Matthew 27 11-26 Blog Through the Bible Project
Jesus Before Pilate
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
Blasphemy is not sufficient to merit the death penalty under Roman rule. Claiming to be the King of the Jews, however, would present a direct challenge to Caesar. So Pilate swiftly gets to the heart of the matter.
A Greek expression that deflects responsibility back upon the one asking the question.
See his simple understated dignity and quietness.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
Jesus had sufficiently answered Pilate’s first question, and there was nothing more to add which would change Pilate’s mind.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7.
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7.
Was there any point in answering? The chief priests knew that their accusations were trumped up and false. Defending himself against people who bring lying witnesses would have been pointless.
However, this calm, dignity and silence in the face of impending death astonishes Pilate, and wins his surprised respect.
And here’s a lesson–the peace and freedom in silence. We do not need to answer every accusation. We do have an advocate, a counsellor, a defender.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
He knows an injustice is being done. He makes a feeble attempt to protect Jesus. And then, he just shrugs his shoulders and lets the Jews get on with it.
This world would be a hard place to live in peacefully, if we did not believe in the sovereignty of God, that our Father has all things in his hands.
ESV Pilate knows that the high priest and the Sanhedrin are not concerned about threats to Roman rule; rather, they are envious of Jesus’s popularity, and feel threatened by his authoritative ministry.
19 While Pilate 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.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
It is totally stunning that jealousy and insecurity can get so out of hand that they would have Jesus subjected to an excruciating death just to get him out of the picture.
Jealousy is a startlingly strong force.
A few days ago, the people of Jerusalem had shouted Hosanna. Now they cry, “Crucify him.”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
A public demonstration that he finds no grounds for giving Jesus the death penalty.
Pilate’s weakness and wishy-washiness has a role in the unjust condemnation of Jesus.
Pilate had good will and reluctant admiration of Jesus–up to a point, up to a point. It wasn’t enough for him to intervene, and save Jesus’s life.
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
Is there a link between this chilling and casual pronouncement and twenty centuries of relentless anti-semitic persecution?
The ESV and the NIV suggest that judgement came in the form of the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Pilate had feeble good will towards Jesus. But ultimately, he decided that he couldn’t be “bovvered.”
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