Jesus Before Pilate.

(Mat. 27:1-2, 11-32; Mark 15:1-19; Luke 23:1-25 and John 18:28-19:16).

“And they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate” — Since the times of Israel’s subordination to the Romans, the right to pronounce death sentences had been taken away from her, as can be seen in John 18:31. The stoning of Stephen was a willful act. According to the law, accusations of blasphemy were punishable by stoning. However, the Jews unconsciously fulfilled God’s will by wanting to sentence the Lord Jesus Christ to a more denigrating death — crucifixion on the cross — and with this in mind, after having the Sanhedrin pronounce the death sentence, they brought Him to governor Pontius Pilate i.e. the ruler.

Pontius, named Pilate, was the fifth procurator or ruler of Judea. He received this post in the year 26 AD from the Roman Emperor Tiberius. He was a proud, arrogant and cruel person, and at the same time indecisive and cowardly. He hated the Jews and in turn was hated by them. Soon after Christ’s crucifixion, he was summoned to Rome, tried and imprisoned in northern Gaul, where he committed suicide. Procurators usually resided in Caesarea. However, on the feast-day of Passover, they relocated themselves to Jerusalem, where they could keep an eye on the activities.

Saint Evangelist John has the most detail on Pilate’s trial. He narrates that the Jews led Jesus to the Praetorium, the Roman governor’s court of justice. In all probability, this was situated northwest of the temple, near or inside Antonius’ fortress where the Roman garrison was stationed. They didn’t enter it because to come into contact with anything heathen, may have prevented them from partaking of Passover. This is a clear indication that Passover was approaching that night, and that Christ partook of Passover on the eve of the feast-day, while He brought Himself as a sacrifice as the true Paschal Lamb at the approach of the Old Testament Passover, a former symbol of His suffering. Pilate, in this instance, made a concession to Jewish customs (it is well known that the Romans attempted to spare the customs of conquered peoples, so as not to antagonize them too much against themselves), by walking out to them on the rostrum — an open, elevated area in front of the Procurator’s quarters — and inquired: “What accusation do you bring against this Man?” The first two Evangelists begin their narrative on Pilate’s trial with the interrogation of the Lord, the third — with accusations by those who brought Him, while Saint John — with a question from Pilate to the Lord: thus from the very opening and subsequent narratives, Saint John adheres to a more detailed and sequential order of the trial’s events, thereby complementing the first three Evangelists. “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him” — the Jews didn’t want a new examination of Christ: they were hoping that Pilate would be the executioner of their pronounced judgment. Pilate knew only too well the people he was dealing with. He therefore immediately placed the accusers in an obligatory situation in relation to himself, as the representative of Roman authority: I cannot make a judgment without first hearing the details, so therefore “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.” Indeed, the Sanhedrin was empowered without Roman sanction to judge and carry out punishment for certain transgressions: the only exception being the death penalty. Pilate invites them to take advantage of their right. Changing their proud attitude to one of submissiveness, the Jews acknowledge the limitations of their rights, that they couldn’t subject the criminal — in their opinion — to a warranted death sentence. “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,” “that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.” Indeed, not once did the Lord foretell that He would be betrayed to the heathens (Mat. 20:19), that He would be raised from the ground i.e. be crucified (Mat. 26:2; John 12:32). After this, the Lord’s enemies were obliged to detail their accusations against Him, which we find in Saint Luke: “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King (Luke 23:2) — the sly hypocrites, who themselves hated the Romans, concoct this slanderous accusation of a purely political nature, so as to make it easier for them to secure the confirmation of the death sentence against Jesus. As Saint John narrates (18:33), Pilate asked the Lord of this accusation inside the privacy of the praetorium: “Are You the King of the Jews?” — “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” asked the Lord: it was necessary to know the source of this question — if Pilate himself was asking this, the answer would have to be “no,” because Christ was not his king; if Pirate’s question was a repeat of what the Jews were saying, then the answer would have to be in the affirmative, because Christ was indeed the King of Truth.

