Assessment by Pilate 28-40)
“Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the Hall of judgment; and it
was early. And they, themselves went not
into the Judgment Hall lest they should
be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out unto them and said, what
accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, if He
were not a malefactor we would not have delivered Him up unto thee. Then said Pilate
unto them, take ye Him and judge Him according to your law. The Jews therefore
said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death; that he saying
of Jesus may be fulfilled when He spake, signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment all
again and called Jesus, and said unto Him, art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus
answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of
me? Pilate answered am I a Jew? Thine own
nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me, what asked thou done?
Jesus answered, my Kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this
world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews.
But now is my Kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore, said unto Him, art thou a
king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause
came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth; everyone that is
of the truth heareth my voice. Then Pilate
saith unto Him, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out, again unto
the Jews and saith to them, I find in Him no fault at all. But ye have a custom
that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the King
of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying, not this man but Barabbas. Now Barabbas
was a robber.”
The above incidents are a character
study in human behaviour. We see humanity
at its worst when confronted with the pure holiness of Jesus. The ultimate question asked is “What is truth?”,
and every player in this drama is found wanting before the majesty of heaven. We can best look at this section by
tabulating the flaws exposed in each person or group of persons. Here is the greatest example of the accused
turning accuser; the condemned becoming the judge; the persecuted becoming the
prosecutor
Caiaphas the high priest. Unable to bring any charge against Jesus, he
sent Him to the Roman governor Pilate
with whom he was in concert. They could
have charged Him with breaking the Sabbath, and imposed capital punishment, but
they could not be seen to be stoning Him on the feast day. When challenged by Pilate to judge Him by
their law, they lied, saying it was not lawful for them to put any one to
death. This was not true, and was an excuse
to rid themselves of Jesus before the festival of Passover was in full swing. They were passing the buck on to the Roman
authority. They brought Him to the door
of the Hall of judgment, declining to enter lest they be defiled as they wanted
to partake of the Passover. What
breathtaking hypocrisy is this, that places a premium on ritual with a heart full
of evil intentions. By their evil
manipulation, they were already defiled, and there was worse to come. Another evidence of their moral bankruptcy was
the self-righteous assertion that they would not have brought Jesus to Pilate if
He were not a malefactor. They had nothing
on Him, He was an innocent man, yet they persisted to prosecute Him. This is religion at its worst, using ritual procedure
as a cover for injustice.
Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor Rudely awakened early in the morning, the Governor seemed
irritable, and not quite himself as he went to and fro between the accused and
His accusers. This situation was a
dilemma for him as he was answerable to the Caesar, especially if, as seemed likely,
there could be a possible public uproar, something that had been in the air for
some time now. Pilate was desperate to
resolve this situation quickly, as Jerusalem was milling with people at the Feast
of Passover. Any breakdown in public
order would reflect on him, so he had to use all possible means to avert
trouble. When justice is squeezed
between religious fervour and political expediency, the only casualty is
justice itself, for all parties had self-interest motivations. He goes through a number of ploys to resolve
the situation: v31 “Judge Him according to your law”-putting it back to the
Jews; v33 “Are you the king of the Jews then?”-who are you, in your own words;
as he searches for answers, perhaps setting a trap for Jesus; v34 Jesus turns it to say, are you saying it for
yourself, in your own understanding or are you just quoting gossip; v35 Pilate to Jesus-your own people, indeed the religious
hierarchy have delivered you to me. What
have you done? Never is the case where a
public prosecutor will rely on what the accused says!; v36 Jesus to Pilate-I
have a kingdom, but it is not of this world, otherwise my servants would
fight. If this were my kingdom, no one
could have delivered me to you; v37
Pilate-since you have a kingdom, are you some kind of king?; v37 Jesus-since you are asking who I am, I will
tell you. “To this end was I born, and
for this cause came I into this world, that I should bear witness unto the
truth. Every one that is of the truth
heareth my voice.” Having stated He had
a kingdom out of this world, He says He came from out of this world to tell the
world the truth. Only those who are of
the truth, hear my voice. This was a
withering take-down of the Roman Governor, and of all others who did not listen
to Him. The roles were reversed, Pilate was now in the dock!; v38 Pilate’s only
response to this, was to appeal to universal confusion, saying, What is truth? If there is no truth, then anything goes,
which is what happened, as he turns from Jesus and accedes to mob rule. No charge was brought against the man before
him, yet he gave the howling mob the choice, thus placing the burden of
judgment on them. He covered the
injustice by offering the Roman provision of grace of freeing one notable
prisoner as a gesture of good will. The
Jewish mob chose Barabbas, a robber.
Pilate accepted their decision and condemned an innocent man without charge, a man of whom he
said “I find in Him no fault”. This was
surely the greatest travesty of justice ever perpetrated by the greatest power
on earth, in concert with the Jewish leaders, and the baying street mob, none
of whom had any desire for the truth.
They had only malicious intent to rid themselves of one who made them
feel uncomfortable. Thus it was, and
thus it will ever be, in a world where truth is conspicuous by its absence. The only one who came through this mock trial
with any dignity was Jesus, all the rest had sullied their souls. Yet Jesus was the one whom they crucified, as
the next chapter will detail, and we watch in rapt wonder at the dignity of the
man who suffered such injustice at human hands, because He had come to tell the
world the truth. This truth was embodied
in the majestic dignity of the man of Calvary, who silently suffered their
abuse to reveal the heart of God to man.
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