Jesus Before Pilate & Herod

I was thinking today that it is a blessing to be able to spend some focused time on the life of Christ, especially the section we're in now with the trials and his suffering for us, his death. It is so easy because we are so familiar with that, so familiar with the terminology, so easy just to rush right through those passages. And it's just a blessing to slow down and resist the urge to try to get done or a certain amount done in a certain time and just soak ourselves in the truth of God's Word. And I just was thinking today of what a blessing that is, the opportunity we have to do that. Not being here last week, just want to bring you up to date, remind you of where we are when we stopped a couple of weeks ago. We were right in the middle of the trials of Christ and remember there are six of them in all or at least six phases of the trial of Christ. And we were right in the middle. We had seen the first three, he is first of all, well, let's look at the map and that will help us maybe to remember where we are. One of Gethsemane right here, Jesus is arrested here somewhere early Friday morning, two, three o'clock in the morning maybe when you try to piece together the events and how long they may have taken somewhere in that time frame probably. He has taken into the city of Jerusalem and to the palace of the high priest where first he is examined by Anis, the former high priest, the one who still has a lot of respect and esteem in the community. And thus he begins there and then Caiaphas. He has sent to Caiaphas probably in the same complex. Caiaphas tries him, interviews him there and we won't go into the details of that. We've already seen all of that. And then Jesus is sent to the Sanhedrin which probably again meeting in the same place in the palace of the high priest. There was some time in there, time between Caiaphas interrogation and the examination by the Sanhedrin. Basically Sanhedrin were involved all along but they waited until six o'clock in the morning to make a final decision. Ratifying basically the conclusion they had already come to, they make that decision to try to give some semblance of legitimacy to the trial because by Jewish law no trials were to be held at night. So they waited till six o'clock in the morning to make their final decision. So Jesus has been here for some time and this is where Peter is involved in the three denials of Jesus. Jesus has been here for some hours but now he will be sent to pilot. That's where we begin tonight. He will be sent to pilot in the palace of Herod the Great or what was called the Praetorium. This was actually the residence of the Roman governors when they were in Jerusalem. The main residence was in Cessaria which was the Roman capital of this part of the world. But when they were in Jerusalem for official business, the Jewish capital, they would stay at the palace of Herod the Great. He would be sent to the palace of Herod Antipas. We're not exactly sure where that is but a different location than back to pilot for the sixth part of the trial before the crucifixion. So what we begin with tonight is the first trial before pilot. He sees pilot twice in between is an interrogation by Herod. Now the trial before pilot, the two stages of it, that trial was found in all four of the gospels. We're going to focus tonight on John's account but we will also look a little bit at Matthew and Luke. We'll focus on John. So let's turn to John 18 where we begin tonight. And I think it might be good before we jump into the trial itself to let you see an artist's rendition of what this might have looked like. And again, I apologize for those sitting further back. You may not be able to see this very well. But I wanted to give you an idea of what it looks like so that you can have a picture in your mind when you hear things about the crowd. You're thinking, well, I thought we were in a courtroom setting. No, we're not really in a courtroom setting. We're in a palace that has an open judgment seat, if you will. This is the artist's representation of pilot. This is the artist's representation of Jesus. These are the Roman soldiers that are around him and protecting him from any onslaught of the crowd, certainly not protecting him in other ways. And then the crowd would be all around. You can see this artist's rendition of the crowd. And so when the crowd cries out, and here are possibly some of the religious leaders, maybe some of Jesus followers up here. We don't know exactly how that all worked out. But we know that there could have been a substantial crowd in this large open part of the palace where in all likelihood the hearing took place. Let me say a few words about pilot before we get into the scripture's account of Jesus trial before pilot. It's interesting to learn a little bit about pilot himself. He basically could be summed up as an ambitious opportunist. He was born in Spain and when he came of age, he entered the Roman army, served along the Rhine River with Germanicus, the Roman general, and then found his way to Rome where he met and eventually married a woman by the name of Claudia. It just happened to be the emperor Augustus granddaughter. And so that is how pilot worked his way into the government side of things. He would eventually be given the governor ship of Judea where he is when we come to the biblical account. Politically he ended up being very foolish. He was very brutal. He had a hatred of the Jews. In fact, when he rode into Jerusalem, when he was first assigned and first appeared, he rode into Jerusalem with banners going before him of