Christ was not a political king of the Jews, but was the theocratic ruler of the e. So the Lord wanted to force Pilate to enunciate in what sense he was applying the word ‘king” to Hi,” i.e. is he personally accusing Him of usurping this title, or is he just repeating the Jews’ accusations. Pilate’s answer exudes contempt for Judaism: “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” — i.e. he doesn’t admit to any regal worthiness in Christ, but just wants to know as to why the people and high priests delivered Him, accusing Him of appropriating the title of king. Jesus answers: “My Kingdom is not of this world” — the Lord confirms that He is truly a King, but in a spiritual and not political sense of the word, not the type of king you imagine. “Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a King then?’ — having understood that Jesus is not a political pretender to some earthly kingdom, Pirate expresses his doubts as to the possibility of the existence of some other spiritual realm. Then the Lord confirms that He is truly a King. King of the spiritual Kingdom of Truth, and that He came to earth so as to bear witness to the Truth — meaning of course, under the word “truth,” the religious truth of His Divine teaching. His subjects are those who heed this Truth. Being a coarse heathen, Pilate of course couldn’t comprehend these words from the Lord and disdainfully uttered: “What is truth?” But he realized that the Kingdom of Jesus was not political, and was in no way a threat to Roman rule.

At the time, the heathen Greco-Roman world reached such a level of mental and moral decay, that it lost its faith in the possibility of truth existing, and in general, didn’t believe that there was such a thing as truth. Pilate’s historic question “What is truth?” serves as the despondent disbelief in truth, the answer to which he even didn’t want to hear, but simply walked out to the Jews and stated that he finds no fault in Jesus. This declaration deeply stung the pride of the Sanhedrin members, and they — as the first three Evangelists narrate — began to insistently accuse the Lord of many things, wanting to — whatever happens — achieve His conviction.

Throughout this whole time, the Lord maintained an uninterrupted silence, “so that the governor marveled greatly” (Mat. 27:14). At this point, they made a slip of the tongue by saying that He is inciting the people, teaching throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee (Luke 23:5). Pilate then inquired “if the Man were a Galilean?” and having confirmed this, sent Him to King Herod, who at that time — because of the feast days — also resided in Jerusalem. Only Evangelist Luke narrates Christ’s trial before Herod (23:7-12). Apparently, Pilate was hoping to receive more definite information from Herod on the persona and works of the accused, which to him were not completely clear. From a further note by Saint Luke — that from this moment Pilate and Herod became friends — it can be concluded that Pilate sent Christ purposely to Herod and in this way, stopped the animosity that existed between them. Perhaps he was hoping to receive a favorable response about Christ, so as to liberate Him from the hands of His persistent accusers. No wonder he later points to the fact, that Herod too didn’t find any fault in Him, which warranted the death sentence. (Luke 23:15).

Herod was overjoyed at seeing Jesus. This was the same Herod Antipas that murdered John the Baptist, and hearing of Christ’s works, thought that it was John — resurrected from the dead. Herod was hoping to witness a miracle from the Lord: not so as to believe in Him, but purely to satisfy his curiosity. This can be likened to our viewing a spectacle and marveling how magicians seemingly swallow snakes, swords etc. (Blessed Theophylactus). Apparently Herod regarded the Lord as something of a sorcerer. He posed many questions to Him, hoping to hear something interesting. But to all his questions, the Lord maintained total silence. The high priests and Scribes accused the Lord incessantly, apparently trying to prove that His sermons are as much dangerous to Herod as they are to Caesar. Having mocked the Lord, Herod dressed Him in white attire and sent Him back to Pilate. With Romans, a candidate for an authoritative or honored position (the very word “candidate,” comes from the Latin word “candidus,” meaning white, bright), used to wear white (bright) attire. By dressing the Lord in this type of attire, Herod wants to express the view that he regards Jesus as some comical pretender to the royal Jewish throne, and that he doesn’t consider Him as a serious and dangerous criminal. And Pilate understood this.

