GOD Stands Bound and Accused before Herod before Being Returned to Pilate

NOTE: Peter is a negative example of all mankind. We are loud boasters, braggarts who have been cruelly disappointed in our own selves times without number. We see the fragile moral creatures we really are, but that has the wrong effect on us. So we become like naïve children who think that by closing our eyes tightly to the truth as it is in Jesus, we can make the ugly reality in us vanish and be replaced by our loud statements to the contrary. But claiming to have reached the truth as it is in Christ does not automatically – presto changeo! and in a puff of smoke – make it our own.

Jesus suffered the tortures of the damned to sanctify us, and we actually do attain that sanctification of body, soul and spirit in a split second by faith in Him alone. But that is not the whole story – if we have a living faith in Him – we will strive mightily to grow into that sanctification we now have by faith. And we will agonize and suffer (in a measure) with Jesus. The beauty of this setup is that, although we are in reality reaping the evil seed we have sown, God in grace and mercy reckons it as suffering for Him and with Him! This is the grace that angels and demons have never known. The angels rejoice with us for the grace God extends to mankind – while the devil and his demons are trying to drag us down to hell with them.

Mat. 27:1, 2; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71

Early in the morning the Sanhedrin convened and Jesus was brought before them. This does not appear to have been a formal meeting of the Sanhedrin. Whether it was or not, all Bible scholars agree that the proceedings were a perversion of justice and were motivated by the deep-seated hatred of the scribes and Pharisees for Jesus. They despised this Man who had been so openly critical and even judgmental of them who were the spiritual leaders of the Jews. It is nevertheless remarkable that no one in that august assemblage found room in his heart for compassion for the pitiful figure standing before them unless it was one or two such as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. But there is no record of their offering any resistance at this time to the farcical trial they were witnessing.

“Are you the Christ?” the council asked Jesus.

“You will not believe if I tell you; neither will you answer if I question you. But from now on the Son of man will be seated at the right hand of God Almighty.”

“Are you then the Son of God?” they eagerly asked Jesus, anxious for Him to assent so they could condemn Him.

They did not have to wonder what He would do; Jesus would not deny it. “You say that I am,” He answered, giving full assent to His divinity.

They pounced on Jesus’ statement like a pack of hungry jackals. “Why do we need any more witnesses? We ourselves have heard Him say it from His own lips!”

Text Ref. 35

Far away from this, which was one of the most critical scenes of all history, Judas began to have painful second thoughts. (Mat. 27:3?10) Coming back to the Temple, he attempted to return the thirty pieces of silver to those priests and elders who were there. He cried out in late remorse, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood!””What is that to us?” they sneered. “You see to that.”In his intense remorse and confusion, Judas threw the money down on the Temple floor and went out and hanged himself. But this did not stop the execution of the only Man ever that did not deserve to die. Judas’ “repentance” was too late.

With regard to Text Ref. 35 above, I shall have to refer you to my comments on Judas’ possible fate and the issue of “God’s View of Eternity, Time and the Individual” in Text Ref. 35, Fig. 18, in the Teaching Aid – which is not available to this post. Although it is profitable reading, it is collateral to the main text and is not necessary for your understanding of this portrayal of the life of Jesus.

There have been volumes of opinions written by Bible scholars on two issues that arise whenever a serious discussion is held about Judas: 1) What was his eternal destiny? and 2) Was Judas predestined to betray the Lord of glory? I do not claim to have satisfactory answers to either question, but, whatever the answer, we still have to “work out our own salvation.”          AJS

The priests concluded that the Law would not permit them to put such “blood money” in the treasury. So, (and this is the ultimate irony!) to stay within the Law, they decided to buy with it what was later known as the potter’s field, a burying place for strangers.

Mat. 27:2, 11-14; Mark 15:1-5; Luke 23:1-6; John 18:28-38

They bound Jesus and led Him away to Pilate the Roman procurator over Judea who resided in the praetorium during his stay in Jerusalem. The praetorium was the headquarters of the procurator and was located in Herod’s palace not far from the Temple. To execute anyone convicted of a crime, the Jews first had to receive permission from the procurator as the representative of the Roman government.  It seems likely that, to get this permission, the Sanhedrin at their earlier meeting had agreed to change the charge against Jesus so that He would be guilty according to Roman law. The previous charge had been blasphemy. This would not move the Roman authorities, but treason would. So when they brought Jesus before Pilate, they charged Him with claiming to be the King of the Jews. Naturally, with the Jews being subservient to Rome, this could not be allowed.

