Jesus Before Pilate

Jesus before Pilate

John 19:1-16

Intro: On the night of Jesus' arrest he was taken back and forth from various Jewish courts to Roman courts and in between he was mocked by soldiers, and beaten within an inch of his life. All this was done before Jesus was taken to Golgotha to be crucified.

Jesus stands before Pilate:

As our text begins in Chapter 19 of John, Jesus has already been questioned by Pilate, the Roman Procurator. Pilate was in an uncomfortable situation of trying to keep the peace in a region full of religious zealots. Though Roman soldiers were garrisoned in Palestine, Caesar didn't want to have to send legions all the way from Rome to put up with a Jewish rebellion.

On the night before Passover, with the city of Jerusalem filled beyond capacity with Jewish pilgrims coming from great distances, Pilate's quiet evening is interrupted by Jewish religious leaders bringing a prisoner to him. They have already condemned Jesus to death in their Jewish courts, but because they were under Roman occupation and rule, they could not carry out their death sentence on their own. So they are bringing Jesus to Pilate to get him to do what they are not allowed to do on their own.

Pilate is out of his element here. He doesn't know who Jesus is or what he has done to earn a death sentence from the Jews. He asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews which is a pretty good question considering that Pilate is clueless about this whole situation. Jesus admitted to being a king, but not of any earthly kingdom. At the end of Pilate's first questions of Jesus, he goes back out to the Jewish mob outside the Praetorian to tell them, "I find no fault in him at all."

At this point, Pilate comes up with a quick plan to deal with this matter and get it out of his hair. Remembering that sometimes they would release a prisoner at Passover time as a good will gesture for the masses, Pilate offered to release Jesus hoping that this would placate the mob. What he didn't know was that the Jewish leaders had whipped up this mob into a murderous frenzy. How ironic that just a few days before, the crowds were shouting "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Now they are shouting, "Crucify him!" When Pilate suggested releasing Jesus, the crowd surprised him by offering another option, "No, release Barrabas!" Barabbas was a robber and a trouble maker who was better kept behind bars. That moment of brilliance got Pilate nowhere.

Still trying to get this whole matter out of the way, Pilate came up with another idea to placate the mob, but avoid doing away with Jesus. He decided to have Jesus flogged and then released. The idea behind this scheme was to appeal to their pity. Surely, a beaten and bloody man would be in such a sad state that the crowds would relent on their talk of crucifixion. After being beaten nearly to death, the soldiers put a robe and a crown of thorns on his head, and they taunted him calling him King of the Jews. Pilate brought Jesus out before the crowd and said, "Here is the man!" Surely, this was punishment enough to satisfy the crowd. Pilate still didn't realize that the mob's frenzy was incited by the Jewish religious leaders. When Jesus was brought out before the mob, the chief priests and officials shouted, "Crucify, Crucify!"

Pilate's response was, You take him and crucify him. As for me I find no basis for a charge against him." This was when the Jewish leaders revealed to Pilate their charge against Jesus. "We have a law, and according to that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God." Now, that might have been a proper motive for the Jews to want to kill him, but such a charge would mean nothing at all to a Roman court. Rome had no reason to take legal action on a religious matter. By this time, Pilate was at the end of his rope. He was searching desperately for any way out of this tight situation.

Pilate asked Jesus, "Where do you come from?" I assume this question was designed to give him an excuse to call for a change of venue. In fact, that is why Pilate had earlier sent Jesus over to Herod who quickly sent Jesus back to Pilate without making any judgment. Jesus did not answer Pilate's question which made Pilate even more frustrated. He said, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you realize I have the power to either free you or crucify you?"

Jesus response to Pilate reveals that Jesus was not a helpless victim here but willingly offering himself up as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus said, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." We remember Jesus saying, "No one takes my life away from me, I give it freely." Jesus was still in charge, even in the midst of torture and judgment.