Jesus on Trial (1)

[John 18:28 – 19:16]

This is John 18:28:
“They led Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium, and it was early morning; and they themselves did not enter the praetorium, so that they would not be defiled but could eat the Passover meal.”
[(Contemporary English Version) “Early in the morning, the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas’ house to the governor’s headquarters. But they did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled and could eat the Passover meal.”]

Here, “they” (verse 28) refers to the Jewish leaders who had arrested and bound Jesus, taken Him to the Sanhedrin assembled at the house of the high priest Caiaphas, and after interrogating Him, condemned Jesus to death for blasphemy. Instead of stoning Him according to Jewish law, they sought to have Him crucified under Roman law, so they brought Jesus to the Roman governor Pilate (verse 28, Contemporary English Version).

The Bible says, “They led Him from Caiaphas to the praetorium” (verse 28), and the Contemporary English Version translates this as “from Caiaphas’ house to the governor’s headquarters.” Here, “praetorium” (rendered as “governor’s headquarters” in the Contemporary English Version) refers to the official residence of the Roman governor Pilate. Although Pilate’s main seat of office was in Caesarea (where his praetorium was located), the “praetorium” mentioned in John 18:28 refers to the one in Jerusalem. Pilate came up to Jerusalem specially during the Jewish festivals because hundreds of thousands (possibly up to a million) Jewish men from all over gathered there to keep the feast. He stayed there to maintain order and prevent any possible riots among the massive crowds.

These Jewish leaders, early in the morning [“early” in the Contemporary English Version], so as not to become ceremonially defiled and thus be able to eat the Passover meal, did not enter the praetorium of the Roman governor Pilate, but instead made Pilate come out to them (verses 28-29). How hypocritical, formalistic, and pretentious these Jewish leaders were! The innocent Passover Lamb, Jesus, was bound and accused of blasphemy, handed over to the pagan Roman governor Pilate to be crucified according to Roman law, while they wanted to participate in the Passover feast (which lasted a week) without becoming ceremonially defiled. Not believing in the sinless Jesus was itself a sin [(John 16:9) “Regarding sin, because they do not believe in me”], and wanting to kill Him was an even greater sin [(John 19:11) “… Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin …”]. Yet, not knowing this, they refused to enter the praetorium of the pagan Pilate to avoid defilement, which was sheer hypocrisy and formalism.

John 18:29-31 says:
“Then Pilate went outside and said to them, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ They answered him, ‘If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.’ The Jews said to him, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’”

Because the Jewish leaders did not want to become defiled and wished to eat the Passover meal, they did not enter the Roman governor Pilate’s praetorium. So Pilate went outside and asked them, “What accusation do you bring against this man (Jesus)?” (verses 28-29). The Jewish leaders answered, “If this man (Jesus) were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you” (verse 30). They called Jesus a “criminal” because they believed He had done “evil” (verse 30, Contemporary English Version). This evil was, from their perspective, Jesus’ claim to be “the Christ, the Son of God,” which they considered blasphemy (Matthew 26:63-66). They firmly believed Jesus’ blasphemous crime deserved the death penalty (verse 66, Contemporary English Version).

At that point, Pilate told the Jewish leaders, “Take Him yourselves and judge Him according to your law” (John 18:31), because Pilate did not want to get involved in the trial. There are four reasons for this:

(1) From Pilate’s perspective, Jesus had not committed a crime worthy of crucifixion under Roman law.

This is the accusation Pilate heard:
“The whole crowd got up, took Jesus to Pilate, and began to accuse him, saying, ‘We have found this man misleading our people, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king’” (Luke 23:1-2).

This is Pilate’s response:
“Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, ‘I find no basis for a charge against this man’” (verse 4).

(2) Pilate was well aware that the Jewish leaders had handed Jesus over to him out of envy.

Matthew 27:18 (Contemporary English Version):
“Pilate knew that the Jewish leaders had handed Jesus over to him out of jealousy.”

(3) Pilate’s wife had told him, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man (Jesus).”

Matthew 27:19 (Contemporary English Version):
“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. Last night I suffered a lot in a dream because of him.’”

(4) Pilate knew that interrogating and judging Jesus was a frightening matter.

John 19:7-8 says:
“The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.’ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.”

From the perspective of the Roman governor Pilate, he was fearful when he heard that Jesus claimed to be “the Son of God.”

John 19:10-11 says:
“Pilate said to him, ‘Don’t you realize I have authority either to free you or to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’”

Another reason Pilate was afraid was because Jesus said, “You would have no power over me if it were not given from above (God the Father giving authority to Pilate). Therefore, the one who handed me over to you has greater guilt.”

From Pilate’s perspective, hearing this made him fearful that if he handled this trial, he would become a sinner himself.

John 18:36-37 (Contemporary English Version) says:
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight to prevent my being handed over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this world.’ ‘So you are a king?’ ‘You say that I am a king...’”

