A "Not Guilty" Verdict and A Capital Sentence

Luke 23, verses 1 to 25.

Luke 23:1–25

Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate,

and they began to accuse him, saying,

We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar,

and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.

And Pilate asked him,

Are you the king of the Jews?

And he answered him,

You have said so.

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds,

I find no guilt in this man.

But they were urgent, saying,

He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.

When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction,

he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad,

for he had long desire to see him,

because he had heard about him,

and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.

So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.

The chief priests and the scribes stood by,

vehemently accusing him.

And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him.

Then, arraying him in splendid clothing,

he sent him back to Pilate.

And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day,

for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people

and said to them,

You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people.

And after examining him before you,

behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.

Neither did Herod,

for he sent him back to us.

Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.

I will therefore punish and release him.

But they all cried out together,

Away with this man,

and release to us Barabbas,

a man who had been thrown into prison

for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.

Pilate addressed them once more,

desiring to release Jesus.

But they kept shouting,

Crucify!

Crucify him!

A third time he said to them,

Why?

What evil has he done?

I have found in him no guilt deserving death.

I will therefore punish and release him.

But they were urgent,

demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified.

And their voices prevailed.

So Pilate decided that their demands should be granted.

He released the man who had been thrown into prison

for insurrection and murder,

for whom they asked.

But he delivered Jesus over to their will.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

In the movie,

The Shawshank Redemption,

the protagonist, Andy Dufresne,

is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary

for the murders of his wife and her lover,

despite the fact that he's not the one that committed the murders.

And in the penitentiary,

Dufresne is repeatedly abused and raped,

and the viewer is struck by the injustice of it all.

His conviction meant that a criminal went free.

Someone who deserved to be in his place

was not charged for his guilt.

But through it all,

Dufresne maintains his innocence

and perseveres in hope.

It's an old movie,

but I won't spoil the ending for you.

In our passage today,

we see a similar story.

Jesus is repeatedly declared innocent.

But the Jewish people failed to recognize their king

and insist on his condemnation.

And ultimately,

we learn from this passage

that we are implicated in Jesus' death.

We are the reason he died.

He was our substitute.

He was the atoning sacrifice.

And that's the main point of this passage,

that Jesus Christ is the innocent Son of God

who was condemned in our place to justify us.

And we'll talk first about his innocence

and then his silence

and lastly his sentence.

So let's first look at Jesus' innocence

in verses 1 to 5.

The Jewish council,

as you recall from last week,

just concluded their investigation of Jesus.

And they asked Jesus in verse 70,

Are you the Son of God then?

And Jesus affirmed it,

saying,

You say that I am.

So that they indignantly declared,

What further testimony do we need?

We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.

He's blaspheming.

So then it says in chapter 23, verse 1,

The whole company of them,

probably the entire council

and the Jewish leaders that were gathered,

they arose and brought Jesus before Pilate.

Now Pilate is the Roman prefect

who governed Palestine,

the Jewish people,

from 26 to 36 AD.

But it leads us to ask the question,

Why did these Jewish leaders bring Jesus to him?

Why didn't they pass the sentence

and punish him themselves?

And this betrays their malicious intent

because even though the Jewish leaders

and the Sanhedrin,

which is the highest religious ruling authority

among the Jews,

did have a wide range of options

for punishing people,

their own people.

They had the ability,

the judicial power,

but they were not allowed

to execute anyone.

John 18, 31 tells us that.

And so their intent is plain here.

They will not stop until Jesus is dead.

They know that capital sentences

can only be passed by the Roman governor,

so that's why they bring him to Pilate.

And so they begin to accuse him in verse 2.

We found this man misleading our nation

and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar

and saying that he himself is Christ,

a king.

Now instead of referring to Jesus by name,

they call him this man.

The word man actually isn't there

literally in the Greek.

Literally, it's actually this one.

It's a very derogatory way

of referring to someone.

They're saying,

this one is a rabble rouser.

They're not giving him the dignity

of calling him by his name

or by his actual title,

this one.

And their first accusation

is that Jesus is misleading

the Jewish nation.

And then their second accusation

is that he is forbidding them

to give tribute to Caesar.

And these are very strategically

chosen accusations

because the primary responsibilities

of a Roman prefect,

that's Pilate,

was maintaining law and order

and collecting money,

basically enriching the Roman coffers,

managing the finances.

