Treachery in Judaism

 

Abandonment by treacherous Jews      v4-15

4-5)  “Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them, behold, I bring him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in Him.  Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.  And Pilate saith unto them, behold the man!”

It seems that Pilate, still convinced of His innocence, tried the sympathy tactic, thinking that when they saw the suffering of Jesus they would change their mind.  He repeats that he found no fault in Him.  He brought Him before them, and said, look at this poor fellow, hasn’t this man suffered enough? A man without any charge against Him that could stand scrutiny; a good man who had only done good in the community; a man so hurt in body, He was at the end of human strength, after the scourging.  Surely they would have compassion, surely they would accept the verdict of the governor who found no fault in Him.

6-7)  “When the Chief Priests therefore and Officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, crucify him, crucify him.  Pilate saith unto them, take ye Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him. The Jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law He ought to die for He made Himself the Son of God.”

The Chief Priests and Officers, showed no emotion and with callous hearts continued to demand capital punishment.  Priests are supposed to compassionate, representing people before God in an understanding way-refer Hebrews 5v1-3, which is a summary of their work, apart from their ongoing public duties.  This becomes very significant in light of this shocking incident; “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.  Who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way for that he himself also his compassed with infirmity.  And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.”  By this callous cry for crucifixion they disgraced their office, when they continued to press a foreign ruler to kill one of their own.  Very cleverly, they raised the issue of blasphemy, which deserved death.  This was contrary to what they said in chapter 18v31 when they claimed they had no power to put anyone to death.  They clearly had the power to put to death those who broke the law, they wanted Pilate to do it for them.  This whole scenario is devoid of logic, and was a set-up of convenience to rid themselves of Jesus that very day. 

8-10)  “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; and went again into the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? but Jesus gave him no answer. Then said Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me?  Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee?

Pilate however was worried about this charge because the Caesars themselves considered themselves to be descendants of Deity, this aspect did concern him and he inquired more of Jesus.  He said, who are you, where are you from?  Jesus remained silent, for He had nothing to answer for.  Who He was and whence He had come was a question of unbelief and He said nothing.  Pilate was indignant, don’t you know who I am, your life is in my hands?  This from the man who, until now, had declared publicly three times that there was no cause of death in Him. 

11)  “Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above.   Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

There is no escaping the power of this, as Jesus retorts, the only power you have against me is what God will give you.  You exceed your moral authority, and this is sin, but the one who delivered me to thee has the greater sin.  This whole charade is sinful, but there is one worse than you.  He did not say “them that delivered me, He said “him that delivered me”, obviously the High Priest.  He was the one who concocted this, He delivered me, the others were only following orders.  In the clamour for high position in public life, those who indulge should reflect that they will be held responsible for the sins of their followers.  High privilege brings high responsibility.  This was a withering take-down of public leaders.

12-15)  “And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out saying, if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend.  Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down on the judgment seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the 6th hour; and he saith unto the Jews, behold. Your king!  But they cried out, away with Him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered. We have no king, but Caesar”

The final deciding factor, when Pilate, the Roman governor sat down on the judgment seat to accede to the demands of the people.  The crunch came when the Jews raised the question of loyalty to Caesar, which found a definitive response in Pilate, for he was sworn to revere the Caesar, and the Jews knew it.  Pilate continued to retort, that Jesus was their king, and are you asking me to kill Him.  The ultimate treachery came when the chief priests uttered these words which were contrary to the entire ethos of every Jew, the acknowledgement that the occupying authority of Rome in their precious land was now accepted.  In condemning Jesus they condemned the whole nation, whose land was theirs by Divine appointment.  In their hatred for Jesus they ceded their right to the land.  By confessing Caesar as their king, they surrendered their right to privilege.  In the process, they chose Barabbas, a robber, over the benefactor, Jesus.  Israel reached their lowest depth at this moment.  They were given a choice, they chose injustice, they chose evil, their religion was now dead, their ritual now worthless.  It had been for a long time, but this was the death knell.

 

In the story of the crucifixion we have the three G’s-Gethsemane, where the olives were crushed, the place of greatest mental agony; Gabbatha the elevated, paved ridge, of the hall of judgment, where the greatest injustice was perpetrated by the Roman empire in concert with the Jews; next Golgotha, the place of the demonstration of Divine love to all mankind, in the face of evil.  God’s answer to the world’s atrocity was to declare forgiveness.