A
Study of the Book of John
“That You May Believe”
Sermon
#48
“Jesus Before Pilate”
John 18:28-39
John tells us that the arresting party has
bound Jesus and led him away. Jesus is taken to the house of the high priest and there
Peter denies knowing Jesus three times, just as predicted by the Lord (Mark 14:30). The last scene was that of Jesus being led
across the courtyard at the very moment that Peter makes his third denial. According to
Luke’s account, Jesus is led into the courtyard just as Peter denied Jesus for the
third time. In that tiny moment of time, Peter cursed (Matt 26:74),
the rooster crowed, and Peter looked up and saw Jesus looking directly at him (Luke 22:61-62). In an overwhelming sense of guilt and
remorse he fled from the palace.
As we have already seen, regardless of how
things may have looked in the garden of Gethsemane as Judas betrayed Jesus and an armed
crowd came to arrest him, Jesus was in complete control of the situation and the same is
true as we read of the description of Jesus’ trial before Pilate. Jesus is even in
control of the kind of death that awaited him. Actually the religious rulers could have
gotten away with a vigilante stoning of Jesus. But Caiaphas, the high priest at the time,
wanted Jesus crucified. He didn’t just want Jesus dead, he wanted Jesus to be
demonstrated to the common people as under a curse. Deuteronomy
21:3 states that, “…for he who is hanged is accursed of God.” Caiaphas thought that if the people saw
Jesus crucified they would be forced to say, “He
cannot possibly be the Messiah.” It never entered into Caiaphas’ mind that
he was fulfilling prophecy. Jesus
was in control, Jesus was not on trial.
The Jewish religious leadership had
established to their own satisfaction that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy (John 18:19-24) and that He was therefore liable to the
death penalty. But they had a problem they had no authority to have someone crucified.
They needed the Romans for that! It is for that reason that early on Friday morning they
led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium (v. 28a) which was the governor’s official
residence. “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the
Praetorium, and it was early morning.”
In verse twenty-nine we will be told that the
Roman governor was a man by the name of Pilate. When Pilate arose that morning little did
he expect to be confronted by the greatest decision of his career, indeed of his life! The
question he confronted was the same question each of us face in life, “What will I do with this man named Jesus?”
John explains that all of this happened
early in the morning, that is because there was a Jewish law which said that where a case
involved the possibility of a death sentence it could not take place at night. The Jewish
leadership wanted to at least give the appear-ance of legality to the proceedings.
The reminder of verse twenty-eight
states, “….But they themselves
did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the
Passover.” We
should not fail to notice the fact that although these religious leaders were careful not
to become ceremonial unclean by entering in the residence of a Gentile they did not seem
to be bothered by the moral defilement of
scheming to have an innocent man put to death.
In verse twenty-nine we are told that “Pilate then went out to them and said, “What accusation do
you bring against this Man?” Pilate’s question seems to catch the
religious leaders off guard, they seemed to expect that Pilate would merely “rubber
stamp’ their indictment of Jesus and quickly authorize His execution. Instead Pilate
asks them for a formal list of charges against Jesus. It quickly becomes apparent that
they were not able to substantiate any charges that would make Jesus worthy of death under
Roman law. In verse thirty they answer
Pilate by saying, “If He were not an evildoer, we would not
have delivered Him up to you.” Since they are unable to articulate any charges
that would make him worthy of death, they come up with a pious sounding version of “you will just have to trust me on this.”
Pilate’s response to this in verse
thirty-one is, “You take Him and judge Him according to
your law.” Pilate says if you have no formal accusation to make against Jesus,
“Then YOU (and the “you” is emphatic) take
him and look after the whole matter yourselves.” The problem is that the Jews
have the right to execute people but only by stoning.
The Jewish religious leaders respond to
Pilate in the remainder of verse thirty-one, “Therefore
the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,” (32)
that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He
would die.”
The problem that the religious leaders faced
was that there was no Roman law against blasphemy. That was a Jewish matter. They could
not say,“This man claims to be the Messiah”
because Pilate would have dismissed this out of hand and that would be it. Pilate did
not like the Jews and he had no intention of being dragged into a debate about their
religious law.
