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.
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