It's Not Fair!

Though there were laws that protected Roman citizens, those laws did not extend to the Jews living under their rule. Torture of the prisoner was not uncommon. But in this case, they obviously did not know who they were torturing. At any point, Jesus could have walked away. God could have struck those doing the torturing dead in an instant. But he did not. So they taunted, insulted, and beat him.

“At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together and Jesus was led before them. ‘If you are the Christ, they said, ‘tell us.’” Luke 22:66-67 Were they asking because they might want to believe? Or were they just trying to get him to say it out loud in their presence, testifying against himself in their case of blasphemy?

Jesus chose very carefully when to speak and what to say during his ‘trial’ which began in the religious courts. “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” Luke 22:67-69 They knew the prophecies. They taught the Scripture. Yet, they were unwilling to admit that Jesus was the Christ.

“They all asked, ‘Are you then the Son of God?’ He replied, ‘You are right in saying I am.’” Luke 22:70 That was all they needed to hear. Now they would take him before Pilate and ask that he be killed. Under Roman rule, they could not kill him themselves. But they had to make their case of interest to the Romans in order to get the death sentence. So they accused him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.” Luke 23:2

That ought to get him. They had to stretch and twist things and downright lie. But if the Romans bought it, he should be done away with shortly. Pilate didn’t buy into it quite so fast. He simply asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” and Jesus answered, “Yes, it is as you say.” Luke 23:3 If anything should have angered Pilate, that was it! Calling himself ‘King of the Jews’ was not the wisest thing to do if Jesus wanted to save his skin. It was for fear of this very thing that Herod had killed all of the Jewish children 2 years of age and younger about 30 years before.

But Pilate did not answer the way the religious leaders thought he should. Rather, he said, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” Luke 23:4 I wonder how Pilate came to this conclusion. John gives us a little more information regarding the discussion Pilate had with Jesus. “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36 Apparently, this made way more sense to Pilate than what the religious leaders where telling him about Jesus. There was no army with weapons marching against the Roman Government.

Pilate decided he could get out of this one by sending Jesus to Herod because Jesus was a Galilean and would have been under Herod’s jurisdiction. “When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.” Luke 23:8-9

I wonder why Jesus remained silent. It sounds like Herod wanted to know more about him. But Jesus looks on the heart, not the outward appearance. He saw right through Herod and knew that he only wanted to be entertained and ‘in’ with the latest fashion or story to ‘one-up’ somebody. Since Jesus wouldn’t ‘perform’ for him, “Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.” Luke 23:11 It seems that Herod could find no reason to give Jesus a death sentence either.

Pilate called together Jesus’ accusers and the people and gave his verdict. “I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” Luke 23:14-17 End of case. That was a close shave, Jesus.

But there was a loud outcry from the crowd shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Luke 23:21 After two more attempts to settle the crowd and release Jesus, Pilate finally caved in to the crowd releasing a known criminal who had been in prison for insurrection and murder and surrendering Jesus to the punishment they asked for. (Luke 23:23-25)

Fair? I don’t think so. But if God was about fair from our perspective, we would all be punished severely. Even in our holiest of moments, we fall so short of God’s holiness. This was all part of his plan and Jesus willingly went to the cross to build the bridge for us to get back home into the presence of our holy God. And little did Pilate know that he was sending Jesus right to the throne of his Kingdom, sitting at the right hand of the mighty God. (Luke 22:69)