the Emperor Tiberius, who was the Emperor at the time, and not caring that any image of what was considered to the Romans, or God, would be highly offensive to the Jews. And so he immediately made enemies. There was a riot that ensued following his arrival in Jerusalem and from that moment on he never got along with the Jews at all. He was guilty of incredible atrocities against the Jewish people. There was a time where he took from the temple treasury to build a Roman aqueduct. You talk about hitting a nerve to take from the temple treasury devoted to God to build a Roman aqueduct. Well, there was a riot again in the temple. In this time, pilot disguised soldiers who worked their way into the crowd pulled out hidden daggers and clubs and massacred the people in the temple. There was another time where pilot Jesus referred to this where he attacked a number of Galileans who were in the temple area, Jesus referred to it as mixing their blood with their sacrifices. He was a brutal, brutal persecutor of the Jews. For his actions over a period of time, he would eventually be recalled to Rome after ten years in Judea and be exiled. He would not trial an exiled to Gaul where he committed suicide and that is how pilot ended his life. So it was a very brutal individual and we catch just a glimpse of him in the biblical record because on this Friday morning he will encounter a prisoner like no one he has ever had come before him before. In fact, this prisoner will literally put pilot on trial. His soul will be tried by the Lord Jesus himself and we are going to see that as we go through this account in John's Gospel. Jesus is as before, as we have seen throughout the rest and the trial up to this time. Jesus is completely in control of everything that is happening and also of his own responses of his own emotions of his mind of what he is doing. He is very purposefully moving toward the cross. And we are going to see that again tonight in amazing ways how Jesus is in completely control. And the first way that we see it, excuse me, that is my inner 14 year old coming up. The first way that we see that is Jesus as a prophet. Jesus is pictured first in this passage as a prophet before pilot. Let's look at verse 28. Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor by now was early morning and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. Now we have to pause here just a moment. Does that strike you as unusual? Maybe that is a gracious word. That is highly hypocritical, isn't it? Again the Jewish leaders as we have seen before, very cautious about certain aspects of the mosaic law. They will not defile themselves by entering the house of a Gentile. So they will not go into the governor's palace. Very meticulous about the law. But heartless, brutal, cruel in their actions toward the son of God. Once again the external religious observance spot on but the heart wicked dark as it can be. So they don't want to defile themselves. By the way when it says they want to be able to eat the Passover, some of you may be thinking, wasn't the Passover the night before? Didn't Jesus observe Passover on Thursday evening with the disciples? We are in John's Gospel now and John has a little different way of referring to things. John is writing in the 90s AD, 25 years or so after Jerusalem has been destroyed. John writes pretty much from a Roman perspective or a Gentile perspective in his Gospel and is writing to Gentiles as well. And so John uses the familiar common designation of Passover not to refer to the Passover meal but to what sometimes was referred to as the whole event of the week. Passover, the day of preparation for the Sabbath and the feast of unleavened bread which then went for the week after Passover. Because that whole body of religious observance was called Passover by those kind of uninitiated by Gentiles and so that's the way John is using the term. And the reason I point that out is I realize some of you are very careful Bible students and some of you realize there are different theories on the date of the crucifixion. There are some who believe that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday rather than Friday and they use texts like this to support their point and I think they misunderstand how John is using the term. Okay, now let's move on then. Any comment, question? By the way, before we move into verse 29. Yes. In the image of your heart, it was only in the heart of the meaning of this and not. Yes. For example, I would say to my support for the Bible, I would say to my support for the Bible that I am doing right now. Not right now. Right. Right. It's very clear that even in the observance of the most like, oh, they're picky and choosy aren't they? They're picking up. Yes. Yes. Right. Right. And even in the trials, they have violated a number of Jewish laws, but when it comes time to something that's convenient for them, they will go ahead and follow that. You're very, very right in that. We have seen many times before that legalism can never be consistent. If you are a legalist, you will never be able to be consistent because legalists love to pile rules on top of rules to the point that you cannot keep them all. And in that what Jesus said about the Pharisees, they bind to heavy burdens on men that they themselves are not able to have no interest in keeping. So legalism cannot at all be consistent. Okay. Verse. Yes. What? I think we can read the following. Yes. That's the same kind of uncleanness. It's ceremonial uncleanness which would render them unable to go into the temple or unable to partake of the feast. The