This is the only charge that is true.
Jesus did in fact claim these things about Himself and He had just
publicly admitted these things. The
issue should have been whether or not Jesus was correct when He claimed these
things about Himself. The Jews should
have investigated Jesus’ claims and determined their validity in the same way
that we Christians today determine what is true, by judging Jesus’ claims and
the things that He did verses what the Old Testament prophets in the scriptures
prophesied about the Messiah to come.
2.6.3.2. The word ‘Christ’ used here is the Greek word for the Hebrew
word “Messiah.”
2.6.3.3. Some in our day have claimed that Jesus never claimed that He was the
Messiah, however we saw in our last study in chapter 22 that in fact Jesus
admitted that He was the Messiah when asked.
Here, we see that the Jews clearly understood what Jesus had claimed
about Himself as being the Christ, or the Messiah prophesied about throughout
the Old Testament, for they tell Pilate that Jesus claimed to be ‘Christ a
king.’
3. VS 33:3-4 - “3 So
Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him
and said, “It is as you say.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief
priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”” - Pilate asks Jesus if He is
the king of the Jews, and then makes his first of three declarations of Jesus’
innocence
3.1.
John in his gospel, John
18:28-38, tells us many more details about the things that both Jesus and
Pilate said to each other in this interrogation of Jesus, “28 Then they
led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves
did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might
eat the Passover. 29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and said,
“What accusation do you bring against this Man?” 30 They answered
and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered
Him to you.” 31 So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and
judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted
to put anyone to death,” 32 to fulfill the word of Jesus which He
spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die. 33 Therefore
Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him,
“Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying
this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” 35 Pilate
answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests
delivered You to me; what have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My
kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My
servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but
as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” 37 Therefore Pilate said
to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I
am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world,
to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38 Pilate
said to Him, “What is truth?” And
when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find
no guilt in Him.”
3.2.
Again, as was mentioned
before, the only thing that
3.3.
After questioning Jesus, we
see that Pilate viewed Jesus as a bit of a deranged lunatic but a
non-threatening (and perhaps pathetic) one.
4. VS 33:5-7 - “5 But
they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over
Judea, starting from
4.1.
Pilate had already judged
Jesus and determined that He had done nothing that was worthy of
condemnation. However, Pilate was also
very concerned about not getting the religious leaders in
4.2.
Pilate is waffling both in
his convictions as well as fulfilling his civic responsibilities to see that justice
is carried out, then when he hears that Jesus is a Galilean he sees a possible
way out of having to make a decision concerning Jesus. He will send Jesus to the governor of
5. VS 23:8-12 - “8 Now
Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long
time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign
performed by Him. 9 And he questioned Him at some length; but He
answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes were
standing there, accusing Him vehemently. 11 And Herod with his soldiers,
after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous
robe and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 Now Herod and Pilate became
friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with
each other.” - Herod was glad to see Jesus and questioned
Jesus at length, but Jesus ‘answered him nothing,’ then after not finding
anything in Jesus worthy of condemning Him, sends Jesus back to Pilate
5.1.
This Herod is Herod Antipas,
the son of Herod the Great, the man who had all of the boys two years and
younger put to death in
5.2.
Herod Antipas was the man
who had John the Baptist beheaded. He
had enjoyed hearing John the Baptist preach, however when John had condemned
him for his sin of adultery in having Herodias, his brother Phillip’s wife as
his wife, Herod had John imprisoned.
Then, when Salome, the daughter of Herodias, had danced before Herod and
his friends at one of their drunken parties and pleased him, he promised to
give Salome anything she asked for up to half of his kingdom, and at her
mother’s prompting she asked for John the Baptist’s head on a platter.
5.3.
Herod Antipas is a bit of an
enigma, for he wanted to see Jesus and perhaps see Jesus perform some miracle,
for word of Jesus had come all of the way into his palace (Chuza, one of his
stewards had a wife named Joanna who was a Christian- Luke 8:3), yet he really
didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah or Son of God, and when it came down
to it he really had no respect for Jesus and was not interested in surrendering
his life to God. His guilty conscience
for having murdered John the Baptist was motivating Him for first he thinks
that Jesus is John risen from the dead, and now here in our study he desires to
see Jesus. He wanted to hear Jesus
speak, though He had determined not to believe the words that Jesus might
speak, and he wants to see Jesus perform some miracle.
5.4.
After being very glad to
have Jesus with Him, when Jesus will answer none of his questions, will perform
no miracles for him, and is silent, Herod Antipas joins the soldiers in mocking
Jesus. However, Herod Antipas can also
find nothing that Jesus has done whereby he may condemn Him, therefore he
returns Jesus to Pilate as a free man to do with as Pilate pleases.
5.5.
The early church saw Jesus’
silence before Herod as fulfillment of Isaiah 53:7-8, “7 He was
oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that
is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He
did not open His mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken
away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the
land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was
due?” See Acts 8:32. Jesus’ silence is an indication that He was
laying His life down willingly for us.
5.6.
Herod Antipas mockingly
clothes Jesus in a robe such as a Roman magistrate might wear since Jesus
claimed to be a king.
5.7.
It is interesting how
friendships are sometimes built. Here
the thing that builds back up a broken friendship between Pilate and Herod
Antipas is that they are united in the condemnation of Jesus. Herod appreciated the fact that Pilate
deferred judgment to him regarding a man who was a Galilean under his
jurisdiction, thus grievances were forgotten between the two rulers.
5.8.
Herod Antipas had the
opportunity to see justice carried out with Jesus and have Him released, seeing
that he had found nothing that Jesus had done worthy of condemnation, however
he also decided to defer judgment and escape his civil responsibilities and
instead returns Jesus back to Pilate for judgment.
