23:1
¶ And the whole multitude of them arose,
and led him unto Pilate. 2 And they
began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation,
and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a
King. 3 And Pilate asked him, saying,
Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.
4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests
and to the people, I find no fault in this man. 5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He
stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee
to this place. 6 When Pilate heard of
Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. 7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto
Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem
at that time. 8 And when Herod saw
Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season,
because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle
done by him. 9 Then he questioned with
him in many words; but he answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and
vehemently accused him. 11 And Herod
with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him
in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. 12 And the same day Pilate and Herod were made
friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.
Jesus is then brought before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.
Pilate is known outside of the Bible from the Pilate Stone, a mention by the
historian Tacitus, Philo of Alexandria, and the historian/Jewish general
turncoat Josephus.
Jesus is accused of perverting
the nation, which we can understand as an accusation of corrupting the
people in their thinking, which is, of course, their opinion. They have accused
Him of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar which we know is not true.
Luke
20:20 ¶ And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which
should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that
so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. 21 And they asked him, saying, Master, we know
that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God
truly: 22
Is it
lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said
unto them, Why tempt ye me? 24 Shew me a
penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said,
Caesar’s. 25 And he said unto them,
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the
things which be God’s.
In another incident as recorded in Matthew we see;
Matthew
17:24 ¶ And when they were come to
Capernaum, they that received tribute money
came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the
house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the
kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of
strangers? 26 Peter saith unto him, Of
strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27 Notwithstanding,
lest
we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the
fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find
a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
Here we also see in this accusation that the Jews understood that
the Messiah, the Christ, was to rule. I remember how Satan tried to tempt
Christ as reported in Luke 4 to take the Crown before the Cross. But, many Jews
would believe in two Messiahs. As I stated in my comments on Luke 7:19, I read
in a book entitled A History of Messianic
Speculation in Israel from the First through the Seventeenth Centuries by
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver that there was an expectation of two messiahs at
times, one; Messiah ben Joseph and, two; Messiah ben David. One is a conqueror
and one suffers for the people of Israel and dies fighting the enemies of God
and Israel. The Jews understood clearly that Christ would rule but did not
understand when that would physically take place.
As Isaiah noted;
Isaiah
9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase
of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD
of hosts will perform this.
And even King Herod was told;
Matthew
2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and
all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he
had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he
demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written
by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the
least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that
shall rule my people Israel.
A reference to this prophecy from Micah;
Micah
5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
And now here remember how Jesus handled the question of His
messiahship before the Jewish leadership in the last passage?
67 Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said
unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 68 And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. 69 Hereafter shall
the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. 70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of
God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
In other words, you just said it. So, He does the same to Pilate.
3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the
King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.
The high priests and their entourage, a now unruly mob, then
begins to, when Pilate perceives this is no threat to Rome and asks Christ if
He is the Jews’ king, perhaps sarcastically, accuse Jesus of seditious behavior
but calls Jesus a Galilean. Pilate the politician and civil servant of Rome
perceives this as a way of shoving this problem onto Herod’s back as Galilee is
Herod’s jurisdiction. This not Herod the Great who finished rebuilding the
Temple but his son who had beheaded John the Baptist.
Luke
3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the
reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and
his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and
Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, who regards Christ as some kind of
novelty, but Jesus does not acknowledge Herod’s authority over Him by not
answering his questions in any way. He is then humiliated further and sent back
to Pilate. In this we learn that Herod, who is a puppet of the Romans and
Pilate, a Roman governor, now find common cause. It is true that people who have
been enemies beforehand will unite in their hatred of Christ and Christians.
Matthew Henry pointed out that the cause of the controversy
between Pilate and Herod may have centered around Pilate’s execution of Herod’s
subjects.
Luke
13:1 ¶ There were present at that season
some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their
sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said
unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the
Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
In any event, Jesus is sent to Pilate which makes a strong
statement that Herod regards this as an issue for Rome to deal with. Pilate has
dismissed the Jews’ charge against Christ of fomenting sedition and Herod has
regarded Christ as some kind of diversion. The high priests and Jewish rulers
take Him as a threat to their position, though. They will now give Pilate an
immense problem and he chooses to satisfy the bloodlust of the mob.
Luke 23:13 ¶ And Pilate, when he
had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto
me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him
before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye
accuse him: 15 No, nor yet Herod: for I
sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. 16 I will therefore chastise him, and release him.
17 (For of necessity he must release one
unto them at the feast.) 18 And they
cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us
Barabbas: 19 (Who for a certain sedition
made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) 20 Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus,
spake again to them. 21 But they cried,
saying, Crucify him, crucify him. 22
And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I
have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him
go. 23 And they were instant with loud
voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the
chief priests prevailed. 24 And Pilate
gave sentence that it should be as they required. 25 And he released unto them him that for
sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he
delivered Jesus to their will.
