Jesus before Pilate

Background Scripture: Matthew 27
Lesson Scripture: Matthew 27:11-26

Introduction

As we sit in a comfortable church building surrounded by friends and neighbors, can we picture Jesus before Pilate? He, too, was surrounded, but not by friends; his friends had all forsaken Him. He was surrounded by a shameless, shrieking rabble, but they were not his enemies. They were his beloved creation, and He left his Father’s side to redeem them.

To realize how alone Jesus must have felt is deeply sobering. The cry of “Crucify Him” expressed not only the will of the mob. In that awful setting, the mob’s decree, Pilate’s orders, and God’s will were the same—a sinless Man must die.

Key Verse

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

The riot outside Pilate’s palace happened early on a cold, spring morning, perhaps twelve hours after the last supper. In those eventful hours, Jesus prayed his high priestly prayer, sweated blood in Gethsemane, received comfort from angels, and healed one of the ruffians who came to arrest Him. He was dragged from the house of Annas to that of Caiaphas, appeared twice before the Sanhedrin, and was slapped and spat upon. Peter denied Him, and the rest of his disciples abandoned Him. He had not slept all night and likely had nothing to eat or drink.

The Sanhedrin, or Jewish council, judged him worthy of death but had no legal power to pass a death sentence. Now, at break of day, they marched Him off to Pilate to get approval for their illegal prosecution.

From a human perspective, Jesus stood before Pilate as a Galilean peasant caught in the crossfire of Jewish politics and Roman authority. Pilate represented the authority and power of the Roman Empire. He was sent by the empire to enforce the laws of Rome, collect her taxes, and preserve her power, but he was also supposed to keep things quiet. The Romans did not want war in Palestine—they wanted to keep the peace until they were ready to finish what they had only begun: the complete subjugation of Judea. Pilate could not afford any civil unrest.

The Sanhedrin represented the religious authority of the Jews, operating with the consent of the Romans. They may have hated the Romans, but they also became rich and powerful by cooperating with them. The religious leaders were allowed to control the Temple wealth and the lucrative market for sacrificial lambs and cattle, but in return they were supposed to make sure that the common people did not revolt against their Roman oppressors.

It was a well-oiled political machine that kept the common people poor, the priests rich, and Rome in control. Jesus, with his freely shared miracles, his poverty, and his popular teachings, simply did not fit in the scheme.

Pilate did not want to crucify Jesus. He tried to release him, but the crowd would not hear of it. He sent Him to Herod, ruler of Galilee, hoping that Herod would find a way to make this nightmare go away. But Herod simply clothed Jesus in royal purple as a joke and sent Him back to Pilate.

Pilate was vulnerable, and the Jewish leaders knew his weak point. The priests had connections in Rome, and it would be simple for them to send a message to the emperor that Pilate had released a dangerous man who called Himself king. It would not have been true, nor would it have been just, but still Pilate could lose his position and his power. He now faced the most difficult challenge of his life; he must choose between jeopardizing his own interests and face humiliation or an unjust, false verdict and death for Jesus. Like many others who, since his day, have faced the question of what to do with Jesus, Pilate made the selfish choice.

He washed his hands, but there was hypocrisy in the act. The basin of water may have been meant to symbolize that it was not the judge who killed the guilty criminal but the law, which was over the judge. But no law had condemned Jesus. Pilate sent him to die a horrible death rather than risk ruin, humiliation, or inconvenience for himself.

The Jewish priests and Pilate saw Jesus as an uneducated member of the lowest class, entirely within their power. The reality, of course, was very different. As Lord and Creator of all, God has all things under his control. Despite the heathen ways and unbelief of the Roman Empire, Pilate, and the Jewish Sanhedrin, God used them to accomplish his plan of salvation.

Jesus was the King held captive, a judge being judged, a healer wounded, and the Giver of Life sentenced to death. He was the only man present who feared nothing. Pilate argued, the priests retorted, and the crowd roared, but Jesus stood poised and silent. We say that death was conquered when Jesus arose from the grave. No doubt it was, but Jesus also conquered death by the way He faced it. Even as the lashes fell on his naked back, He was not only the victim; He was the victor.

He never lost sight of the joy that was set before Him and endured the cross (Heb. 12:2).

Practical Truths for Today

Why did Jesus suffer so much indignity? Passover lambs were not scourged, slapped, or ridiculed. With a quick knife thrust by an experienced hand, their life blood gushed out, and atonement was made.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isa. 53:5). Sin has not only a final penalty but also consequences. Jesus took the penalty of our sin together with all its dreadful consequences upon Himself. He was bruised in mind as well as body. He accepted betrayal, ridicule, isolation, and shame. The physical suffering Jesus endured is beyond our imagination, but every lash on his back is part of our healing. Suffering is the consequence of sin, and death is its punishment. Jesus drained the full cup of both.

Looking at the scene in Pilate’s Hall, we find ourselves disturbed at the pretense of justice; the innocent cannot justly be condemned. Barabbas is the guilty one; Jesus is innocent! We instinctively want justice—let Him go free! But wait, do we really want justice? If we want justice for Jesus, do we want it for ourselves? Do we truly want the innocent to go free and the guilty to be punished?

Alas, we find that we do not desire justice like we thought we did. Like Pilate, we find that the consequences of justice are simply too hard to face, too real and personal. The rabble yelled for the release of guilty Barabbas; are we, guilty as we are, going to say that Barabbas should have suffered the consequences of his actions?

It is mercy we want, not justice. Mercy that lets a sinner escape sin’s consequence, mercy that waives punishment for the guilty. In essence, we want sin at a discounted price, its pleasures without its payment. Look then again at Jesus—scourged, naked, crucified, and pierced. We can have mercy instead of justice, but this is what it cost.

We are unworthy recipients of mercy. Jesus’s trial before Pilate was held long ago; we cannot add our voices to influence its decision. The price of our sins was paid before we committed them, but we cannot accept mercy at the hands of a crucified Savior unless we also accept the righteousness He offers. Abiding in Him is our only protection from the justice we do not dare to face. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6).

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind” (1 Pet. 4:1). Jesus is our template, pattern, and example as we face suffering.

An old idiom says “You’ve made your bed, now lie in it.” This is usually applied to people who have made unwise decisions with unpleasant consequences, though it is rarely applied to oneself. How fortunate we are that Jesus did not take this approach! Since He did not, neither can we.

Having escaped the penalty of our own sins, we need to willingly forbear the wrongs of others. We cannot atone for them; Jesus has done that, but we can share his forgiveness. We can also share in the pain brought about by sin and help carry the burden of grief brought on by evil choices, though they were not our own. This is not a heroic work, worthy of recognition and honor, but it should be our response because of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. To willingly accept the pain of others’ sins is one of the few things we can do to show gratitude for what we have received.

Jesus never forgot the joy that was before him. Surely the greatest part of his joy is that of watching the procession that has poured out of sin’s prison gates.

But as we pour joyfully out of the stronghold into the sunshine of freedom, let us never forget the sacrifice that brought us here. We are free because Jesus was condemned; we are whole because He was broken. We live because He died.

Questions

1. Should we be able to identify with Barabbas, guilty of sedition and murder?
2. Are there two types of sinners—ordinary sinners like us and terrible ones like Barabbas?
3. Can a Christian, forgiven for his own sins, ever wish to see someone else suffer for their wickedness?
4. What was the joy that was set before Jesus? How did He “despise the shame”?
5. In what ways can we follow Jesus’s example of carrying the burden of other people’s sins?

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).