Citing that even Herod found nothing that warranted the death sentence, Pilate proposes to the high priests, Scribes and the people, that after punishing the Lord he will release Him. With this, he remembered that there was an old Jewish custom, where before Passover, representations are made to the governor to have one of the condemned prisoners released, and himself offers: “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barrabas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” (Mat. 27:17). The first two Evangelists add to this: “For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy (Mat. 27:18). Apparently, Pilate was hoping that he would find a different feeling for Jesus among the common people, and that they would ask namely for Jesus to be released. It was to this multitude of people, which gathered in front of the procurator’s house, that Pilate directed his question: “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” There was another development at this time, which affected Pilate in the Lord Jesus Christ’s favor. While he was sitting on his judgment seat, situated on an open, elevated position called in Greek “lifostron,” or in Jewish — “gavvapha,” a servant appeared before him with a message from his wife: “”Have nothing to do with that Just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.” In some of the ancient Christian writers, her name is mentioned as Claudia Proculus. They presumed that she confessed the Jewish faith, or was at least disposed toward it, while tradition states that she later became a Christian. Probably she heard much about the Lord Jesus Christ, and was afraid that by condemning Him, her husband will incur God’s punishment. It is unknown what type of dream she had, but it can be supposed that Jesus the Galilean appeared in her dream as a Righteous innocent, being tortured. And in her dream, she agonized mentally, was tortured by her conscience, that her own husband appeared as His executioner. While the servant was relaying to Pilate his wife’s message, the Jewish leaders began to incite the mob, so that they would ask Pilate for the release of Barabbas — and the mob succumbed to their unholy urgings. When Pilate again asked the question: “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” they replied: “Barabbas.” “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” asked Pilate. They responded with: “Let Him be crucified!”; according to Saint Luke, they cried out: “Crucify Him!”

Pilate, still wanting to release Jesus, raised his voice, saying: “Why, what evil has He done?” “But they cried out all the more, ‘Crucify Him!’” Euthymius Zigaben underlines the point: “They are not saying: Let Him be killed, but let Him be crucified, so that the very type of death would show Him as an evil-doer. Thus the prophecy as to the type of Christ’s death for us, had to be fulfilled. Corrupted by their spiritual leaders, the people preferred Barabbas to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Evangelists tell us that this person was a well-known brigand, who with his band of accomplices, committed murder during a rebellion in a town they wanted to rob (Mat. 27:16; John 18:40; Luke 23:19 and Mark 15:7).

Hearing this enraged roar of the mob, which apparently he didn’t expect, Pilate became completely bewildered. He was afraid that his further perseverance in defense of Christ might provoke a serious disturbance among the people, which would have to be quelled by armed force. The infuriated high priests would then be able to report this to Caesar, accusing him of creating this disturbance by defending (what they were trying to portray in Lord Jesus) a common criminal. Under pressure from such feelings, Pilate decided to satisfy the mob’s lust for blood by handing over the Innocent for flagellation. He probably hoped that having made this concession to the mob’s fury, he would be still be able to release Jesus from death by crucifixion. “So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him” (John 19:1). All the Evangelists narrate on the scourging. According to the first two Evangelists, the soldiers led Jesus into the praetorium to have Him scourged (in Slavonic: “judgment place”), i.e. inside the courtyard as apparently there was more room, and because the area in front of the courtyard was congested with people. They then called up the whole regiment against Him. The soldiers removed the top attire from Jesus and began to scourge Him. With the Romans, this type of scourging was applied for serious crimes, and mainly with slaves. The whips were made from ropes or belts, and their ends were embedded with pieces of bone and metal. This torture was so painful, that many died during the scourging. Usually, the condemned individual was tied to a post, in a leaning position. The soldiers then whipped his bare back, which from the initial blows, sustained deep flesh wounds that bled profusely. Such was the terrible punishment that Pilate inflicted on Him, in Whom he found no fault. However, it has to be assumed that this was done to satisfy the mob’s lust for blood and save Him from the cross.

