Tag Archives: Pilate

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – PARTNERS IN CRIME

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PARTNERS IN CRIME

“Herod was delighted when Jesus showed up. He had wanted for a long time to see Him; he’d heard so much about Him. He hoped to see Him do something spectacular. He peppered Him with questions. Jesus didn’t answer — not one word. But the high priests and religion scholars were there, saying their piece, strident and shrill in their accusations.

“Mightily offended, Herod turned on Jesus. His soldiers joined in, taunting and jeering. Then they dressed him up in an elaborate king costume and sent Him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became thick as thieves. Always before they had kept their distance.” Luke 23:8-12 (The Message).

Now it’s Herod’s turn — the other authority figure responsible for justice in the land. It took a run-in with the truth to show his true colours. He emerged as an even more unsavoury character than Pilate, who was at least honest enough to consider the accusations and acknowledge Jesus’ innocence.

To Herod, Jesus was nothing but an object of amusement and a plaything. When Jesus refused to dance to his tune, he tossed Him aside with contempt. It was not justice he was after but entertainment for his own pleasure. He led the way, giving the soldiers permission by his own attitude, to humiliate Jesus by their words and actions.

It was also the soldiers’ turn to confirm their guilt in this saga. By their behaviour, they condemned themselves to the same fate as all the others. They had no personal axe to grind with Jesus and yet they treated Him like an enemy, cornered prey that they could torment before killing because, for a short time, they had Him in their power, so they thought.

Always, in the background, the religious hierarchy pranced around like hyenas, there in force to ensure that the prey did not escape.

Each one in this unfolding drama reveals his true self and confirms his culpability before God. And so with us. The value of this record would be lost to us if we did not place ourselves somewhere in this story. We may not occupy a seat of justice or rulership but we have to face the same Jesus and make a decision regarding who He is.

Like the people directly responsible for His death, we have to come up with a verdict. Was He an imposter, guilty of blasphemy or treason, or was He the Son of God and King of kings? If we declare Him guilty as charged, we have not honestly evaluated the evidence. If we declare Him innocent, we stand guilty with those who condemned Him to death unjustly, because all humanity was represented in that act.

The sequel to this bizarre chain of events was the unlikely alliance that came about that day. In their unwillingness to fulfil their duty to serve justice on a condemned man, Pilate, the arrogant and ruthless representative of Roman government and Herod, the half-Jew playboy ruler of Galilee, joined hands in condemning Jesus to death and became partners in the worst crime ever committed by human beings. Pilate, by handing an innocent man over to the will of a religious mob and Herod, by his callous indifference, washed their hands of God then, but have to face Him again.

What about us? If we choose to wash our hands of Jesus now, as Pilate did then, we too will have to face Him again, and this time He will be in the seat of justice. His perfect justice will be to give us exactly what we want – nothing to do with Him.

Peter and his fellow disciples were equally guilty on that day. One denied and they all deserted Him, but they came back and Jesus forgave them on the same grounds that He always forgives, “They do not know what they are doing.” They had no idea of the implications of their behaviour. Neither did Pilate or Herod but they never returned to receive the same mercy and forgiveness extended to the disciples.

How much better to return now and acknowledge your part in Jesus’ death. He was the sacrificial lamb put to death for you, blood for blood, so that you may receive the gift of His life, and never have to face the judgment that would sever you from Him forever.

THE BOOK OF ACTS – WHO DID IT?

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WHO DID IT?

“From out of David’s descendants God produced a Saviour for Israel, Jesus, exactly as He promised — but only after John had thoroughly alerted the people to His arrival by preparing them for a life-change. As John was finishing up his work, he said, ‘Did you think I was the One? No. I’m not the One. But the One you’ve been waiting for all these years is just around the corner, about to appear. And I’m about to disappear.'” Acts 13:23-25 (The message).

Jesus was no self-proclaimed Messiah, making extravagant but unfounded claims for Himself. His coming was not only prophesied from the beginning (Genesis 3:15) but, in true royal fashion, His arrival was heralded by His forerunner, John, who come in the spirit and power of Elijah.

As a human being, Jesus was a descendant of the royal line of David, rightfully the king of Israel, but more than that, He was the Son of God, coming to reclaim His place as God in the hearts of His people. He was not an intrusion into the lives of people who were already worshiping God. He was the representative of the Father, the face of the One they had never seen, sent from the Father to reveal His true nature and to call them back to pure worship, uncluttered by the rules and ritual that had clouded their understanding of Him.

“‘Dear brothers and sisters, children of Abraham and friends of God, this message of salvation had been precisely targeted to you. The citizens and rulers in Jerusalem didn’t recognise who He was and condemned Him to death. They couldn’t find a good reason, but demanded that Pilate execute Him anyway. They did just what the prophets said they would do, but had no idea they were following to the letter the script of the prophets, even though these same prophets are read every Sabbath in their meeting places.'” Acts 13:26-29 (The Message).

