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I’d like
to begin with 18:28, where Yeshua is brought before
Pilate for trial: Then they led Yeshua from
Caiaphas into the Praetorium - the palace
of the Roman governor, and it was early; and
they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium
so that they would not be defiled, but might eat
the Passover. What irony! What hypocrisy on
the part of these Jewish leaders not wanting to
be ritually defiled for Passover by entering a
Gentile's home (something which the Torah never
forbids), meanwhile, they are committing one of
the greatest sins in history, putting to death
Israel’s King, the righteous Messiah, the Son
of God, mankind’s Savior, and our only hope of
salvation! What a warning about the danger of
religion apart from a true relationship with God!
It’s somewhat
insulting, not being willing to enter someone’s
home, especially when you are there to ask them
for a favor, but Pilate was gracious to the Jewish
leaders, and didn’t insist they come before him
in his home. Therefore Pilate went out to them
and said, "What accusation do you bring against
this Man?" This is a legal situation,
and Pilate wants to know the specific charges
against the accused. They answered and said
to him, "If this Man were not an evildoer,
we would not have delivered Him to you."
But, they don’t answer Pilate with specific
charges, but with vague generalities, that Yeshua
has done evil and has sinned.
That happens
when you don't have a good case. People resort
to generalizations and name calling. So Pilate
said to them, "Take Him yourselves, and judge
Him according to your law." Pilate realizes
that this dispute is between rabbis - Rabbi Yeshua
and the other Jewish leaders. He doesn't want
to get involved. If He has done evil according
to Jewish law, then Pilate wants Him judged by
Jewish law.
The Jewish
people still had religious courts, and still had
that authority. Roman had taken much authority
away from us, but not all. However, the Jewish
leaders want a Roman trial because they are aiming
for the death penalty, and it was the Roman governor
who had the sole power of the death penalty.
The
Jews (meaning the Jewish leaders) said
to him, "We are not permitted to put anyone
to death," to fulfill the word of Yeshua
which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death
He was about to die. These leaders thought
they were the wise ones, they ones in charge,
maneuvering things just the way they wanted. But
behind them was the Wisest One of all, who is
shrewder than the shrewd! They were actually playing
into the hands of God, fulfilling His plans, and
also the prophetic word of Yeshua, who had predicted
how He would die (As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man
be lifted up... If I be lifted up from the Earth,
I will draw all men to Myself (see 3:14 and12:32).
Yeshua is most certainly a true prophet. Every
word He speaks is true.
Again,
notice the attention to details, and the dialogue
that is recorded for us. This indicates a historical
account that is based on eyewitness. Pilate has
heard the preliminary charges. Now, functioning
as a judge, he speaks to the Accused: therefore
Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and
summoned Yeshua and said to Him, "Are You
the King of the Jews?" Why does he ask
Yeshua if He is Israel’s King? Why that, and not
the charges of the Jewish leaders?
Obviously,
Pilate had heard something about the young Rabbi
from Nazareth - that some were saying that He
was a descendant of King David, and therefore
the King of the Jews, and that was a very political
thing, and would have been of interest to Pilate
and Rome, even if the vague charges of the Jewish
leaders weren’t.
Yeshua
answered, "Are you saying this on your own
initiative, or did others tell you about Me?"
Yeshua, who is the true King of Israel, wants
to know if Pilate wants to know more about Yeshua
on his own, and has some genuine interest in Him
that is coming from within, maybe even a spiritual
interest. How much spiritual truth does Pilate
know? Has his time among the Chosen People benefitted
him? Is he being drawn to God by the Spirit? Is
that why Pilate is asking, or is he going along
with a plot of these Jewish leaders who want to
have Yeshua killed?
Pilate
answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Look,
I’m not interested in getting involved in your
internal Jewish squabbles. I’m not interested
in your religion. Your own nation and the chief
priests delivered You to me; what have You done?"
But I do want to know what you have done to arose
the opposition of Your people and its leaders.
Yeshua
does not answer this question, but He does answer
Pilate’s original question about being the King
of the Jews: Yeshua answered, "My
kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were
of this world, then My servants would be fighting
so that I would not be handed over to the Jews;
but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."
Yeshua
is wise. He tells Pilate the truth, but not all
of the truth. But the truth He told him was sufficient,
and not misleading. He admits that He is a King,
but His kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom
is connected to another realm - Heaven. He is
not a threat to Caesar. He is not a king who is
a rival for this realm. If He was interested in
competing with Caesar, then He would command millions
of mighty angels to fight for Him, and all the
Roman cohorts and all the mighty Roman armies
would be utterly defeated before them!