Now both of these accusations

hit at those exact points

because if Jesus is misleading the nation,

then he might be causing a stir

and destroying,

disturbing the law and order

of the state.

The second accusation

is that he forbids people

from paying tribute to Caesar,

in which case,

Pilate's responsibility

to manage the finances

for the Roman emperor

is in peril.

So these are very cleverly designed schemes

to pressure Pilate

to do something about Jesus.

They're trying to tell Pilate,

your job is at risk

because of this one.

Now both of these accusations

are false.

Jesus was not misleading the nation.

He was the only teacher

that was in fact

rightly leading the Jewish people.

In Luke chapter 9, verse 41,

Luke 9:41

Jesus called the Jewish nation

a faithless and twisted generation

and that word twisted

is the same Greek word

that is translated as misleading

here in verse 2.

So the Jewish leaders

are now kind of turning the table

on Jesus

and putting on him

the charge that he had leveled

against them.

You dare to call us

twisted and misled?

We were fine

until you got here.

You're the one

that is misleading

and twisting our people.

The second accusation

is even more blatantly false

because we know

from Luke 20, verses 24 to 25,

Luke 20:24–25

Jesus plainly told people

that you should pay taxes to Caesar.

He said,

Show me a denarius.

Whose likeness and inscription

does it have?

They said, Caesar's.

And he said to them,

Then refer to Caesar

the things that are Caesar's

and to God

the things that are God's.

So Jewish leaders

are clearly not after truth

or justice.

They're just bent

on destroying Jesus

and they will lie

even to get it done.

They saved their most explosive

and the only true accusation

for last.

They accused Jesus

of saying that

he himself is Christ,

a king.

And notice how

the Jewish leaders

kind of deftly slip in

their explanation

that the term Christ

means king.

Earlier when they were

questioning Jesus,

they only asked him,

If you are the Christ,

tell us.

Christ does mean king

because it means

anointed one.

But it has a very specific

historical and religious

content.

It's the messianic king.

It is primarily

a historical and theological term

that does have

political implications.

But that's not the emphasis.

But what the Jewish leaders

are here emphasizing

is the political aspect.

He calls himself

a Christ,

a king,

mind you.

Well, don't you know

we only have one king?

Isn't Caesar king?

He claims to be king.

He's accusing Jesus

of sedition,

which of course

would have been

threatening to Pilate.

So Pilate latches

onto that word

that's interesting to him,

concerns him king.

He asks Jesus

in verse 3,

Are you the king

of the Jews?

And Jesus answers him,

You have said so.

And Jesus' response

to that question

is the focal point

of verses 1 to 5.

It's right at the center

of a mirroring structure,

a chiastic structure

that points to

and highlights

that response.

You have said so.

Now Jesus is not

hiding the fact

that he's the messianic king.

I mentioned to you

last week in Matthew 26-25.

After Jesus predicts

his betrayal,

Judas,

the one who would

betray Jesus,

asks Jesus,

Is it I, Rabbi?

Is it me?

Am I going to be

the one that betrays you?

And then Jesus

knowingly responds

to him

with the exact same phrase,

You have said so.

So that phrase

does not mean

you said it,

not me.

It means,

rather,

yes,

it is as you say.

So Jesus is affirming

that he is the Christ.

He is a king.

However,

there is an important

difference

that we have to note

between Jesus' idea

of kingship

and these Jewish leaders'

idea of kingship.

Because while

Jesus did claim

that he is

the messianic king,

the Christ,

Jesus did not mean

that he is king

in an earthly,

geopolitical sense

that people

typically imagine.

The way the Jewish leaders

were imagining,

the way Pilate

was imagining.

Jesus was not

a political revolutionary

with imperial ambitions.

In a more detailed

account of this

conversation between

Jesus and Pilate

in John 18,

John 18:33–38

verses 33 to 38,

Jesus tells Pilate

in more detail this,

My kingdom

is not of this world.

If my kingdom

were of this world,

my servants

would have been fighting

that I might not

be delivered

over to the Jews.

But my kingdom

is not of this world.

And then Pilate

asks a follow-up question,

So you are a king?

And then Jesus answers,

You say that

I am a king.