6. VS 23:13-15 - “13
Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and
said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to
rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in
this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. 15 “No,
nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death
has been done by Him.” - Pilate summons the chief priests and the
rulers and the people back to him and for the second time proclaims Jesus’
innocence
6.1.
Pilate declares here that
not only has he not found anything in Jesus that should condemn Him, but also
that Herod Antipas has likewise found nothing in Jesus worthy of condemnation.
6.2.
Here should have seen the end
of the proceedings since both Pilate and Herod have found Jesus not
guilty. However, the indecision of
Pilate along with the insistence of the crowd to see Jesus condemned cause
Pilate to not act upon his convictions and responsibilities as a civil servant.
7. VS 23:16-19 - “16
“Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” 17 [Now he was
obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.] 18 But they
cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us
Barabbas!” 19 (He was one who had been thrown into prison for an
insurrection made in the city, and for murder.)” - Pilate determines to punish Jesus and then
release Him, for he was obligated to release a prisoner to them every Passover,
however the crowd cries for Pilate to release to them an insurrectionist named,
Barabas
7.1.
Pilate tries in vain to
reach a compromise that will satisfy the Jewish religious leaders yet keep him
from condemning an innocent man. He
determines that he will ‘punish him and release him.’
8. VS 23:20-22 - “20
Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, 21 but
they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” 22 And he
said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in
Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release
Him.”” -
Wanting to release Jesus to the people, for the third time Pilate
declares Jesus’ innocence
8.1.
We see here that Pilate
definitely acted against his conscience by allowing the people to crucify
Jesus.
8.2.
Pilate is such an
enigma. If Jesus was innocent then how
could Pilate even send Him to be beaten and scourged as he did? Oh, these were barbaric times that Jesus
lived in.
8.3.
Pilate had a decision on
this day about what he was going to do about Jesus. However, each of us as people on the earth
are in a similar situation for we must decide for our own lives what we are
going to do with Jesus. Will we
investigate honestly the claims of Christ and the scriptures that foretold His
comings to the earth, or refuse to obey the truth?
9. VS 23:23-25 - “23
But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified.
And their voices began to prevail. 24 And Pilate pronounced
sentence that their demand be granted. 25 And he released the man
they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and
murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.” - Pilate finally gives in to the will of the
people and delivers Jesus to be crucified
9.1.
We see from the book of Acts
that the apostles believed that in Jesus’ trial that Psalm chapter 2 was
fulfilled, “1 Why are the nations in an uproar And
the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take
their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3
“Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” 4
He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then
He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 6
“But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon
9.2.
Matthew 27:24-25 tells us more that happened with
Pilate on this morning and that he tried (though in vain) to wash his hands of
his responsibility in the murder of Jesus, “24 When Pilate saw
that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took
water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of
this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” 25 And all the
people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”
9.2.1. Note here that the Jews on this day took primary responsibility for
Jesus’ crucifixion and death and that they make a vow, ‘His blood shall be
on us and on our children.’ Though
the guilt for Jesus’ death is shared by many in our story, as well as every
single person who has ever lived since it was our sin that sent Jesus to
Calvary’s cross, that the Jews have suffered greatly because of this deed and
this vow. This vow explains why the Jews
have been scattered over all of the earth, without a home, without a nation or
government until 1948, persecuted in every nation that they have entered and
why the world has always tended to hate and to blame the Jews for things. The blood of Jesus has been upon the hands of
the Jews.
9.2.2. Unfortunately for Pilate merely washing his hands with water did not
clear him of his responsibility to do the right and just thing concerning
Jesus. One day he will be resurrected
and stand before Jesus and give an account of his actions on this day.
9.3.
Isn’t it ironic that a man
named Barabbas, one who was an insurrectionist (Mark 15:7), a robber (John
18:40), and had committed murder in his insurrection (Mark 15:7), the very type
of things that Jesus was accused falsely of committing, was released in Jesus’
place? Truly, this is a picture of the
redemption that Jesus performed on the cross.
We were all sinners deserving death because of our transgression, yet
another man came and took our place, took all of the punishment that we were
due for our sins, so that we might be set free.
9.4.
Death by crucifixion was the
most painful and shameful manner by which a person might be executed. Jesus’ death on our behalf demonstrates how
far He went to pay the price for our redemption.
9.5.
In John 19:1, it tells us
that before they put the crown of thorns on Jesus’ head and a robe on Him and
began beating Him, that Pilate first ordered that Jesus would be scourged. This was a whipping with a thing called a “cat
of 9 tails” that consisted of long leather straps in which bone or metal was
tied. Jesus received 39 stripes by this
whip and each one ripped out chunks of blood vessels, muscle, ligaments,
tendons, etc. The law forbade giving
more than 39 of these stripes because it was believed that 40 stripes was a
lethal whipping. In our next study, we
will look at the events of Jesus’ crucifixion.
10.
CONCLUSIONS:
10.1.
As we consider the events of
this story and how that they affect our lives and how that we should apply them
to our lives, it first comes to our minds how that just as both Pilate and
Herod Antipas had a chance to decide about Jesus, that it is the responsibility
of every man, woman, and child to decide about Jesus. Each of us needs to investigate seriously
what the Bible teaches about Jesus and whether or not what is recorded in the
scripture is in fact true and reliable.
A serious and honest search out to be made by every person so that we
can determine whether or not we should believe the claims of Christ and come to
have salvation through Him.
10.2.
What will you decide
concerning Jesus today? Will you take
His word by faith and trust completely in Him and His work on the cross to save
you? If you will do this the scriptures
promise us that we will inherit eternal life.
10.3.
Consider how much Jesus
loves you that He would willingly lay His life down for you. All of that happened with Jesus on this day
was according to God’s predetermined plan and because He loves you so greatly.