The nature
of Yeshua’s First Coming was not political, to
take over the kingdoms of this world. He will
at the Second Coming, when He returns as the King
of kings and the Lord of lords. Now, there are
very important implications of Yeshua’s position.
Like Messiah, in this age, Messiah’s Holy Community
is not to be striving for political power, being
rivals to Caesar, taking over the kingdoms of
this world. We can and should get involved in
politics, and exert what influence we can, but
our goal is not the acquisition of political power
to move forward God’s agenda. In fact, the Church
has almost invariably been purer and holier and
more faithful to its calling the farther it has
been from the centers of political power.
I’m thinking
in particular of what this same John, in the Book
of Revelation, calls Babylon, that unfaithful,
false church, who is centered in a city with seven
hills, unfaithful to God, compared to a whore
- persecuting the true believers, murderous, drunk
with the blood of the saints, who consorts with
Anti-Christ, and has had power over the kings
of the Earth. I wonder who that can be?
Therefore
Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?"
Yeshua answered, "You say correctly that
I am a king. For this I have been born, and for
this I have come into the world, to testify to
the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears
My voice."
Yeshua
affirms that He is a king, but a different kind
of king, One who is no rival to Caesar. He is
the King of truth (and the kings of Rome certainly
did not embody the truth). Messiah is the Supreme
Authority who determines what is true. He controls
all realty - what is real, what is right, what
is true, what should be known and believed. And,
the purpose of His First Coming was to tells us
the truth.
Come on,
did the Son of God really need to come down from
the glories of Heaven, become a man, suffer all
the indignities and misunderstandings that He
suffered, just to tell us the truth? Yes - because
mankind is totally confused about the truth, about
what is really real, about the way things really
are. We think we know, but we don’t know.
And what
is truth? That mankind is alienated from the one
true and living God, and utterly lost; the whole
world is perishing, and unless we are born again,
spiritually transformed, given new life from God,
we will not enter Heaven and experience eternal
life.
That Yeshua
is the eternal Son of God, and the Way, the Truth
and the Life; and no human being can come to God
and Heaven and eternal life apart from personally
placing their faith in Him. He is the sinless
Redeemer, and the Light of the World, and mankind’s
only Savior, and unless we believe in Him, we
will die in our sins. But if we do join ourselves
to Him, we will find that He is the Resurrection
and the Life.
Since
Yeshua is the King of Truth, are you a loyal subject
to the King? Have you committed yourself to Him
as the supreme giver of truth to humanity? Do
you think that there is some higher truth out
there? Do you know the truth? Are you committed
to the truth? Do you live the truth? Or are you
still in a state of confusion, like the rest of
the world, and asking, like the Roman governor,
what is truth?
Pilate
said to Him, "What is truth?" Even
though Yeshua is his prisoner, He is confident
and bold, and claiming to be the King of Truth.
Interestingly, the one with greater power is not
confident, and Pilate retreats into philosophical
speculation. Truth? How can any man know the truth?
This is what we would call an Agnostic - that
philosophical position that it is impossible for
humans beings to know ultimate truth.
Pilate
is like most people today in our secular humanistic
culture today. They don’t think that truth, absolute
truth, is knowable. But is was knowable then,
and it is knowable now.
You see,
the Absolute Truth, the Source of Ultimate Truth,
the Center of Reality, is standing right in front
of Pilate, revealing Himself to him! He had personally
just been told the truth by the King of Truth,
and yet he denied it. How sad that a person can
come so close to the Truth, and yet not know it.
Pilate
did.
Judas
did.
The rich
young ruler did.
Most
of the religious leaders of Israel did.
Might
we be facing that same danger? In the book of
Hebrews, religious people are described who have
once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift,
become sharers in the Holy Spirit, and tasted
the goodness of God's Word and the powers of the
Olam HaBa - the World To Come, and then have fallen
away. Adolph Saphir observes that these were
people who were Messianic Jews in their profession
and their outward appearance, but it seems that
they were never true believers to begin with.
This is
a description of the apparent and professing
believer. They professed faith in Yeshua, and
to all appearance they had been enlightened. They
had tasted of the heavenly gift, for they expressed
their joy in believing the Good News. They seemed
to have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
for they called Yeshua Lord; they seemed to have
tasted the good Word of God and the powers of
the world to come, for they were willing to suffer
and to lose their worldly goods for the sake of
the eternal reward. Many of them had experienced
supernatural gifts, and had been used by God to
do miraculous works of power.