For this purpose

I was born

and for this purpose

I've come into the world,

to bear witness

to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth

listens to my voice.

So that seems to be

the context behind

Pilate's ruling here

because Luke doesn't

include this full dialogue,

but Pilate perceives

that Jesus is not

a threat to Rome.

He's not an insurrectionist

trying to rally

the Jewish people

to rebel against Caesar.

And he recognizes

that the Jewish leaders

are in fact jealous of Jesus

and they're trying

to frame him

and they're accusing him

falsely.

And that's why

Pilate announces

this in verse 4.

Pilate said

to the chief priests

in the crowds,

I find no guilt

in this man.

And then

that should have been

the end of the trial.

The judge has rendered

his verdict.

Jesus is innocent.

But the trial continues.

It says in verse 5,

But they were urgent,

saying,

He stirs up the people,

teaching throughout

all Judea,

from Galilee,

even to this place.

They're trying to

strike fear into Pilate's

hearts by referencing

Jesus' widespread acclaim.

He's teaching throughout

all Judea,

from Galilee,

even to this place,

the capital

of the Jewish people,

Jerusalem.

Yes,

this country preacher

from Galilee

has spread,

his message has spread

even to here.

And you are about

to let this man go?

They're trying to

paint Jesus as a rebel

who poses a threat

to Rome,

when in reality,

they're the ones

that are rebelling

against Rome's verdict.

They're the ones

that are rebelling

against God's

anointed chosen king.

And so here,

even this pagan governor

is willing to admit

what these Jewish leaders

themselves

are refusing

to acknowledge,

that Jesus is guiltless.

This is Jesus'

innocence.

But the Jewish leaders'

passing statement

that Jesus is from Galilee

catches Pilate's attention.

It says in verses 6-7,

when Pilate heard this,

he asked whether the man

was a Galilean.

And when he learned

that he belonged

to Herod's jurisdiction,

he sent him over to Herod,

who was himself

in Jerusalem at that time.

Verse 12 tells us

that Pilate and Herod

were not in good terms.

So it seems unlikely

that Pilate is here

trying to be deferential

toward Herod

or trying to do him a favor.

Rather,

Pilate is probably

trying to pass off

a troubling case,

a troublesome case

to Herod,

since Herod is

the Rome-endorsed

Jewish client king

over the Jewish people,

over Galilee.

It's similar to

kind of a higher court

in the U.S.

remanding it,

a case back

to the lower courts

to deal with it themselves.

And so Pilate's saying,

I don't need to deal with this.

Jesus is a Galilean.

Send him to Herod Antipas.

Herod Antipas,

just so you know,

is not Herod the Great.

Herod the Great

is the one

that massacred

the male-borns

all under the age of two

at the time of Jesus' birth

out of a desire

to kill Jesus.

Herod Antipas,

however,

isn't much better.

And he was

the Tetrarch of Galilee.

And he would have been

in Jerusalem

for the Passover feast

at this time.

And so Pilate

takes advantage of that

and sends Jesus to him.

But even though

Pilate's trying to pass off

a difficult case to Herod,

Herod,

it's a favor for him

because we find out

in verse 8,

when Herod saw Jesus,

he was very glad

for he had long

desire to see him

because he had heard

about him

and he was hoping

to see some signs

done by him.

Herod was ecstatic

about entertaining

a Jewish celebrity.

He had long heard

about Jesus' miracles,

his works,

and he had become famous

all throughout Galilee

and Herod had wanted

to see Jesus.

But as James Edwards,

a Bible commentator,

puts it,

to desire Jesus

because of signs

and wonders,

health and wealth,

powers and privilege,

or any other

or ulterior purposes

is not to desire Jesus.

What draws you to Jesus?

The greatest gift

that God offers to us

is himself.

It's the gift of his Son,

the triune God,

the Holy Spirit.

The gift,

the greatest gift

that God offers to us

is reconciliation with him,

restoration to his presence,

a relationship

with God,

a redemption

from servitude

to sin

and Satan

so that we might

serve God.

That's what salvation is.

But if you come

to God,

if you come to Jesus

for some other

tangential benefits,

for social respectability

with friends,

financial assistance,

to satisfy your curiosity,

then you're not seeking Jesus.

a 17th century English poet

that I like

named Robert Herrick

has a couplet

that kind of captures this.