Pilate has determined that Jesus is not guilty of sedition. He is
no threat to Rome, as Pilate sees it. The only threat to the civil order is
coming from the chief priests and the rulers. However, Pilate is cognizant of
the fact that there are times when not giving a mob what they want is more
dangerous to public order than resisting them. The Jews were very fractious and
there were often riots and disturbances. As a Roman official Pilate needed to
maintain order not worry about the rights of an innocent man. Of course, if
Jesus had been a Roman citizen He would have been entitled to certain legal
rights as we will see later in Luke’s writing about Paul.
Notice that, according to custom, Pilate will release a prisoner
for Passover as an act of magnanimity to show, obviously, the beneficence of
Roman rule. Perhaps this is a clue as to why Herod wanted to keep Peter locked
up in Acts 12:4 and not bring him out to the people until after the feast,
which would also be the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion. If Herod operated
under the same custom as Pilate and released a prisoner at Passover perhaps he
did not want Jesus’ followers demanding his release. It is hard to say. Considering
how Herod handled John the Baptist I doubt he would have worried about Peter
being killed but be more concerned about him being forced to release him by a
crowd of supporters. We know from that passage that he arrested him to please
the Jews so it seems likely that he wanted to ensure there was no chance for a
demand to release Peter.
The crowd demands that someone who has been found guilty of sedition
AND murder be released over someone who the authorities have found innocent.
This shows us clearly the threat to the Jews, not the Romans at this time and
in this place, that the Lord Jesus Christ presented.
The crowd, spurred on by the chief priests and rulers, demands
that Jesus be crucified. Pilate asserts his finding of Jesus’ innocence three
times as Peter denied Jesus three times. Pilate gives in. As different
eyewitness accounts of any event give one a clearer picture of the event I
recommend taking the time to read John 18 and 19 about Pilate’s dilemma and his
capitulation to the crowd.
Luke 23:26
¶ And as they led him away, they laid
hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they
laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great company of
people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters
of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in
the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never
bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 30
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the
hills, Cover us. 31 For if they do these
things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
Simon, who is forced to carry at least part of the cross that
Jesus was to be crucified on as writers often talk about the execution victim
having to carry the crossbar to the place where it would be nailed to the stake
that went into the ground, is a Cyrenian. Cyrene’ was an ancient Greek then
Roman city in modern day Libya on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast. Likely a
Jew and not a Roman citizen and there at Jerusalem for the feast he is noted as
being the father of Alexander and Rufus in Mark 15:21. This suggests that the
two youngsters may have become notable Christians as did, perhaps, their father
after this experience.
The name Alexander is mentioned later but there is no indication
that it ever refers to this Alexander. However, Paul salutes a Rufus who may or
may not be this one. It is important not to do too much arguing when the Bible
is silent on something in spite of traditions and extrabiblical references in
writings of questionable authenticity.
Romans
16:13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
From verse 28 it seems clear that Jesus is talking about the fall
of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple that has figured so prominently in
His prophecies previous to this. Read my comments on 19:41-48 & 21:5-19
where I repeat them in part.
Luke 19:41
¶ And when he was come near, he beheld
the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying,
If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now
they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the
days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee,
and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and
thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon
another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. 45 And he went into the temple, and began to
cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; 46 Saying untothem, It is written, My house is
the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. 47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the
chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy
him, 48 And could not find what they
might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
Here is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans
in AD70. Josephus, a Jewish general who went over to the Romans, gave us the
history of that event if we can believe what he wrote. The siege and
destruction of Jerusalem was the main event of the First Jewish-Roman War that
ended not only in the disaster to the city but the destruction of the Temple,
as well.
What was called Herod’s Temple, the Second Temple with the first
destroyed by the Babylonians hundreds of years previously, will be destroyed.
The Jews will suffer for rejecting their Messiah and for fabricating a false
religion, a house of cards built on the Mosaic Law, not too different from what
many Christians have done. It seems to
be a character trait of mankind, making it up as they go along. But, some
historical writers say that the destruction of Jerusalem marked the great shift
away of Christianity from its Jewish roots.”
It is certainly understandable to play this forward to the events
of the end of human history in Revelation but it is also important to keep in
mind the immediate context of prophecy. There is a context the first readers
would have understood and then there is a future context which we are
constantly debating about. One of the problems with the Preterist philosophy,
those who believe that this defines even all of the events of Revelation, is
that Christ did not return to assume control of all of the kingdoms of the
earth as Revelation 11:15 declares.
Again, let’s review my comments previously about this singularly
great disaster in Jewish history.
Luke 21:20
¶ And when ye shall see Jerusalem
compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the
mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not
them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all
things which are written may be fulfilled. 23
But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in
those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this
people. 24 And they shall fall by the
edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and
Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled. 25 And there
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the
earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the
powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory. 28 And when these things begin to
come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth
nigh.
Here is a clear distinction between the Fall of Jerusalem and the
destruction of the Temple versus the end of history. Read 20-24 to the comma
before until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled. There is a couple thousand-year gap in that comma.
