Jesus Before Pilate, First Time (6 a.m.) Matthew 27:11-14 Mark 15:2-5 Luke 23:1-5 John 18:28-38
Jesus Before Pilate, First Time (6 A.M.) Texts: Matthew 27:11-14, 11. And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 12. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? 14. And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Mark 15:1-5, 1. And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. 2. And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. 3. And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. 4. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? Behold how many things they witness against thee. 5. But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marveled. Luke 23:1-5, 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. John 18:28-38, 28. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. 29. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? 30. They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. 31. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 32. That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. 33. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? 34. Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? 35. Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? 36. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
37. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. Introduction: I. The night session before the Sanhedrin was indeed a kangaroo court. II. They bound Jesus early in the morning and delivered him to Pilate. They were seeking Roman rubber stamping of their evil purposes. III. The Sanhedrin broke some 14 of its own rules including: A. The Sanhedrin could not meet at night nor on a feast day. B. The death penalty could not be carried out until a night had passed. C. Members of the court had to be polled individually. D. None of these things was done! IV. Pilate was charged with protecting Caesar s interests in Judaea. If Pilate had any idea at all that Jesus was an earthly king, a threat to Caesar, he would have delivered him immediately to be executed! V. Jesus laid down his life for the sins of the people. It was not taken from him. VI. There were six parts to the total trial of Jesus; viz.,
A. Annas B. Caiaphas C. Sanhedrin D. Pilate E. Herod F. Pilate again Note: The Roman capital was Caesarea. Pilate ruled from there except on special occasions such as Passover when he went to Jerusalem. Commentary: I. Jesus stood trial for his life before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea. A. Philo described Pilate as an evil ruler. 1. Luke 13:32, And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 2. Pilate s conduct at the trial of Jesus was reprehensible. Note: Pilate was the fifth Roman Procurator, Prefect of Judaea. He held office from 29-36 A.D. B. The whole assembly arose from Caiaphas the high priest and led Jesus to the palace of Pilate. The Praetorium was the armory in the Tower of Antonio.
C. It was now early in the morning. They wouldn t enter a Gentile s palace lest they become ceremonially unclean and be ineligible to eat the Passover feast. D. However, they had no problem asking a heathen governor to execute Jesus. They did not think this would affect their ceremonial cleanliness. How absurd! Strict religious observance can be seen in the lives of the most perverse people. E. Pilate the governor came out to his Jewish constituents early in the morning to hear their concerns. Did Pilate resent this imposition? F. Pilate asked, What charge are you bringing against this man? NIV G. The Jews sarcastically, disrespectfully replied, If he were not a malefactor, criminal, we would not have brought him to you. Yes. You can count on it! The Sanhedrin really did not want to tell the truth of why they wanted Jesus dead and, in fact, never did confess to the real reason for their arresting Jesus until the very end of Pilate s second proceedings. H. Be careful about making enemies. The hypocritical dishonest enemies of Jesus stayed after him until they finally had him on trial for his life. I. Pilate told them, Take him and judge him by your law. Don t bother me with this matter. This case is a misdemeanor. Handle it yourself. J. Adam Clarke wrote: The power of life and death was taken from the Jews, as far as it concerned matters of state... they only applied to Pilate to persuade him that they were proceeding against Christ as an enemy of the state, and not as a transgressor
of their own laws. If this were the case Pilate readily saw their hypocrisy because he well knew how much the Jews cared for the Roman Empire. None at all! K. The Jews replied that they wanted Jesus dead and that they did not have the legal right under Roman rule to execute prisoners. L. This worked out in keeping with Jesus prophecy that he would be crucified, the Roman method of execution. Stoning was the Jewish method of execution. M. Jesus had foretold the method of his death requiring crucifixion by the hands of the Romans rather than stoning by the Jews. Matthew 20:17-19, And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death. And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. II. Pilate went back inside and asked Jesus, Are you the King of the Jews? A. After hearing the accusations of the Jews Pilate went back into the Practorium to question Jesus. III. Jesus answered Pilate, Yes, it is as you say. NIV (Interpretive). A. Jesus further said, Is the idea that I am a king yours or did you get this idea from what others have said to you about me. How do we form our opinion of other people?