Having finished their scourging, the cruel soldiers began to mock the Sufferer: adorning Him with a “purple robe,” i.e. a soldier’s red cape, akin to mantles worn by kings and military leaders. These mantles were without sleeves and worn around the shoulders so that the right arm remained free. This cape was supposed to represent a regal mantle for the King of the Jews. They placed a crown made of sharp thorns on His head, and put a cane in His hands, which supposedly represented a regal scepter. Having mocked the Divine Sufferer, the soldiers then began to kneel before Him. Swearing at Him, they began to say, as though in greeting: “Hail! King of the Jews.” Together with this, they slapped Him across the cheeks, spat on Him, grabbing the cane from His hands, they beat Him on the head, so that the thorns of the crown would drive deeper and cause greater wounds.

According to the first two Evangelists, these occurrences happened after Christ had been condemned to death. However, Saint John’s aim was to expand and explain the narratives of the first three Evangelists, that the scourging and acts of mockery over Christ took place earlier, and presumably, were undertaken by Pilate with the specific aim of liberating Christ from the death sentence. In order to get compassion for Jesus from the Jews, Pilate ordered for Him to be brought out in His tortured and exhausted state. He figured the awful sight would move their hearts, and that they would no longer insist on the Lord’s death. This is how a heathen thought, not knowing the true God and His commandments on how to love thy neighbor. Alas, however, this was not the way the spiritual leaders and chiefs of God’s chosen people, raging in their indefatigable hatred. When the Lord was led out onto the rostrum, Pilate said: “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him,” and pointing to Jesus, added: “Behold the Man!”

Pilate was judging their consciences with this exclamation: it was as though he was saying — here is a Person alone, humiliated, and tortured: is it possible that He looks like a dangerous rebel: by His very appearance, doesn’t He evoke more pity than danger? Herewith, and apparently unintentionally, Pilate uttered a real truth: even in His humiliated state, the Lord revealed more spiritual greatness and moral beauty of a true Person, (which He had to be through the Creator’s design) than He would have in a state of glory and regal brilliance. The meaning of Pilate’s words to a Christian is: here is the model of a Person, toward which all Christians should aspire.

However, it was all ineffective to the high priests and their servants. No sooner than they saw the exhausted and tortured Christ, when they started to clamor: “Crucify, crucify Him!” This persistence from the accusers aroused a sadness in Pilate, and forced him to exclaim with abruptness and causticity: “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him”: If you are so insistent, then you crucify Him at your own responsibility. I, as a representative of justice, cannot participate in such an unworthy act of condemning a Man that is completely innocent. Apart from annoyance and impatience, Pilate’s words conveyed nothing else. Consequently, the Lord’s enemies, in presenting new accusations, continued to seek Pilate’s agreement to the death sentence: “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

Upon hearing this, Pilate “was the more afraid.” Of course Pilate could only understand the meaning — “Son of God,” in a heathen sense, in the awareness of semi-gods, heroes, that were abundance in heathen mythology. But this was enough to confuse him, bearing in mind his wife’s warning, who saw some mysterious dream about this enigmatic Person. Pilate then leads Jesus into the praetorium and privately asks Him: “Where are You from?” i.e.: where did originate from, are You from heaven or earth? Are You indeed the Son of God? “But Jesus gave him no answer.” — It was useless responding to the question. The Lord attempted to explain to Pilate Who He is, but His words only provoked a flippant and facetious remark (John 19:9). How could a coarse, heathen-sceptic understand the teachings about the true Son of God?

Conquering his fear, Pilate decided to show his authority as well as influence Jesus to answer: “Are You not speaking to me?” The Lord responds to these vain words with Divine wisdom: “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above” — I am in your hands only because God permitted it. Having delivered His people into heathen, Roman rule, God had passed the authority over Me to you through this. Nevertheless, you will be guilty of condemning Me, because you do so against your conscience. However, the greater sin will be on them that had not been given authority over Me from above, those who had done this willfully, through hatred i.e. the Sanhedrin, Caiaphas and his instrument, Judas Iscariot. Evidently, the Lord’s wise words were to Pilate’s liking, and “From then on Pilate sought to release Him.” The accusers then decided to resort to extreme measures — to threaten the procurator himself by accusing him of treachery against Caesar’s authority: “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend…” This frightened Pilate, because the Emperor at the time was the suspicious and extremely cruel Tiberius, who was always willing to listen to informants.