Jewish feast, the Passover feast of unleavened bread so they don't want to be disqualified from that. Considering you guys have used this bread to be possible to end up in the past. So that's all we need to do. We'll see that's where the Pharisees had twisted the law because God intended Israel to be a light to the Gentiles. God intended them to be a witness to the Gentiles throughout the Old Testament. It would not have been considered by God of the filament. In fact, Jesus ministered to Gentiles, didn't he? And so it would not have been considered a filament to God but it's an instance of how the Jews added traditions to the law or added other laws to try to explain the most important example and ended up making it say something which it didn't say. So yes, they're very concerned about not being ceremonially defiled but have no qualms about the filaments spewing out of their hearts, the hatred coming out of their hearts. Okay, in verse 29, so Pilate came out to them. I read a bit of resignation in those words. You know, Pilate is fed up with these Jews and there's silly laws in his mind. Why can't they come into the palace where everybody else does business? Oh, okay, it's one of those feasts again. Okay, I got to go out to them. So Pilate comes out to them and asks, what charges are you bringing against this man? Obviously, that's the legitimate question. That's the appropriate question. What is he here for? What are the charges so that I know how to rule? Well their answer, verse 30, if he were not a criminal, they replied, we would not have handed him over to you. Now you're going to notice some give and take in these discussions with Pilate on part of the religious leaders. They are still a little unclear as to how to press their point. And so they're trying to evade the issue of a specific charge. We have charges, we have legitimate evidence against him. If he weren't a criminal, we wouldn't even be here is their response. But notice how Pilate responds to them. Pilate said, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. If you don't have any Roman charges, you don't get a Roman trial. In other words, go on, take care of this yourself. This must be some religious matter that you can take care of yourself and then the Jews pull their trump card. But we have no right to execute anyone they objected. Ah, so that's what you're here for. You know, Pilate doesn't say that, but it's obvious that he gets the picture now. You're here because you want this man put the death and only the Romans can do that. And there's something else I think going on here. The Jews not only wanted to put the death, but they wanted to put the death by the Roman style of execution. Now there were times when the Jews would get approval from the Romans and carry out their own form of capital punishment, which was what? Stoning, yes. Why do you think they would prefer crucifixion over stoning? Spectacle. Spectacle, okay? I think that may be part of it. It's more brutal. I mean, they want to get their last ounce of revenge, you don't they, and to make it as brutal as possible. And they want to make him an example. Spectacle. And there may have been another reason hidden in the Old Testament in their minds. And that is that anybody hung on a cross is considered cursed. And they want it known to all the Jews. Here's a cursed man. You call him a holy man. You call him the son of God. He's cursed. Look at, I think we have it on the screen. Deuteronomy, chapter 21, verse 23, you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. That's if someone is executed in that way or found that way. Be sure to bury it that same day because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord's God is giving you as an inheritance. And I think the obviously the religious leaders know that passage. And I think they're wanting not only to make him as spectacle and make it as torturous and gruesome as possible. I think that's part of it too. But they also want to send a message that we're saying this man is cursed. He's cursed. Everyone hung on a cross is cursed. Notice what happens though in verse 32, what John's statement is. This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die. Now the Jews feel like they're in control. The religious leaders feel like they're in control. They're going to get him executed and we're going to do it in the most gruesome, most public way we possibly can to make sure people understand the message we're sending through this. They feel like they're in control of what's happening. But they're not. Jesus has already prophesied how he would die. And he has already specifically prophesied that it would be crucifixion. The Jews don't even when they're allowed to carry out capital punishment by Roman authority. They don't do it that way. So it's got to be a Roman execution if Jesus prophecies are to come true. Notice what Jesus said in John 3.14. You're familiar with this one. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the son of man must be lifted up. That snake was put on a pole, wasn't it? In Numbers 21. So Jesus must be lifted up on a pole. But Jesus was even more specific than that in Matthew 20. Where he tells his disciples, now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem on the way he took the 12 aside and said to them, notice how clear this is. We are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified on the third day who will be raised alive. This is as they start making their way to Jerusalem for the last week. That took them a while to get there. But the disciples should have known exactly what was going to happen because Jesus spelled it out step by step, didn't he? And even the last week on Tuesday after Jesus teaches in the temple in Matthew 26 and verse 2, he says again, as you know, and he speaks into the disciples, the Passover's two days away. And the son of man will be handed over to be crucified. Jesus had made it plain he would die by crucifixion. So are the Romans in charge of how he's going to die? Are the Jewish religious leaders in charge of how he's going to die? Are they calling the shots? No, no. Jesus has already said days before, months before in John 3 case, probably a couple of years before exactly how he was going to die. So Jesus is the one that's in control of what's happening. As I've said before, he is purposefully moving toward the cross in line with God's timetable and God's purpose, he is purposefully moving that direction. He knows everything that's happening. So he's a prophet. The first thing you see of him in the trial with Pilate is that he's seen as a prophet. Okay? Second thing you see is he is seen as a king in verses 33 to 38. He is seen as a king. Look at how this is described. The three Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, are you the king of the Jews? Now John leaves out a little bit here that Luke tells us. Luke tells us that in their initial accusation, the Jews say that Jesus is someone who is advised that we don't pay taxes to Rome and he's against Caesar and he calls himself a Messiah, the king. Okay? So they're trying to line up the charges that will stick in Roman ears. He doesn't want to pay taxes to Rome. He's against Caesar and he calls himself a king. Well, that's what calls Pilate to raise this question. That little bit of information is not in John, but that's what calls Pilate to ask the question, are you the king of the Jews? And in the Greek text, the word you is emphasized. Are you the king of the Jews? I'm sure Pilate looked at him in his commoners' dress. Remember he has already been beaten, not to the extent that he will be a little bit later, but remember the soldiers in Caiaphas's palace, how they blindfolded him, struck him, asked him to prophesy who had hidden. So he's probably already bruised and bleeding. And Pilate looks at him, are you the king of the Jews? Notice Jesus' majestic response. Is that your own idea Jesus asked or did others talk to you about me? What do you think Jesus is getting at there? Why would he ask, is the idea of being a king is that your idea or is it the Jews idea that you're accepting? Yeah, he does. He does, obviously, know the answer. And he's seeking to engage Pilate in the conversation to take it a step further. But there would be a huge difference in whether or not Pilate is accusing him of being a king and the Jews are accusing him of being a king. If Pilate is accusing him, then Pilate is accusing him from his own mind of being a rebel against Rome and that Jesus was not. He was not a rebel against Rome. If Pilate is just mimicking and parroting the accusation, the Jews have told him that he's a Messiah figure in their minds, a king of the Jews, then that is a different charge altogether. Has nothing to do with rebelling against Rome. And I think Jesus is, in a sense, in Pilate's mind clarifying the conversation in the direction this is going to go. What is the charge even going to be? He just heard the Jews say he's a rebel against Rome and Jesus is clarifying that he's not this charge of being a king is just something you're repeating from the Jews, right? And they're not saying I'm a rebel against Rome. Or at least that's not what Messiah means. But I think that's where Jesus is coming from. Okay, look at verse 35. Pilate kind of blusters his way through and answers. Is that my Jew? Pilate replied to your own people and she's priest handed you over to me. What is it you've done? You kind of see the impatience with Pilate here. And Jesus again, very calmly draws Pilate with a very penetrating analysis of what his kingdom is like. Verse 36, notice his answer. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place. You are a king then, said Pilate. Jesus, if Jesus admits to having a kingdom, then okay, you are a king, right? Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. Now when Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. What do you mean by that? Wasn't a political kingdom, okay? All right. Okay. Along with what Barry said, the zealots were looking for a revolutionary leader to overthrow Rome. And Jesus is making clear, it's not that kind of kingdom, it's not a revolting in Rome, it's not a political threat to Rome, that's not the idea. It's in heaven, okay? Now notice Jesus says, it is not of this world, means it does not originate with this world. And then he says, at the end of that verse, my kingdom is from another place. It's from heaven, right? Now be careful here, this is tricky. Jesus was not saying that my kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. Ominous, sees on passages like this. Ominous for people that believe there is no literal kingdom on the earth, so we should not be looking for a millennial kingdom with Israel at its center in the future. There is no such thing, they say. The only kingdom we have is kingdom of heaven and the church is now Israel. That's a millennial view of the kingdom and I don't believe it's what the Bible teaches. But they will see on passages like this to say, Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world, it's not an earthly kingdom. No, no, that's not what he said. He said it is not of this world, it came from another place. It is heavenly in