Welcome back from spring break! Before our short break, we saw Jesus in several illegal Jewish trials. The Jewish leaders were made up of Pharisees and Sadducees. They were staunch enemies, but they united to condemn Christ to death.
They had the authority in their own law to stone Jesus to death. But they wanted to crucify Him and could not carry out capital punishment because they were under Roman rule. The Roman governor had to approve the request to crucify Jesus.
The Jewish leaders took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. The Jewish leaders were scheming and manipulating Pilate to get their way. Pilate asked the Jewish leaders for their charge against Jesus. Pilate told them to judge Jesus by their own laws. The Jewish leaders said they wanted to crucify Jesus and had no right to do so.
What was Jesus’ crime? Luke 23 tells us the three charges against Jesus – He led the nation of Israel astray, He was opposed to paying tribute to Caesar, He claimed to be the Jewish Messiah and King. The first two charges were lies; the third charge was true.
Pilate summoned Jesus and questioned Him. Jesus continued to reveal the truth about Himself to Pilate. Jesus told Pilate that He was a King and was born to testify about God. Jesus gave Pilate many opportunities to see and accept the truth about God. But Pilate rejected Him.
Pilate found no reason to sentence Jesus to death. Pilate offered to release Jesus. The crowd called for Barabbas to be released instead of Jesus. Barabbas was a thief and a murderer who led an uprising against Roman rule.
Pilate had Jesus flogged. What is flogging? A leather whip with knots and shards of glass or metal was used to hit the back of the criminal. Soldiers created a crown of thorns and put it on Jesus’ head. Soldiers mocked Jesus by putting a royal purple robe on Jesus and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews.”
Then Pilate brought Jesus before the crowd and announced that he could find no charge against Jesus. The crowd called for Jesus’ crucifixion.
Eventually Pilate handed Jesus over to the crowd to be crucified.
All of this happened to fulfill Scripture. More on that next week!
Things to Think About
- Jesus withstood six illegal, unfair trials – three Jewish trials and three Roman trials.
- The only way to overcome sin’s effects is to accept Jesus as your Savior, the One who died and took the punishment for your sins.