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13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” 17 Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner. 18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) ~ Luke 23:13-19
This is the sixth and final trial the Lord Jesus endured before His death. As we have seen, these six trials are divided into two parts, the first three at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders, and the second at the hands of the Romans.
In v.13-16 we read, "13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."
Today's text chronicles the last trial of the Lord Jesus at the hands of Pontius Pilate who made a noble effort at being a just judge. Three times he declared the Lord Jesus "not guilty." And then, he even says in v.15 that Herod came to the same conclusion. Pilate tried to do the right thing, but he was under tremendous pressure to be unjust, illegal, and illegitimate.
According to John 19:14, when Pilate rendered his final verdict, it was 6:00 a.m. Imagine, three separate trials in less than one hour. What a massive abuse of any due process of law. No witnesses, no evidence, no proof, no discussion, and by now the Sanhedrin had been hanging around the entrance to Pilate's judgment throne awaiting a verdict. The gospel of John records seven different movements that Pilate made as he went out to meet the people and then went in to question the Lord Jesus. He kept looking for a loophole, but he found none. They were at an impasse until Pilate, in v.16, offered to punish the Lord Jesus and then release Him.
In v.17-19 we read, "17 Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner. 18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)"
Since it was customary at Passover for the governor to release a prisoner, Pilate offered the Jews a compromise. He had another prisoner on hand, Barabbas, and Pilate was sure the Jews would not want him to be released. After all, Barabbas was a robber, a murderer, and an insurrectionist.
Nothing worked, however. Everything Pilate tried only mounted the hostility of the masses. The crowd became more bloodthirsty, more infuriated as the minutes marched on.
Pilate attempted to stand on legal ground. He knew the Lord Jesus was not guilty of any crime and he knew His accusers, this Supreme Court of Israel, was jealous. There was history here between Pilate and the people of Israel which explains the tough spot Pilate was in here. Three incidents had happened prior to this that put Pilate in this tough position.
When Pilate first arrived in Jerusalem as governor, he wanted to make a statement. He was the sixth governor that had been assigned, and he wanted to establish his authority. So, on his first visit to Jerusalem, he came with a massive entourage of soldiers. He wanted to show that the full power of Rome was behind him.
So, Pilate had soldiers ride on horses with banners promoting the worship of Caesar who was considered a god by the Romans. When the Jews saw this they remembered their captivity in Babylon. It was then that they forever abandoned idolatry. Their history explained why they despised anything that was an idol.
The previous Roman governors in Israel had avoided such offenses. And, a battle ensued. In fact, Pilate returned to Caesarea where he lived, where the Roman base of operations were, and the people followed him all the way to the coast from Jerusalem to Caesarea. There, they harassed him for five days, demanding that he remove the idols. In frustration, Pilate sent word to the Jews to meet him at the amphitheater where he ordered his troops to slaughter the Jews.
But, the Jews didn't back down and Pilate had to. And at that moment it was established who was in charge, and it wasn’t Pilate.
Later, Pilate determined to bring a new water supply to Jerusalem which would be paid for by money plundered out of the temple treasury. In response, the people were so upset that they rioted, and Pilate responded by sending his soldiers who clubbed and stabbed the Jewish people to death. The report of this incident was not received well in Rome.
The third incident that put Pilate in this difficult position came when he decided to decorate the palace in Jerusalem with the inscription of Tiberius Caesar on the shields. The Jews demanded that Pilate remove them, and in another test of wills Pilate said he would not remove them. The Jews sent a messenger all the way to Caesar in Rome who was furious, and demanded that Pilate remove the shields immediately.
So, Pilate comes up with the idea to punish the Lord Jesus a little bit and then release Him. And, when that didn't work, he thought of releasing a prisoner and surely the crowd would pick the Lord Jesus over the thug Barrabas. But, to no avail.
Barabbas was scheduled to be crucified because he was found guilty of murder and insurrection. And, it was thought that the two thieves crucified beside the Lord Jesus were two partners of Barabbas. The Lord Jesus died in the place of Barabbas whose name means "son of the father." God sent the Lord Jesus, the Son of the Father, so that people like Barabbas could become "sons of the Father."