its origin. And yes, he was saying in the context of what he's being tried for, it's not a political kingdom, it's not a zealot overthrow of Rome. But Christ's kingdom does have an earthly manifestation. It's not the only form of the kingdom. There are other forms of the kingdom throughout the Scriptures. But Jesus did come to set up a literal kingdom on this earth among the Jews. It was rejected by the Jews, so he will set it up someday in the future. Here at Johnson Chapel, we are pre-millennialists. We believe that Jesus will come literally, physically, bodily to the earth to set up his kingdom. That is second coming. So Jesus is not refuting that here. He's basically saying, my kingdom does not originate here. It's not your kind of kingdom. It's a kingdom. So that originates in heaven, came from another place, and it has a different platform. It is based on spiritual principles. Now, he doesn't say all of that, but that's obviously what he's getting at. Pilots not going to grasp all of that. But Jesus is making his point. I am a king, but not of the kind of kingdom you're talking about. Different kind of originate in a different place, has a different foundation. It will have an earthly manifestation, not at this time, not at his first coming, but it will have an earthly manifestation later on. Jesus' answer is brilliant. You do get the impression that Pilot is the one on trial. Jesus is in command of things. Pilot is under the defensive, and Jesus is in control. Any other questions, comments here about Jesus as a king? I'm going to finish up with verse 38. But... Yeah. It did. And it's good you mentioned that because I meant to bring up this verse. It's still there, very Matthew 27, 19. While Pilot was sitting on the judge's seat, and it's a little difficult to fit exactly the time frame of this when you put all four of the gospels together, but at some point, early in the proceedings, while he was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message, don't have anything to do with that innocent man for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him. And that's what you're referring to, Sammy. Matthew is the only one that tells us that. But somewhere in the proceedings, Pilot has been warned, do not prosecute this man. And that really forms... And I appreciate you bringing that up because it forms the background for the attempts that we will see on the part of Pilot from here on out to release Jesus. Three times. We're not going to have time to get to it tonight, so I'll go ahead and give you a little highlight. Three times, Jesus will say to the Jewish leaders, I find no fault in him. There is no reason to prosecute him or to execute him. One time he will say, trying to get rid of this matter, one time he will send him to Herod when he finds out that he came from Galilee, that's Herod's jurisdiction. And I think that was an attempt to wash his hands of it and say, let's let Herod deal with this. But Herod sends him back. And so he's still got to deal with it. And then there will be another time when Pilot will say, okay, I'm going to have him flagged and then let him go. Luke's gospel tells us that. When the Jews keep pressing for his execution, Pilot, it's clear he does not want to put this man to death. And I think that warning by his wife was one of the reasons. He keeps getting pushed into this corner. And finally says, okay, tell you what, I'll flag him. Remember, he also tried to put him up against Barabbas and release one of the people, get to that later, release one of the prisoners thinking for sure they would release Jesus because Barabbas was a horrible criminal. But they wanted Barabbas. And so that didn't work either. So finally says, look out, flag him. And then I'll let him go. But no, after he flags him and brings him out and says, behold the man, or literally, the Greek says, look at this creature. By that time he's beaten almost beyond human recognition. And he feels sure the crowd will have pity on him. He says, okay, this is enough. We can let him go. But they don't. Crucify him. Crucify him. They keep crying out. Find the pilot. Watch his hands. Says, I'm done with this. You take him and do whatever you want. Crucify him. Go ahead. But I'm not a part of this. He tried to back out of it. And the whole reason for the way he operates from this point on is his fear and superstition from his wife's dream. And also because he's already on the hot seat in Rome and he doesn't need any more riots in Jerusalem. He doesn't need any more problems. He's trying to get rid of this one. So he is on the defensive. He is the one on trial. Jesus is in control of the whole situation. It's an amazing scene as you look at it that way. Well, we're going to stop there. When we come back next week, we'll look at what pilot does next sending him to Herod and then what happens when he comes back to pilot after being sent to Herod. Let's pray. Father, again, we are in awe of our Savior as we watch Him handle Himself with such strength, such dignity and power, such restraint, such meekness and patience. And Lord, we remember that we were told by Peter to follow His steps when He was treated this way, did not strike back. So help us even as we watch Him endure these incredibly unjust trials. Help us as we watch Him go through them to recognize He's presenting us a pattern. He's giving us a model of how to live, how to respond, how to know that your purposes will be fulfilled. I pray, Father, that we would learn from that and that even better we will put it into practice when we're called upon to do so. We ask in His name, amen.