He says,

Will thou my true friend be?

Then love not mine,

but me.

Will you come to God

for him,

not merely for what is his?

Do you love the giver

of all good gifts?

Or do you just love

what he can lavish on you?

Notice the repetition also

of the word see

in verse 8.

When Herod saw Jesus,

He was very glad

for He had long desire

to see Him

because He had heard

about Him

and He was hoping

to see some sign

done by Him.

It's repeated three times

in this single verse,

the word see.

In Luke 11,

Luke 11:14–36

verses 14 to 36,

Jesus contrasted

those who hear

the Word of God

and keep it

from those who seek

from Him

a sign

from heaven.

And He called

those who seek signs

an evil generation,

saying that

the only sign

that will be given

to them

is His preaching,

His proclamation

of the good news

of salvation.

And so with that

background in mind,

verse 8 tells us

a lot about

what kind of man

this Herod is.

Herod had heard

about Jesus,

but he did not

believe in Jesus.

Instead,

he sought signs.

Jesus' words

were not enough

for him.

He wanted to see

Jesus.

He wanted to see

His miracles.

He was,

I won't believe it

until I see it

kind of guy.

But as Romans 10,

17 tells us,

faith comes from

hearing,

and hearing through

the Word of Christ.

Yes,

Jesus did perform

signs and wonders

that proved

His messianic identity,

and He did that

for those who

were genuinely

seeking Him

and were humbly

putting their

trust in Him.

But Jesus

never panders

to settled skeptics

who are merely

looking for a spectacle.

And Herod

was such a person.

Are you here

this morning

with the desire

to see?

I want to exhort you

instead to hear

and believe.

there's evidence

enough

in what you hear.

There's power

enough

in the good news

that you hear

of Jesus Christ.

And so,

it says in verse 9,

Herod questioned

Jesus at some length,

but he made

no answer.

This is Jesus'

silence.

And it's a fulfillment

of Isaiah chapter 53,

Isaiah 53:7–8

verses 7 to 8,

which is a prophecy

about the Messiah.

It says,

He was oppressed

and He was afflicted,

yet He opened

not His mouth.

Like a lamb

that is led

to the slaughter

and like a sheep

that before it

shears is silent,

so He opened

not His mouth.

By oppression

and judgment

He was taken away

and asked

for His generation

who considered

that He was cut off

out of the land

of the living,

stricken for

the transgression

of My people.

Jesus is the

atoning sacrifice.

As John 1.29

tells us,

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

and asked sheep

before its shears

is silent,

so Jesus makes

no answer to Herod.

He silently led

to the slaughter

so that He might die

for the transgressions

of His people.

But while Jesus

is silent,

His accusers

are very loud.

He said in verses

10 to 11,

the chief priests

and the scribes

stood by

vehemently accusing Him

and Herod

with his soldiers

treated Him

with contempt

and mocked Him.

Then,

arraying Him

in splendid clothing,

He sent Him

back to Pilate.

Now,

Herod's true colors

don't take long

to come out.

He wasn't a genuine

seeker,

so when Jesus

refuses to oblige Him,

Herod's curiosity

quickly turns into contempt.

And because Jesus

refused to entertain Him

with spectacles,

Herod and His soldiers

turn Jesus

into a spectacle.

And this is so degrading

and humiliating

for Jesus.

Right?

Jesus acknowledged

that He's the Christ,

the Messianic King,

so Herod and His soldiers

used that against Him,

arraying Him

in splendid clothing.

It's probably

some kind of

regal garment,

a royal garment.

And they're mocking Him.

So you think

you're a king?

Well, here!

We've dressed you up

as king.

They're trying to strip

Jesus of His dignity.

Seems so cruel,

but isn't that

what we do sometimes?

We pay lip service

to Jesus as our king.

When our hearts

are in reality

far from Him.

We dress Him up

as king in our lives.

While like Herod,

staying seated

firmly on the throne

ourselves.

On the throne

of our own lives.

But Jesus will not

stand to be mocked.

It's only those

who truly submit

to His lordship,

His kingship,

that become citizens

of the kingdom of God.

So have you humbled

yourself before Jesus?

Have you submitted

all of your purposes

and priorities to Him?

Or is Jesus

just a mock king

in your life?