Paul wrote about the period of Israel’s blindness over the last
two thousand years;
Romans
11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own
conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is
written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away
ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I
shall take away their sins. 28 As
concerning the gospel, they are
enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30 For as ye in times past have not believed
God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not believed,
that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief,
that he might have mercy upon all.
Notice Paul’s until the fulness
of the Gentiles be come in. Notice also that God is not done with the Jews
but their apostasy turned to our salvation and we are to be witnesses for them,
not their persecutors.
Now, back to the comma and the two thousand plus year gap. Here is
another example of that type of handling of time in the Bible. Read this
prophecy in Isaiah.
Isaiah
61:1 ¶ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the
LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Now, read up to the comma after to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. Jesus refers to this
passage in His early ministry.
Luke
4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised, 19
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat
down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
He stopped where that comma is for us. Before that comma is His
first advent and after that comma the day
of vengeance of our God holds the second advent as related in the Book of
the Revelation. There is a long time in between, two thousand years so far.
From the point at the end of Luke 21:24 and onward we have the
events of the end foretold. There was some question about how long that gap
might be. If the council had, as related in Acts 7, when they were addressed by
Stephen, acknowledged, as he said in verse 52, that they had had the Messiah
killed by the Romans, like David killed Uriah by the Ammonites (2Samuel 12:9), that
gap may have been much smaller than two thousand years.
Acts
7:52 Which of the prophets have not your
fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming
of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Christ was ready, perhaps, to receive the repentant Jews. In Mark
16:19; Colossians 3:1; and Hebrews 10:12 He is said to be seated on the right
hand of God but in the following He might have been prepared, as an example to
us, to receive the Jews if they had been repentant and acknowledged who He is
and what they did.
Acts
7:55 But he, being full of the Holy
Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God, 56
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing
on the right hand of God.
They had used the sword of Roman justice to murder the Innocent
One (Psalm 94:21; Matthew 27:4) but Peter said they did it out of ignorance.
Acts
3:17 And now, brethren, I wot that
through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Confirming what Jesus said from the Cross.
Luke
23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do.
And the Law provided a way to deal with the rulers’ sin from
ignorance as per Leviticus, chapter 4. But, it was not to be. The Jews had
rebellion against God on their spiritual hearts.
Matthew
27:25 Then answered all the people, and
said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
John
19:15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto
them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
And so, we have the age of the Church until the times of the
Gentile domination are over. Israel still has to deal with the Gentiles and
their very existence, from a temporal and strictly earthly point of view,
depends on the support of powerful nations, the holding back of their enemies,
and a very, very shaky geopolitical situation with another holocaust from the
Beast and Satan’s fury coming. But, when Christ returns to rule Gentile
domination is over.
Revelation
11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and
there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our
Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Verses 25-27 of the verses I just read from chapter 21 summarize
the events of the Book of Revelation. For 27 see;
Revelation
1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and
every eye shall see him, and also
which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Even so, Amen.
Finally, as in verse 28 of the passage in chapter 21, we are told
to be expectant of Christ’s return, of His calling us out as the church, His
body on earth being removed or translated from here to Heaven.
1Corinthians
15:51 ¶ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Thessalonians 4:13 ¶ But I
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.
Titus
2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Luke 21:29 ¶ And he spake to
them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of
your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come
to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares
of this life, and so that day
come upon you unawares. 35 For as a
snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to
pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 37
And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went
out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. 38
And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for
to hear him.
See here in Jesus’ closing statements how with the age of the
Christian church not revealed that the two prophecies of events at least two
thousand years apart appear to be conflated. This confuses the Preterist who
say the events of Revelation were fulfilled in 70AD, which is nonsense.
First, it must be understood that the events of the Fall of
Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple will happen so close in time that
the generation hearing Christ will have many who will witness them. With the
First Jewish-Roman War less than four decades away this generation will
experience it.
But, He includes in His closing remarks in chapter 21 something
more, that the whole earth will experience,
the coming of the kingdom of God
physically on earth at Christ’s return. Without the two thousand years of the
Church Age in between it appears confusing to some. But, look at the disaster
the Jews faced in 70AD as a type and a portent of what the end of human history
will look like. The signs of Jerusalem’s fall and the signs of the time before
Christ’s return will be similar and Christians will be delivered from both sets
of horrors involved in those signs.”
Think of it, if the Jews do these things when Christ is present
with them what shall be done when He is not. From another perspective Josephus
would write about how even the old and feeble were slaughtered by the Romans in
the siege of Jerusalem. So, there are probably several ways to compare a green tree with a dry.
It is tempting to think of all of the sermons that could come from
this passage. As an example, if American Christianity is so weak as a moral
force when there is very little oppression of faith in the country what shall
become of it when in a future time our faith is outlawed? I am sure you can
think of many ways of looking at this prophecy and relating it to us today.
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