B. Pilate said he was no Jew. The Jews, your people, and the chief priests, Pilate stated, are the ones who delivered you to me and made this charge against you. C. Pilate demanded of Jesus, What have you done? IV. The chief priests and elders of the Jews leveled many accustions against Jesus. A. This man is subverting our nation. B. Jesus opposes paying taxes to Caesar. C. He claims to be Christ; the anointed, the Messiah, a king. Note: The Jews did not mention the real reasons for their opposition to Jesus; that is, that he claimed to be the Messiah, but not the kind of Messiah, a major military figure, who would usher in a world Jewish kingdom. He criticized them, the leaders of the nation, and was leading the people away from their leadership to his leadership. He was not leading people away from Rome. V. To these accusations Jesus made no reply. VI. Pilate asked Jesus if he heard the accusations made against him. A. Pilate asked, Aren t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of. VII. To this question by Pilate Jesus still made no reply. A. Jesus remained silent making no response to all the absurd charges of the Jews. He did not dignify these charges with a response. They did not deserve a response.
VIII. Jesus did not reply to even one of the capital charges the Jews brought against him. A. Jesus was non-resistant against the civil proceedings. B. Jesus was non-violent and absolutely no threat to Rome. Pilate knew this very well! IX. Pilate was greatly amazed that Jesus did not mount an all out defense against the charges in view of the fact that his life was at stake. X. Jesus told Pilate: A. While I am a king, my kingdom is not of this world; that is, I am not a threat to you as governor nor Caesar in Rome. B. If my kingdom were of this earth, my servants would have fought to have prevented my arrest by the Jews. C. They put up no physical fight to prevent my arrest because my kingdom is from another place, heaven. XI. Pilate responded, You are a king then! A. Jesus answered: 1. You are right in saying I am a king (but not the kind of king of which the Jews were speaking.) 2. To be a king I was born and came into the world. 3. I came to testify to the truth (that I am a king).
4. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. Pilate, if you were of the truth you would hear, believe what I teach. B. Pilate sarcastically replied, What is truth? The interview was over! He was not concerned about the truth. He was greatly concerned about what was politically expedient. XII. This said, Pilate went out again to the Jews and announced, I find no basis for a charge against him, this man. I find no fault in this man. A. The chief priests and elders were adamant in their determination to see Jesus dead. B. They continued their charges by saying, He stirs up (an act of sedition) the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started up on Galilee and has come all the way down here. NIV. C. Pilate was not deceived! It was Pilate s job to know what was going on in Judea. The governor surely knew of this famous healer and teacher long before this time. He saw the evil Jewish plot for what it was and realized that Jesus was no threat to Rome. D. The Jews made many charges against Jesus, did a lot of talking. None of their charges was true, none could be proved. 1. People today make many accusations in generalized terms. 2. Be careful what we believe about people. Do not gossip, backbite, bear false witness. Do not be a tale bearer. XIII. Pilate made at least seven feeble efforts to procure Jesus release. He could have ordered Jesus released and the Roman soldiers in the Tower of Antonio to disperse the crowd, but he had neither the character
nor backbone to do what he knew was right! When there appeared the danger that he would incur political damage, he later delivered Jesus to be crucified. Pilate was selfish and self-seeking.
Jesus Before Pilate, First Time Questions 1. Jesus trial before the was indeed a. They bound Jesus in the and him to, the. 2. was charged with protecting s interests in. If there had been any evidence that Jesus was to be an, a threat to, he would have been. 3. The was. Pilate ruled from there except on special occasions such as when he went to. 4. Adam Clarke wrote, The of and was taken from the, as far as it concerned matters of... they only applied to persuade him that they were proceeding against as an of the, and not as a of their own. 5. Pilate asked Jesus, Are you the of the? Jesus replied, Yes, it is as you say. NIV. (Interpretive) 6. What charges did the Chief priests and elders of the Jews level against Jesus.
7. Pilate was not. It was s job to know what was going on in. The governor surely knew of the famous and long before this. He saw the evil plot for what it was and Jesus was no to. 8. Pilate made at least to procure Jesus. 9. When there appeared a that Pilate would incur, he later delivered Jesus to be crucified. Pilate was and -. 10. The Jews made many unfounded charges against Jesus. Be careful what you about! Do not,,. Do not be a. Finished exam can be mailed or dropped off at: Mason Street Church of Christ 2600 N. Mason Street Appleton, WI 54914 920-734-0785