Pilate could not help but be afraid after hearing these words from Jesus.

Therefore, the Roman governor Pilate made efforts to release Jesus:

(1) First effort: Pilate declared three times that Jesus was innocent.

John 18:38 says:
“Pilate said, ‘What is truth?’ After saying this, he went out again to the Jews and said, ‘I find no guilt in this man.’”
John 19:4 says:
“Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no guilt in him.’”
John 19:6 says:
“When the chief priests and the officers saw Jesus, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.’”

(2) Second effort: Pilate sent Jesus to King Herod.

Luke 23:6-7 says:
“When Pilate learned that Jesus was a Galilean, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time, because Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction.”
Herod also found no guilt in Jesus (v.15, Contemporary Bible), but the Jewish leaders stood firm in accusing Jesus (v.10).

(3) Third effort: Pilate tried to release Jesus, following the custom of freeing one prisoner at Passover.

John 18:39 says:
“During the Passover, I have a custom of releasing to you one prisoner. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
But they shouted loudly, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ Barabbas was a robber (v.40, Contemporary Bible).

(4) Fourth effort: Pilate handed Jesus over to the Roman soldiers to be flogged, hoping that by using people’s sympathy, they would release Jesus.

John 19:1-4 says:
“So Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, dressed him in a purple robe, and went up to him saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘Look, I bring him out to you to let you know that I find no guilt in him.’”
When people saw Jesus bleeding from the flogging, wearing the crown of thorns, covered in blood, wouldn’t they have felt sympathy? Pilate showed the miserable condition of Jesus to gain their sympathy and try to release him. But the chief priests and temple guards shouted loudly, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ (v.6, Contemporary Bible).

Thus, Roman governor Pilate tried four times to release Jesus but ultimately failed.
John 19:12 says:
“For this reason Pilate tried to release Jesus, but the Jews shouted, ‘If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who declares himself a king opposes Caesar.’”
[Reference: Luke 23:20 “Pilate again spoke to them, wanting to release Jesus…”]
Although Pilate’s power as governor was great, the loud voices of the Jews prevailed.
Luke 23:23 (Contemporary Bible) says:
“But they kept shouting insistently for Jesus to be crucified, and finally their voices won.”

So Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called the Pavement (which in Hebrew is Gabbatha) (John 19:13), and declared he would do as the Jewish leaders demanded (Luke 23:24, Contemporary Bible).
He then released the man they requested, a prisoner held for rebellion and murder named Barabbas, and handed Jesus over to them to do as they wished (v.25, Contemporary Bible).

Although the Roman governor Pilate tried to release Jesus, it was not God’s will; therefore, within His sovereign purpose, God allowed the loud voices of the Jewish leaders to prevail so that Jesus would be crucified and killed. This is the fulfillment of God’s original gospel [the first messianic prophecy in the Old Testament], found in Genesis 3:15:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

God spoke to the “serpent” (Satan), saying, “her offspring will crush your head.” Here, the “offspring of the woman” refers to Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit through Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph but not yet married (Matthew 1:18), and who was born (verse 25). God also said to the serpent, “you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15), which signifies that on the cross at Mount Calvary, Satan used his descendants (for example, the high priests Annas and Caiaphas and the Jewish leaders) to crucify Jesus Christ.

Look at Acts 2:23:
“This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.”
[(Contemporary English Version) “This Jesus was handed over to you according to God’s plan, which was decided long ago, and you used evil people to nail him to the cross.”]

The plan that God foreknew and determined was that Jesus would be crucified by the hands of “wicked men,” that is, pagans. So even though the pagan Roman governor Pilate tried to prevent Jesus from being crucified and tried to release Him, ultimately God’s will was fulfilled.

This fact reminded me of the passage in Jonah chapter 1. God’s will was that Jonah, who was disobedient, be thrown into the sea (Jonah 1:12, 14). The unbelieving sailors struggled against the great storm that God sent (v.12) and worked hard to row the ship back to land (v.13). But when the sea became even more violent and they could not succeed, they cried out to the LORD: “O LORD, please do not destroy us for taking this man’s life. Don’t hold us responsible for innocent blood. For you, LORD, have done as you pleased” (v.14-15). Then they threw Jonah into the sea, and the LORD had already prepared a great fish to swallow him, saving him (v.17).

However, according to God’s will, He saved us—who were spiritually dead in sins (Ephesians 2:1, Contemporary English Version)—and gave us eternal life by having His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, crucified (John 3:16). Ultimately, because the only begotten Son Jesus Christ was crucified and died according to God’s will, we have become children of God.

Look at Ephesians 1:5:
“He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”
[(Contemporary English Version) “God decided long ago, through Jesus Christ, to adopt us as his children according to his own pleasure and will.”]

1 John 3:1 (Contemporary English Version) says:
“See what great love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God...”

Romans 8:17 (Contemporary English Version) says:
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. But if we share in his sufferings, we will also share in his glory.”