But unless
they woke up from their spiritual slumber, unless
by repentance and faith they continued to pick
up their cross and follow Yeshua, unless they
continued to be willing to ascend the steep and
rugged heights, as Yeshua commands us to follow
Him, their path is downward towards eternal ruin.
If they continue in their downward direction,
it will become obvious that they received the
good seed only superficially, that they had no
depth, and therefore after a short season of joy
fell away. O, a person can come so very close
to the truth, my friends, and yet not really be
part of the truth. Is that you?
Why can
people get so close to the truth, but deny the
Truth? The answer is that the truth brings with
it implications that they don’t like. If there
is one true God, then He can tell us what is right
and what is wrong; what is true, and what is a
lie, what we can do, and what we should not do;
and most people don’t like that.
They want
pleasures, legitimate and illegitimate ones, and
they want plenty of the world’s riches, and they
want to be popular, and go along with the godless
majority. But the truth won’t allow that, and
so they deny the truth. Do you? Or are you committed
to the true God, the true Messiah, and to the
truth, no matter if the consequences are not what
you would prefer?
Pilate
was close to the truth. And, he was convinced
that Yeshua was no threat to Rome, and that He
had not committed any crime under Roman. Law.
And when he had said this, he went out again
- a second time, outside the Governor’s palace
- to the Jews (meaning the Jewish leaders)
and said to them, "I find no guilt in Him.
I Pontius Pilate, the legal representative
of the mighty Roman Empire, the dominant Gentile
World Power, I find the charges against Yeshua
of Nazareth to be unsubstantial. He is innocent
of all charges.” Now, if Pilate was genuinely
committed to justice, the case would be dismissed,
and Yeshua would have been immediately released.
But he didn’t release him.
Instead,
trying to get that desired result, Pilate presented
a plan: But you have a custom that I release
someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then
that I release for you the King of the Jews?"
Pilate is attempting to get out of this dilemma,
based on the Roman and Jewish custom, that the
Romans released a Jewish prisoner in honor of
the Passover. Let’s see if it works:
So
they ‑ the Jewish leaders and their
cronies - cried out again saying, "Not
this Man, but BarAbba." Now BarAbba was a
robber.
What irony!
What a choice! One BarAbba, which means “son of
the father,” a robber, or another BarAbba, who
is the true Son of the Great Father of all? Which
one will they choose? A robber or the sinless
Messiah, the Son of God, and the King of the Jews?
It’s not much of a choice, for those who have
eyes to see. But these Jewish leaders, and those
who were loyal to them, didn’t know God, and didn’t
know His Son, and so they chose to save the robber,
and kill the Prince of Life.
I’m reminded
of the words found in the prophet, “He was despised,
and forsaken by men, and we did not esteem Him.”
Isaiah predicted that we would not properly value
the Messiah for who He truly was. And it happened.
Now, Pilate
tries something else - humiliation, perhaps hoping
that if he hurts and humiliate Yeshua of Nazareth,
maybe that will win the young Rabbi some sympathy,
show that He is not a threat, and be enough to
satisfy those who want Him dead.
Pilate
then took Yeshua and whipped Him. And the soldiers
twisted together a crown of thorns and put it
on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and
they began to come up to Him and say, "Hail,
King of the Jews!" and to give Him slaps
in the face.
Yeshua
was unjustly struck at His trial before Annas,
the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the High Priest.
Notice that Gentiles are also involved and willing
participants in Yeshua's sufferings. In fact,
His sufferings from the Gentiles far exceed the
suffering He experience from the Jews.
Yeshua,
although proclaimed innocent by Pilate, is very
severely whipped. We know from history that many
people didn’t survive a Roman whipping. Pieces
of bone, metal or glass were tied to a leather
whip which cut through the skin and even the muscle.
The whole body was affected, including the face.
Ancient records tell us that when the Romans were
through with one of these whippings, oftentimes
even family members could no longer recognize
the person, because he was so cut up.
This is
another miscarriage of justice. How does Yeshua
react? Does He call down angels from heaven to
destroy these cruel, wicked human beings? No.
He suffered silently, knowing that He was whipped,
so that by His stripes, we might be healed. He
was whipped so that we might live in comfort throughout
eternity. So He suffered and remained silent.
But whipping
was not enough for the Romans. The Gentiles had
other humiliations in store for the King of the
Jews: they put a crown of thorns on His head,
perhaps pressing down hard enough to pierce the
skin. If so, it would have been painful.
I am in
awe when I consider that the only crown the world's
greatest King ever wore while He was on Earth,
was a crown of thorns. The head of the King of
kings, that bore the greatest crown in Heaven,
was forced by humanity to wear a crown made up
of thorns.