Here again is an incongruity in a scenario filled with them. Jesus, the Almighty, all?seeing, eternal Judge of all the earth, was to be judged by one frail, insignificant mortal whose breath was given to him by the moment. And He was to be judged for claiming to be the King of the Jews. He WAS their King! It is a never?ceasing wonder how God has put up with man’s impertinences through the centuries.

It was about six o’clock Friday morning when Jesus was taken to the praetorium, which was also called the judgment hall. The Jewish leaders did not go into the building because it was the time of the Passover and they feared there might be leaven somewhere in the praetorium. All Jews at Passover time assiduously avoided all leaven and cleaned all their dwellings of any trace of it. Yet the Jews who were hounding Jesus had no qualms about killing an innocent man. This of course was another supreme irony in a long chain of them at this horrible time.

Pilate’s tribunal, the place where he presided at trials, was a raised platform projecting from the judgment hall. It could be reached by a door opening from the inside of the Praetorium or on the outside by steps leading up to it from the ground. It fronted on an open area so that the general populace could view the proceedings of the trials held there. In this way the Jews could avoid the possible defilement of going inside the building.

Jesus’ accusers led Him up the steps of the tribunal to appear before Pilate who occupied a seat elevated above the floor of the tribunal. Disdaining to go further on “unrighteous” Gentile territory, they stood at the top of the steps and roughly thrust Jesus at Pilate.

“What accusation do you bring against this man?” Pilate asked.

They answered, “If He weren’t a criminal we would not have brought Him to you.”

“You take Him and judge Him by your law.”

“It’s not lawful for us to execute anyone.”

They were thus saying that Jesus had committed a crime they deemed worthy of death. If they could have executed Jesus, it would have been by stoning: this was the Jewish method. But Jesus Himself had said that He would die by crucifixion, although this was in no way a concern to the Jews. They cared not how He died; just that He should die. God, however, had decreed death for His Son by crucifixion and so it had to be: death by crucifixion.     God had decreed that Christ should die by the cross because “he that is hanged is accursed of God.” This was intended to show emphatically that Jesus had become accursed when He assumed the sins of the world, thus giving evidence of the extreme hatred God has for sin.

The Jewish leaders now leveled the charge against Jesus upon which they had agreed: “This fellow has been perverting our nation, telling us not to pay taxes to Caesar and saying that He Himself is a king.”

Pilate arose at this point and went inside the praetorium, summoning Jesus to come in after him so that he might talk privately with Him. The Jews who waited outside fidgeted uneasily, fearful that they might lose their quarry.

In the privacy of the judgment hall Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

“Are you saying this on your own, “Jesus asked him, “or have others said it about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate asked half-contemptuously. “Your own people have delivered you to me. What have you done?”

“My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus responded, in this way possibly easing any fears Pilate might have of a political uprising. “If it were, my servants would fight to protect me from the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this world.”

“Are you, then, a king?”

“You have said rightly. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked in a flippant manner. Not waiting for an answer, he went outside to the Jews who were waiting impatiently.

“I find Him guilty of no crime,” Pilate told them.

But the Jews vehemently pressed their charges, saying that Jesus had stirred up all the people from Galilee to Judea. At the mention of Galilee, which was under the rule of Herod Antipas, Pilate decided to send Jesus to appear before Herod. (Luke 23:7?12)

Herod was glad to see Jesus, not for any reason of merit, but simply because he wanted to be entertained by the Miracle Worker.  He talked to Jesus at length, hoping that Jesus would cooperate and perform some magical feat. But Jesus answered Herod not one word.  The chief priests and scribes again pressed before Herod the charges they had made to Pilate. Through it all Jesus offered no defense.

Irritated and disappointed, Herod changed his tone and began to mock Jesus. His soldiers joined in the sport and in jest they roughly clothed Jesus in a royal robe. There Jesus was, royalty Himself, dressed in the fine robe of royalty, but in physical appearance looking not at all like a king. He had not slept at all the previous night; He had not eaten since the Passover feast; His face was lined and spotted with blood from the agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane. The contrast between His bodily appearance and the robe was jolting.

When Herod and the soldiers had finally had their fill of the cruel sport, Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate, who had been at odds, became friends. There is a paradox, a contra­diction in logic of some sort here.