Jesus came both to reveal the Father and to reconcile His people to the Father. The sacrifices which they offered to God were only a visual aid of the true sacrifice that Messiah would become to do away with sin once-for-all and to dispense with everything that stood in the way of their free access to Him.

So who was really responsible for the death of Jesus? The Father who planned it? The Jews who condemned Him to death and handed Him over to Pilate? Herod who played with Him and sent Him back to Pilate? Pilate who passed sentence and handed him over to the soldiers? The soldiers who nailed Him to the cross? Or all of us whose sin demanded the penalty of death which He was willing to pay for us?

Everyone was implicated in the chain of events which Paul declared was God’s way of bringing salvation to the world. And, just to make sure that no one missed the point; God put it in writing through His prophets long before it ever happened. He made sure that all the evidence was in His data base so that anyone who has the will to, can compare the finger prints of Jesus with the finger prints of Messiah on the data base of Scripture and come up with a perfect match!

Only those who have no interest or desire for reconciliation with the Father and the all the blessings and privileges of the sons of God would be foolish enough to ignore God’s offer of a free pardon and reinstatement into His family as His sons and daughters.

They Didn’t Care

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THEY DIDN’T CARE

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate. ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate. ‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied. The chief priests accused Him of many things. So again Pilate asked Him, ‘Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.’ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. (Mark 15: 1-5)

From the beginning, this trial was a farce. The religious leaders had broken every rule in the book. O yes, they were careful to keep their own rules to make them look good, but God’s instructions?  They ignored them because it was not convenient to obey, and they didn’t care.

What would the Jews think up to accuse Jesus before Pilate? An ominous statement – they made their plans! What plans did they have to make? Jesus was either a lawbreaker or He wasn’t. He was either guilty of a crime, or He wasn’t. But, to them He was an enemy, not because He did anything outside of the law, but because He had offended them with His righteous life and His exposure of their hypocrisy and ungodly lives. How true were His words:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. (John 3: 19-20)

The Jewish religious leaders hated Jesus because His life mirrored the nature of God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. (Ex. 34: 6)

They were proud of their “righteous” lives as long as no one checked their motives or looked inside to see the rottenness of their hearts. Every act of compassion and mercy which Jesus did in response to people’s need, was an expression of the Father whom Jesus came to reveal. They hated Him for it because it drew attention to the phoniness of their own hard and callous hearts. And they didn’t care.  

And so, true to their real natures, they schemed to get rid of Jesus, guilty or not, so that they could continue as before without Him breathing down their necks. Unfortunately for them, life would never be the same again. Jesus had taken the time and trouble to tell them the truth. Once they had heard it from His lips and refused to believe Him, their guilt was plied on them; guilt because they had not accurately reflected the teachings of Torah in their own lives, and because they had oppressed the people by their endless and meaningless “interpretations” of Torah which suited them because keeping them made them look good.

In order to get their way, they didn’t care about doing the right thing or upholding the justice system of Torah. In spite of their claim to be “Abraham’s children”, they schemed and plotted to take Jesus’ life to get Him out of their hair. From their perspective, He was guilty of blasphemy because He claimed to be the Son of God. This was their accusation against Him, but how were they going to prove Him guilty?

Their witnesses were undoubtedly liars because they could not get their testimony to agree. They accused Him of threatening to destroy Herod’s temple and rebuild it in three days. What kind of accusation was that? Did they really believe that He would make a wild statement like that? The only way they could get a conviction was to ask Him outright whether He was the Son of God or not since He was obliged to answer. But that’s just where they deviated from Torah, as we noted yesterday. But they didn’t care. As long as they had it from His mouth, it was enough to convict Him.

But they had to have a valid indictment to put before Pilate. Blasphemy was an internal matter. Pilate would throw it out as of no consequence to Roman. Treason! That would make Pilate sit up and take notice! So their scheme was to change the charge to treason. That would not be difficult seeing that He had blatantly ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey the Sunday before, an action they interpreted as the fulfilment of the Messianic prophecy in Zechariah 9.

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech. 9: 9)

However, they did not see it as the fulfilment of a Messianic prophecy but as the action of an imposter. They refused to put all the evidence together and come up with the truth. They thought that Pilate would fall for that one because they would present Jesus as a threat to Rome. And they didn’t care that it was a trumped-up charge, devoid of evidence, as long as they could make it stick.

Everything changes when people don’t care! No rules apply; there are no boundaries, law and order collapse and society disintegrates into chaos.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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They Made Their Choice!

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THEY MADE THEIR CHOICE!

“When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. ‘Here is your king,’ Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, ‘Take Him away! Take Him away! Crucify Him!’ ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the chief priests answered.

“Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.” John 19:13-16 NIV.

Was Pilate playacting or was he stalling for time?

He knew he was beaten but he still acted as though he were in charge. Perhaps he made a show of taking the judge’s seat, ready to give them his verdict and pass sentence on the prisoner. Instead of announcing, ‘I find the accused, Jesus of Nazareth, guilty of treason. I sentence Him to death by crucifixion,’ …or…’I find the accused, Jesus of Nazareth, not guilty of the crime of treason against Caesar. The prisoner is free to leave,’ he made a statement, weak but intended to be dramatic! ‘Here is your king!’