So the Jewish religious rulers intimated that
Jesus was causing political problems contrary to the Roman law. Luke records their
accusation (Luke 23:2) “And they began to accuse
Him, saying, “We found this fellow
perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He
Himself is Christ, a King.” Knowing that Roman law did not recognize
blasphemy as a sufficient cause for the death penalty, the Sanhedrin concocted three other
accusations against Jesus: perverting the nation, forbidding the paying of taxes
to Rome, and claiming to be a king. Treason would have been the charge in the
formal sense, and this was a charge that Pilate could not afford to overlook and it was
certainly a charge worthy of the death penalty under Roman law. Though their real reasons
were religious they pursued the political charges because it was expedient to do so.
Now Pilate begins dealing with Jesus one on
one and he asks him a series of four questions which I believe will be instructive for us
to look at.
There is one interesting sidelight that
I don’t know that I have ever considered. What language did Pilate and Jesus converse
in? There is no mention of an interpreter being present. That may have been because John
considered it so obvious that it did not bear mentioning, but it also possible that no
interpreter was present. Pilate as an educated Roman probably spoke Greek which was spoken
throughout the Roman empire and feeling the way he did about the Jews it is highly
unlikely that he would learn Aramaic. We cannot be sure of course but it seems highly
possible that John is relating this conversation in the Greek language in which it was
spoken.
[Leon Morris. Reflections on the Gospel of John p. 629]
Question One: Are You the King of the Jews?
(v. 33)
Pilate asks Jesus a series of questions, the
first of which is found in verse thirty-three, “Then
Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the
King of the Jews?” Although this is in a sense a legal question one can
hardly miss that it is also a incredulous exclamation, “Are YOU the King of the Jews.” It
is not hard to understand why Pilate found this so hard to believe, as Jesus stood before
him dressed as peasant, stained with sweat and blood and his features already swollen.
Jesus answered Pilate’s question in verse
thirty-four by saying, “Are you speaking for yourself
about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” This is not an attempt to avoid giving an answer,
but it is the first step in clarifying what really is at issue here. If Pilate is asking
the question for himself, he is asking if Jesus was an earthly king? If however, he is
asking a question prompted by the Pharisees what is being asked is, “Are you a
heavenly king – Are you the Messiah?”
Question Two: What Have You Done? (v. 35)
In the middle of the discussion of the kind
of kingdom he possessed, Pilate asks an intriguing question in verse thirty-five: “Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief
priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Pilate wanted to
know what Jesus could have done that aroused so much hatred. The Jewish leaders had
dragged him before the Roman governor and were obviously set upon attaining the death
sentence. Obviously something lay behind all of this maneuvering, and Pilate would like to
know what. Clearly Pilate was not prepared to regard what the high priests had told him as
being necessarily accurate. There was some-thing going on here which Pilate did not
completely understand but what he did under-stand he did not like!
Jesus
answered Pilate in verse thirty-six, “Jesus answered, “My
kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight,
so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Jesus does not respond to the
suggestion that he has done something to offend the high priest, but instead goes back to
the consideration of kingship. Jesus proclaims himself to be a
spiritual king. He says “If my kingdom were of
this world (which it is not) then my servants would be fighting (which
they are not).”
Question Three: Are You A King Then? (v. 37) “Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for
this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone
who is of the truth hears My voice.”
Jesus says that it is as Pilate has stated,
though he does not have a political kingdom, he is very much a king!!
Question Four: What Is Truth? (v. 38)
“Pilate said to Him, “What
is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to
them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”
Truth is transforming if obeyed. Results do
not necessarily come from just hearing the truth, but in applying and obeying the truth.
The deeper question is whether he will act on the truth he has seen!
Pilate was in fact standing face to face with
“the” truth in the flesh. At
that very moment Pilate is standing closer to the truth than he had ever been before and
closer than he would ever be again! Pilate has the truth but he must decide what he
is going to do with the truth, and he makes the wrong decision!
Quite early on Pilate came to see that Jesus
had committed no crime. From that point on it was never a question of guilt or innocence;
it was a question of what Pilate would do.
In Mark 15:10 we learn that Pilate
realized the reason the Pharisees were so angry with Jesus, “he
knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.” Pilate was many things, but he was no fool. He saw through the
empty charges and understood what the religious leaders were trying to do. The priests
wanted that kind of power and authority with the people that Jesus had repeatedly
demonstrated. Because they did not possess it, they were angry and envious.