Thorns
are a direct result of the curse that was place
on humanity and on the Earth when mankind rebelled
against God. Thorns are a symbol of this terrible
curse that comes from sin and disobedience and
rebellion against God. By wearing this crown of
thorns, the King is taking on His head the curse
of humanity, and reversing that curse, in order
that we might be restored to God's blessing, that
our sin and disobedience and rebellion against
God might come to an end.
The Roman
soldiers also put a purple robe on Yeshua. Making
purple dye was expensive, and purple robes became
associated with royalty and kingship. These Gentiles
are mocking Yeshua, hailing Him as the King of
the Jews. The King is the greatest person in any
nation, and so this tells us what they thought,
not just of our King, but of all Jews. These soldiers
saw the Chosen People as weak and pathetic, worthy
to be humiliated, slapped in the face, tortured,
mocked and scorned. And, these cruel Gentiles
thought all this was humorous, entertaining, and
lots of fun.
Pilate
came out again (for the third time) and
said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him
out to you so that you may know that I find no
guilt in Him." For the second time Pilate
declares Yeshua innocent of all charges. So why
doesn’t Pilate simply release Him? Because, he
would like to make the Jewish leaders happy. He
doesn’t want this to develop into a more serious
political situation.
Then,
after His whipping, beating and humiliation, Yeshua
then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and
the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold,
the Man!" Look at this Man! He has been
beaten. He has been whipped. He has been humiliated.
No one will take Him seriously. He is not a threat
to Rome or to you. Look at this Man. Now, let’s
let Him go.
Pilate
looked and saw a innocent but powerless Rabbi,
and withheld justice.
The soldiers
looked and saw a despised Jew, and laughed.
The Jewish
leaders looked and saw a young miracle working
rabbi who dared to assert that His authority was
greater than theirs, and claimed to be the Messiah
sent by God, and the Son of God, and rejected
Him.
God looked
and saw His dearly loved Son, the One who existed
with Him throughout eternity, but who was willing
before the foundation of the universe to reconciled
fallen man back to God; the One who had willingly
left the glories of Heaven, and had joined Himself
to humanity, in order to redeem humanity. God
looked and saw a perfect Man, a sinless Man, a
Man who always honored Him in all that He did
and said. What do you see?
Over the
centuries, many have looked at this Man, and saw
various things: a political revolutionary, a reformer,
a good man, but not a prophet or the Messiah,
or other things. Behold the Man is what
the Spirit of God is saying to every human being
since that time. So, just as Pontius Pilate did
2000 years ago, I likewise say to you, “Behold
the Man! Take a very good look at this Man. What
do you see?” And, your eternal destiny, your salvation,
your very life and existence, depends on what
you see.
So
when the chief priests and the officers saw Him,
they cried out saying, "Crucify, crucify!"
Israel’s political and religious leaders saw the
Man, and wanted Him dead.
Pilate
said to them, "Take Him yourselves and crucify
Him, for I find no guilt in Him." You
deal with Him. You punish Him. For the third time
I am declaring that He is innocent!
Peter's
threefold denial is matched by Pilate's three
fold proclamation of innocence. Not once did Pilate
proclaim Him innocent. Not twice, so that there
would be no mistake, but three times, so that
the absolute official proclamation of the official
Roman governor was unmistakable: Yeshua is completely
innocent. And, if he was a just ruler, and an
honorable man, Pilate should have released Yeshua.
But he didn’t.
The
Jewish leaders answered him, "We have a law,
and by that law He ought to die because He made
Himself out to be the Son of God." According
to our understanding of Jewish law, Yeshua has
blasphemed. He has claimed to be God. That’s blasphemy,
and the penalty for that is death. But only you
Pilate, according to your Roman law which we are
forced to deal with, can execute capital punishment.
Therefore
when Pilate heard this statement, he was even
more afraid - because he knew Yeshua was a
good and brave Man, a popular young Rabbi who
helped people, and who claimed to love the truth.
He probably heard stories about some of His miracles.
He might have known that Yeshua was a descendant
of King David, but that Yeshua wasn’t interested
in political power, only in being the King of
truth. Now Pilate is given more information, that
Yeshua had claimed to be God in human form. And
that scared Him, because something within Pilate
thought that might actually be true. Maybe this
young popular miracle working Rabbi was a divine
being, a son of one of the gods, which was familiar
to Roman religion!
And
he entered into the Praetorium again and said
to Yeshua, "Where are You from?" I
want to know where you really come from. Are you
divine? But Yeshua gave him no answer. Why?
