Last updated on November 3, 2024
The Jewish leaders who want Jesus dead have the support they need from the religious community. But they have a problem. They lack the power to convict and carry out an execution. So they appeal to Pilate, who is the Roman governor over Judea, Samaria and Idumea. He is the only one with any power. The problem for them is that he has no issue with Jesus. We’re not even sure if he is aware who he is.
So the religious leaders have to get creative when they come to Pilate. They know Pilate won’t care about their real concern – that Jesus has blasphemed God. So they come up with another reason: “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king” (Luke 23:2).
Pilate questions Jesus but finds no reason for him to be killed. Once he learns that Jesus is from Galilee, he summons Herod Antipas, who ruled that area and who was in Jerusalem for Passover. Herod was delighted to meet Jesus, hoping he would entertain him with some miracles. Jesus wasn’t there for that, so Herod quickly became bored and sent him back to Pilate.
Pilate questioned him again, and once again found that Jesus had done nothing that warranted death. And then he had an idea. Every year at Passover he would release a prisoner. He selected the worse prisoner he had, a man named Barabbas. Surely the crowd would prefer to have Jesus released over this truly evil man. But the religious leaders persuaded the crowd that this was not the right decision. They yelled out, “Release Barabbas to us!” Pilate then asked the crowd, “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
The response: “Crucify him!”
This is the same crowd who only days earlier had welcomed Jesus as they would welcome a conquering king. And now they wanted him killed.
Pilate relented. He had Jesus stripped and beaten. The soldiers spit on him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.” They made a crown of thorns and pushed it down upon his head.
Pilate then washed his hands of the mess and did what the Jewish leaders wanted. He sentenced Jesus to death.
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