The envy of the religious leaders kept them
from receiving Jesus. Envy is a powerful emotion. Yet you may say, how does that apply to
me, I don’t envy Jesus? The reason that the religious leaders rejected Jesus was that
his life and his words were a dreadful mirror of their own souls. When we are convicted we
either repent or get angry, but either way it causes a reaction.
After
determining for himself Jesus’ innocence, Pilate did his best to escape the
responsibility of sentencing Jesus. In fact three times he declares that Jesus
is innocent (John 18:38, 19:4, 6). Pilate tries three times to evade the responsibility.
First, by sending Jesus to Herod when he
realized Jesus was a Galilean (Luke 23:4, 6-7).
But when Jesus refused to perform any miracles; Herod in keeping with his cruel nature,
had Jesus dressed in a royal robe and beaten and sent back to Pilate.
Secondly, he offers a choice between Jesus and
Barabbas (John 18:39-40).
Pilate knew that he ought to release Jesus, but he also knew that this would not please
the Jewish religious leadership, so he tried a different course in verse thirty-nine,
“But you have a custom that I should release someone to you
at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
Pilate appeals to a tradition of Passover
amnesty in which one prisoner is released during the festival. He offered them two men
– Jesus and a notorious criminal named Barabbas. Barabbas was a thug, in our day he
would be called a terrorist – a man who could kill with no emotion at all.
Dr. Barnhouse said,
“Barabbas was the only man in the world that could say that Jesus Christ took his
physical place. But I can say that Jesus Christ took my spiritual place. For it was I who
deserved to die. It was I who deserved that the wrath of God should be poured upon me. I
deserved the eternal punishment of the lake of fire. He was delivered up for my offenses.
He was handed over to the judgment because of my sins. … Christ was my substitute, He
was satisfying the debt of divine justice and holiness. That is why I say that
Christianity can be expressed in three phrases; I deserved Hell, Jesus took my Hell, there
is nothing left for me but Heaven.”
Finally he has Jesus beaten (John 19:1-5) in the hopes that the sight of bleeding
broken man might move his accusers to pity.
In Matt 27:17-21 we read, “Therefore, when they had
gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you?
Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” (18) For he knew
that they had handed Him over because of envy. (19) While he was
sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with
that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.” (20) But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they
should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. (21) The governor
answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
They said, “Barabbas!” (22) Pilate said to them, “What
then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate’s final question was “the”
most important of all and it was about Jesus but not to Jesus, when the crowd demand
Barabbas he asked, “What shall I Do then with
Jesus?”
In the end it came down to this, Pilate knew
he should release Jesus, and in fact he wanted to, but he wanted to release Jesus without
any cost to himself personally. He wanted to let him go, but without having to take a
personal stand. Perhaps he admired Jesus, in a way, but not enough to believe in Him. He
yielded finally to intimidation and public pressure and he sentenced Jesus to die.
But in a final act of tortured conscience, he
took a bowl of water and washed his hands. Matthew is the only one to tell us of this
incident (Matt 27:24). This was a symbolic gesture intended to indicate that he did not
approve of the crucifixion of Jesus. However, what Pilate found out was that “The shed blood of Jesus will either cleanse
you from all sin or it will be on your hands for all eternity!”
Conclusion
The Jewish leadership had plotted and
schemed. The Roman governor allowed himself to be backed into a corner and Jesus was to
die by crucifixion. But when all things are considered it is the plan of God being worked
out to perfection. It was not enough that Jesus should die. It was not enough that He
should die during Passover, as “the” Passover lamb! It was also necessary that
Jesus die AS HE HAD PREDICTED – by being lifted up on a Roman cross.
Annas and Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish
mob, and Pilate, all played their part in the decision to crucify Jesus. They all acted of
their own free will, and each will be held accountable for the decisions they reached, but
there is a deeper sense in which nothing was done other than the predetermined plan of
God.
Things are not always as they appear. It may
appear that the Jewish religious leader-ship and Pilate are sitting in the judgment seat
deciding the fate of Jesus. Yet it is not as it appears Christ was in control not Pilate.
In the same fashion, you may think that today you are giving Jesus a “hearing” but you have not yet decided in His favor. I can say to you with absolute certainty that there will be a day that you will stand before Him as your judge. The only means that God has provided for your salvation is the blood shed by Jesus on the cross of Calvary.