Because no matter

how much Herod

and his soldiers

humiliate and ridicule Jesus,

no matter what

their opinion

of Jesus is,

it doesn't change

the fact that

He is king,

the fact that

He is the Son of God,

the fact that

He is the Lord

before whom

every knee

will bow

and every tongue

confess.

That's the promise

of God's word.

Maybe you have not

yet pledged

allegiance to Jesus

and you're here

this morning.

Maybe you've only

confessed Jesus

with your mouth,

but you don't believe

that in your heart.

But no matter

what you do,

how you regard

Jesus

and how you

treat Jesus

can never

strip Him

of His authority,

glory,

and power,

and dignity.

So will you

actually submit

to Him today?

Herod,

after his trial

of Jesus,

sends Him

back to Pilate

and through

that exchange

it says in

verse 12

that they

become friends.

By extraditing

Jesus to Herod,

Pilate was

acknowledging

Herod's legitimacy

and influence

and Herod was

a very ambitious

client king

and so that

forged a relationship,

mended their fences.

And it says

in verses 13

to 16,

Pilate then

called together

the chief priests

and the rulers

and the people

and said to them,

You brought me

this man as one

who was misleading

the people.

And after examining

him before you,

behold,

I did not find

this man guilty

of any of your

charges against him.

Neither did Herod,

for he sent him

back to us.

Look,

nothing deserving

death has been

done by him.

I will therefore

punish and

release him.

This is now

the second

declaration

of Jesus

his innocence.

And this time,

it's both

Herod and

Pilate

who declared

Jesus guiltless.

And that's

significant because

according to

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 19:15

chapter 19

verse 15,

which is the

Old Testament law

that talks about

the criteria

for witnesses,

it says that

a single witness

shall not suffice

against a person

for any crime

or for any wrong

in connection

with any offense

that he has

committed.

only on the

evidence of

two witnesses

or of three

witnesses

shall a charge

be established.

So now with

Herod and

Pilate both

declaring Jesus

to be innocent,

that legal,

biblical standard

has been met.

Jesus really

is innocent.

And that should

be the end of it.

He should go

free.

But he is

the atoning

sacrifice,

like the Passover

lamb that was

supposed to be

blemished.

Jesus is

the lamb of

God that

takes away

the sin of

the world

who is

blameless.

And he is

going to

his slaughter.

He should

have let him

go,

Pilate,

if he were

really concerned

with justice.

But he is

eager to

please the

crowd.

So he offers

a compromise

in verse 16,

offering to

punish and

release Jesus.

The word

punish here

is a euphemism

for whipping.

There were

two types

of whipping

that the

Romans used.

It is not

totally clear

which one

is in view

by this

word punish.

But typically

prior to

crucifixions,

Romans used

a scourge.

It is a

leather whip

woven with

bits of

bone and

metal,

notorious for

flaying people's

backs and

pushing them

to the

brink of

death.

And they

used a

euphemism for

it.

Such a

harsh word,

punish.

They punish

and release

them.

That's what

Pilate wants

to do.

But the

mob will

not relent.

And this

brings us to

my final

point,

Jesus'

sentence.

It says

in verse

18,

but they

all cried

out together,

away with

this man,

and released

to us

Barabbas.

If you're

exceptionally

detail-oriented,

you may have

noticed that

if you're

using the

English Standard

Version,

it skips

verse 17.

It goes

from verse

16 to

verse 18.

But you

will find a

footnote at

the end of

verse 16

which says,

here, or

after verse

19, some

manuscripts add

verse 17.

Now, he was

obliged to

release one

man to

them at

the festival.

So just so

you know,

because there's

so many

conspiracy theories

out there

nowadays,

no one is

trying to

edit the

Bible or

hide certain

details.

this verse

is omitted

for the

simple fact

that it

is probably

not part

of the

original

manuscript.

The earliest

and best

manuscripts of

the Gospel

of Luke

does not

have this

verse in

it.

And this

verse is

typically what

you call a

gloss, like

an explanation

that people

added in the

later years

to add greater

clarity to

a passage.

It's kind of

like the notes

you find in

your study

Bibles.

But that

became part of

the manuscript

as time went

on.

But it does

supply a

helpful context

and the

context is

confirmed by

Matthew 27

15 and

Mark 15

6.