Perhaps because He knew that Pilate wasn’t just,
wasn’t fair, wasn’t committed to the truth. He
had given him the truth, but Pilate didn’t act
on the truth he was given; and when a man or a
woman doesn’t believe and implement the truth
they are given, God will generally not give them
more truth. So, Yeshua remained silent.
Let this
be a warning to all those who want more truth,
and more truth, and more truth, but are unwilling
to implement the truth they already know. Better
to know less truth, but practice that truth, then
to know more truth, and not live by it.
So
Pilate said to Him, "You do not speak to
me? Do You not know that I have authority to release
You, and I have authority to crucify You?"
Yeshua's strange silence mystifies him. Pilate
was used to men begging for their lives, crying
for mercy, promising him anything. That was normal.
And so, Pilate reminds Yeshua of his authority
over His destiny, that he is the one in control
of Yeshua’s life, and can have Him killed, and
so He had better cooperate.
Is Yeshua
intimidated by the powerful governor of Rome?
Does He back down? Does He say, “spare My life
Pilate, and I’ll tell you anything you want to
know?” Let’s see: Yeshua answered, "You
would have no authority over Me, unless it had
been given you from above; for this reason he
who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."
Yeshua's
answer is even more strange and frightening. He
tells Pilate that he is in his place of authority
by the will of Heaven above. Yeshua was fully
aware that Pilate, and the Jewish leaders, were
not really in control, not really the ones in
authority, but God was. This is all part of God's
divine plan, created before the beginning of time,
to redeem sinful mankind.
Does that
absolve Pilate? No. Pilate is still guilty for
his unjust actions. Even more so are the Jewish
leaders, like Caiaphas, who should have known
better, because to whom is given, much is required,
and the more you know, the more responsible you
are, and the Jewish leaders had greater access
to the truth, and therefore had the greater sin
and were more guilty.
As
a result of this Pilate made efforts to release
Him, but the Jews cried out saying, "If you
release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar;
everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes
Caesar." Again Pilate tried to release
Yeshua, and he could have, and should have, but
the Jewish leaders put on more pressure by challenging
his loyalty to Caesar. They level the political
charge that Yeshua was a rival to Caesar, and
if Pilate didn't go along with them, they would
complain to Caesar that Pilate wasn't loyal to
him. Of course that wasn't true, but Pilate didn't
want to jeopardize his career for one innocent
Jewish man.
Pilate
was being forced to make a hard choice. He should
have released Yeshua, who He knew was innocent.
But now his own comfort, his own job, his own
career, was at stake, and what is that compared
to the life of one innocent man? Pilate’s spirit
was willing, but his flesh was weak. He was willing
to do what was right when it was easy, when it
was convenient, when it didn't cost him too much,
but he was unwilling to do what was right when
it was hard and costly. How about you? Is there
a point that are you willing to stop doing what
is right?
Therefore
when Pilate heard these words, he brought Yeshua
out, to the Roman place of judgment, and
sat down on the judgment seat at a place called
The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabta - which
may mean ridge or height.
Now
it was the day of preparation for the Passover;
it was about the sixth hour. It was 12:00
noon, and as best as I can tell, on a Friday,
the first day of Passover, but also the day of
preparation for Shabbat. And he said to the
Jews, "Behold, your King!" Pilate
is sick of Jews, and he mocks Yeshua and the Jewish
leaders by saying: Behold your King! Your
so-called King is contemptible, and this is what
I think of all of you Jews!
But the
Jewish leaders didn’t like any reference to Yeshua
being King,, even if it was done to mock Him and
them. So they cried out, "Away with Him,
away with Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said
to them, "Shall I crucify your King?"
The chief priests answered, "We have no king
but Caesar." We have no king but Caesar?
Not, we have no King but God? This is a blasphemous
denial of the Kingship of God over the nation
of Israel by our leaders.
What they
said was true - God, the Father of Yeshua, was
no longer their King, since to deny the Son of
the King, is do deny His Father, the Great King.
This is the final rejection of Yeshua by the representative
of the Roman government, and also by the official
Jewish leaders, who knew more, and were more responsible.
And it will result in terrible tragedy, especially
for the nation of Israel, which has affected us
to this very day.
So
he then delivered Him to them to be crucified.
Jews and Gentiles were are involved in the arrest,
unjust trials, beatings, sufferings, humiliations
of the Messiah. Both Jews and Gentiles are involved
in His death, and thanks be to generosity of the
grace of God, both can be participants of His
resurrection!
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