What was that supposed to achieve? Did he really think that this militant mob would be moved with pity when they saw the swollen face and bloodied body of their enemy being paraded before them? It was the sight of Jesus, weak and stumbling, with flesh hanging in shreds from His mangled body, that spurred them on to begin to chant, ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ rising to a deafening crescendo until Pilate silenced them with an upraised hand.

‘Do you really want me to crucify your king?’ he asked. So significant was this question that it could have come from the mouth of the Lord God Himself. Just as Pilate stood before the representatives of God’s people and gave them the choice; ‘Who do you want to rule over you; to set the standards by which you are governed; to decide what is right and wrong; to decide the course of your lives and your destiny as a nation; and to exercise justice over you,’ so God was asking them, ‘Who will be your chosen king, Caesar or God?’

They made their choice. In the heat and fury of their demented minds, the chief priests yelled, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ What a choice! This was their final decision against the God who had loved them, wooed them and stood by them through centuries of rebellion, spiritual adultery and unbridled wickedness. Again and again He had forgiven and restored them. His love would not let them go.

He sent His Messiah, He beloved and only-begotten Son to rescue them from the consequences of their terrible choices and now they had thrown Him away like filthy garbage and chosen Caesar as their king. Who was this Caesar they were so enamoured with?

“Tiberius Julius Caesar ruled from 14 AD to 37 AD. He was one of Rome’s greatest generals but he came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive and sombre ruler.” (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/tiberius)

“It is not known whether Tiberius had heard of Jesus, or knew about the crucifixion of Jesus. Word about Jesus and his miracles spread quickly throughout the Roman Empire, even to the Imperial Palace o Palatine Hill but Tiberius had retired to his palace on the Island of Capri in 26 AD, while all sorts of corruption was happening in Rome…There were many rumours about Tiberius on Capri involving homosexuality, and sexual perversity with young boys, which included all sorts of inhumane cruelty.”

(www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/tiberius-caesar.html)

God took them at their word, “His blood be upon us and upon our children” and in AD 70 the Roman army under General Titus, destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, slaughtered the people and Israel ceased to exist as a nation until 1948.

And God has not finished with the Jews yet!

Trapped!

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TRAPPED!

“‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realise I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘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 the greater sin.’

“From then on Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, ‘If you let this man go you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.'” John 19:10-12 NIV.

Three versions? Who was Pilate to believe?

He thought he knew who had the destiny of Jesus in his hands. After all, he was the Roman governor with delegated authority from the most powerful person in the world to decide whether Jesus lived or died. He was frustrated with Jesus because He was making no effort to defend Himself. In a few sentences He could easily have persuaded Pilate of His innocence, and Pilate would have had no option but to release Him for the sake of justice.

Here is a lesson for us. Every person must decide for himself. Jesus’ life and words present the evidence. It is not His role to persuade people to believe in Him but to let the facts speak for themselves and to give them the choice to receive or reject Him for who He is. Is He or is He not the Son of God? If He is, then we give Him total allegiance because we can do no other.

Jesus’ response must have shocked Pilate. It was not Pilate who had the authority to decide on His fate. His authority was only delegated, and not from Rome. There was a higher authority to which Rome was accountable and so was Pilate. God was in charge of the whole universe, and not even Caesar could rule without His permission.

That should change the way we view life when things seem to have gone horribly wrong. Do things just happen? Randomly? Coincidentally? Not from Jesus’ perspective! Here He was, standing before the Roman governor, on trial for His life on trumped up charges.  Where was God? Where was justice? From our point of view it looked like things had spun out of control. But…

Peter said, “‘This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing him to a cross.'” Acts 2:23 NIV.

This was a deliberate plan of God and Jesus was in on the whole thing. He did not want to be released because He had a mission to fulfil and He was carrying it out in obedience to the Father. When they tried to arrest Him in the garden, they could not until He handed Himself over. Now He stood before Pilate and watched him wrestle with his conscience, knowing that fear would override justice because it had to be.

The religious leaders used their power to persuade Pilate – the power of intimidation. Although Jesus was no threat to Caesar, and Pilate knew it, the Jewish hierarchy taunted him with the accusation, “If you let Him go, Caesar won’t like you. Jesus is guilty of treason because He says He is a king. If you let Him go, you are in cahoots with Him and that means you are against Caesar!”

Pilate was trapped. Whichever way he decided, he was in trouble. To which authority should he bow; to Caesar; to God; or to the Jews? After the day of Pentecost, Peter knew the answer. When he and John stood before the Sanhedrin and were commanded not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, Peter courageously looked their accusers in the eye and replied:

“‘Which is right in God’s eyes; to listen to you or to Him? You be the judges!'” Acts 4:19 NIV.

Pilate made his choice and had to live with it for the rest of his life.