And that

context is

this, that

it was a

custom for

the Roman

prefect to

release one

prisoner during

the biggest

Jewish festival

of the year,

the Jewish

Passover.

It was

customary for

the Roman

prefect to

release one

Jewish prisoner

as a favor

for the

Jewish people.

And that's

why they are

demanding

Barabbas.

And Luke

adds with a

touch of

irony,

in verse

19,

that this

was a

man who

had been

thrown into

prison for

an insurrection

started in

the city and

for murder.

Insurrection

is exactly the

crime that the

Jewish leaders

are trying to

accuse Jesus

of.

Excuse me.

And this

man had

actually done

it.

He was an

actual

insurrectionist.

And Luke

continues in

verses 20 to

21.

Pilate

addressed them

once more

desiring to

release Jesus

but they

kept shouting

crucify,

crucify him.

And that

word address

and the

word kept

shouting are

very similar

words in the

Greek.

They share the

same root

word.

So it's

almost like a

shouting match

and it's a

game of

chicken.

Who's going

to stand

down first?

The

Pilate's

calling out

to the

people to

release Jesus

but the

people call

back to

him,

crucify,

crucify him

and it's

unusual to

repeat the

word like

that, two

imperatives in

one.

It's almost

like they're

chanting at

this point.

It's a

protest.

Crucify,

crucify.

Will you

stand down

Pilate or

will you

marshal your

military forces

to pacify

this mob?

And the

crowd is

incredibly

vicious,

right?

They're

calling for

this cruel

and unusual

punishment of

crucifixion.

It's the

most brutal

form of

capital punishment

that existed

in the

ancient world.

So bad,

in fact,

the Roman

Empire deemed

it too

cruel for

Roman citizens.

Only slaves

and foreigners

were ever

subjected to

crucifixion.

And it's

not,

they had

much more,

many other

way more

efficient ways

of killing

criminals.

But this

is what

they reserved

for people

that they

wanted to

make an

example out

of.

Don't

ever do

what this

guy did

because that's

what will

happen to

you.

Torture and

execution

wrapped in

one,

that's exactly

what these

Jewish leaders

and the

crowd are

seeking.

So there's

no legality

to their

demand at

all.

Pilate has

declared him

innocent,

so this is

a lynching.

It's mob

action.

And Pilate

tries to

exert his

authority and

regain control

of the

situation one

last time

in verse 22.

A third

time he

said to

them,

why?

What evil

has he

done?

I have

found in

him no

guilt

deserving

death.

I will

therefore

punish and

release him.

Luke

specifically

notes here

that this

was the

third time

that Pilate

declared

Jesus'

innocence.

He did

it in

verse 4

and again

in verse 14

and now

here in

verse 22

and 3

is often

a symbolic

number in

scripture that

signifies

completeness.

And so

Peter denied

Jesus three

times.

He disavowed

Jesus completely.

And here

Pilate declares

Jesus innocent

three times,

meaning he

is completely

vouching for

Jesus'

innocence.

He is

certain of

his innocence.

The proper

judicial authority

has declared

it three

times.

But it

says in

verse 23

they were

again urgent,

demanding with

loud cries

that he should

be crucified

and their

voices

prevailed.

To survey

this passage

one more time

with me,

look at how

vehement and

obstinate these

people are.

After Pilate's

first declaration

of Jesus'

innocence,

he said in

verse 5

that they

were urgent.

After his

second declaration

of innocence,

he said in

verse 18,

they all

cried out

together,

kept shouting

crucify,

crucify.

And then in

verse 23,

again after the

third declaration

of innocence,

they were

urgent once

again,

demanding with

loud cries

that Jesus

should be

crucified and

their voices

prevailed.

They're very

loud.

Luke is making

note of that.

Very loud and

clamorous crowd.

But the

contrast that with

Jesus,

all he ever

says during

this entire

trial is you

have said so

in verse 3

in Greek,

that's just

two words.

He made

no answer

to Herod,

verse 9.

Jesus is

silent,

the mob,

the crowd

is loud.

Let that

be a lesson

for us.

The way

our world

works is

often like

the saying,

let he

who shouts

the loudest

be heard

first.

the

students

who go

to the

professor's

office hours

most frequently

to negotiate

their grades

end up

getting the

best grades.

The

special interest

groups that

lobby the

loudest to

get politicians

to pass the

legislations that

they want,

get what they

want.

The social

media mobs

who retweet

and like the

most posts

win the

trending battles

of the

culture wars.

But let

Jesus'

trials remind

you that

the loudest

voice isn't

always the

right one.

Nowadays,

there are

many voices

that demean

and dismiss

the word of

God,

that criticize

Christ and

his church,

and the

volume seems

to be increasing

with each

passing ear,

but remember

that the

loudest voice

is not

always the

right one,

so stand

firmly on

God's word,

hold fast

to your

Christian

convictions

and principles,

and remember

that no matter

how numerous

and how loud

the voices

around you

get,

the voice

of God

trumps them

all.

We should

stand up

for Christ

and bear

witness to

him,

but unfortunately

Pilate doesn't

do that.

It says in

verse 24,

so if

Pilate decided

that their

demand should

be granted,

Pilate stands

down and

grants the

mob their

wish to

crucify Jesus.

Now looking

at Jewish

and Roman

history,

it's not

hard to

understand

Pilate's

fear and

concession

here,

because

Pilate's

tenure as

governor over

the Jews

was very

turbulent.

On one

occasion,

he had

the Roman

military

flags

brought in

and installed

all over

Jerusalem,

and that

flag had

the image

of Emperor

Tiberius on

it,

which is

of course

illegal to

Jews because

the Jewish

law bans

images because

they're

considered

that idolatrous.

And so

the Jews

staged a

massive

protest in

front of

Pilate's

home,

and he

threatened to

kill them,

which is

what Roman

governors

typically did,

but they

refused to

relent,

and so

Pilate gave

in in

that instance.

Pilate was

trying to

build an

aqueduct to

get water to

come into

the city,

but he

didn't have

money,

so he

decided,

well,

there's

plenty of

treasures in

the Jewish

temple,

I'll go and

pillage the

temple,

so he went

to the

temple and

took the

treasures and

used that to

build the

aqueduct,

which of

course angered

the Jews,

and they

protested once

again,

and this

time he

actually did

kill the

Jews,

and it

led to a

confrontation.

And Luke

records another

instance in

Luke chapter

Luke 13:1

13 verse

1,

Pilate

apparently

killed some

of the

Galileans who

had brought

offerings to

God in

Jerusalem,

and he

mixed their

blood,

these worshippers'

blood,

with their

sacrifices.

So Pilate

was obviously,

I mean,

he lasted a

while,

but it was a

turbulent

relationship.

He's very

aware that

his Jewish

subjects are

capable of

mobilizing and

protesting,

and especially

during the

Passover feast

when there are

hundreds of

thousands of

Jewish pilgrims

from all over

the world

gathered in

Jerusalem.

So he

assesses the

situation,

and he's a

sure governor,

he thinks,

I better back

down this time,

not right now.

So even

after having

declared Jesus

innocent three

times,

he sentences

Jesus to

execution.

And it

says in

verse 25,

he released

a man who

had been

thrown into

prison for

insurrection

and murder,

for whom

they asked,

but he

delivered Jesus

over to

their will.

It's hard to

miss the irony

of this

substitution,

right?

Jesus is the

innocent one

who is

condemned for

some trumped

up charge of

insurrection,

but an actual

terrorist,

an insurrectionist,

is pardoned and

released to the

public.

And Luke

summarizes this

event this way

in Acts chapter

Acts 3:14

3 verse 14,

you denied the

holy and

righteous one

and asked for

a murderer to

be granted to

you.

A murderer,

a taker of

life is

released,

and the

giver of

life is

condemned.

Furthermore,

the name

Barabbas

is an

Aramaic name

that means

son of

the father.

Jesus was

declared over

and over

again throughout

the gospel of

Luke to be

the son of

God the

father.

At his

birth,

he was

called the

son of

God.

God addressed

him as my

beloved son

at his

baptism.

Jesus called

God my

father.

Chapter 2

and chapter

10,

he declared

himself to be

the son of

God during

his trial

before the

Sanhedrin

chapter 22.

The son of

the father,

Barabbas,

goes free

because the

son of

God the

father takes

his place.

It's hard to

imagine a

more dramatic

portrayal of

Jesus'

substitutionary