This threat decided the whole matter. Settling himself in the judge’s seat on the rostrum, Pilate formally and solemnly concludes the trial. That’s why the Evangelist notes the day and hour when the Lord was condemned: "Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour,” i.e. it was Friday before Passover and the sixth hour being around 12 noon by our time. This indication by Saint John would seem to be at variance with the other Evangelists, especially with Saint Mark, who notes: “Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25), while from the sixth to the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land (Mat. 27:45; Mark 15:33 and Luke 23:44). However, the gist is that the day, like night, was divided into 4 parts of three hours. Consequently, the New Testament mentions only the 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th and 9^th hour. Saint John doesn’t say “the hour was the sixth,” but “about the sixth hour,” i.e. “like the sixth hour”: according to our calculations, this could have been the whole period between the 9^th hour of the morning till noon. Finally, there is an opinion (Gladkov) that Saint John is applying the Roman calculation, which corresponds with ours i.e. it was around 6 o’clock in the morning.

“And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!” — although it’s difficult to say what Pilate tried to express through these words, one can not see in them a last attempt to free the Lord death. Apparently annoyed at being forced to carry out a sentence against his own conscience, he once again flings a savage rebuke to the whole Sanhedrin: it is as though he is saying — you dream of the return of independence, of your some sort of high calling among all the peoples of the world: nobody is as capable as this Person to fulfill this lofty task, the One who calls himself the spiritual King of Israel. How is it that instead of bowing before Him, you demand His death? Do you want me, your hated Roman governor, to take away your King who could realize all your cherished dreams?

Evidently, the accusers likewise understood these words, because they started to howl with a particular fury: “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” According to Bishop Michael — “this howl came about from the blow to their most sensitive part of the wound,” but “ before giving way completely, Pilate once more twists the knife in this wound with: “Shall I crucify your King?” — if Jesus calls Himself your King, then with this declaration, He promises you liberation from Roman rule: how can you demand that I, a representative of Roman authority, committed Him to death? Think again, what are you doing?” — In response to this admonition and blinded by their hatred of Jesus, the high priests pronounced the frightening and fatal words that became a judgment over all the future history of the Jewish people: “We have no king but Caesar!” Before, the high priests were saying: “We have no other King, except God”: now, just for the sake of achieving Christ’s crucifixion, they renounce everything, declaring that they do not have, nor do they wish to have, any other king than Caesar.

Having suffered defeat at his attempts to liberate Christ, Pilate finally decides to give way to the wishes of the Jews and “delivered Him to them to be crucified.” Saint Matthew informs that prior to this, Pilate washes his hands (Mat. 27:24): “When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this Person. You see to it. ‘“The Jews had a custom whereby the washing of hands by an individual was proof of his innocence over the death of another (Deut. 21:6-8). Pilate took advantage of this and performed it as a sign that he sheds all responsibility for the judgment of Jesus, Whom he regarded as being innocent and righteous. “You see to it” — you yourselves will be answerable for the consequences of this unjust killing.

The malicious Jews agree to everything — not thinking of the consequences — just to get the procurator’s confirmation of the death penalty: “His Blood be on us and on our children,” i.e.: if this is a criminal act, then let God’s wrath fall on us and our descendants. “Such was the senseless fury” — comments Saint John Chrysostom — “such was the evil passion…so be it that you had cursed yourselves: but why incur the curse on your descendants?” This curse that the Jews incurred upon themselves was soon realized: in the year 70 AD, during the Roman siege of Jerusalem, a vast number of Jews were crucified on crosses. It also came to pass (through the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy in Deut. 28:49-57, 64-67) in the further history of the Jews, from thereon scattered around the world and being continually subjected to countless “pogroms.”

“Then he released Barrabas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified,” i.e. having confirmed the Sanhedrin’s death sentence, Pilate supplied them with soldiers to carry out the death sentence on the Lord Jesus Christ, by crucifixion.

Having washed his hands, Pilate of course couldn’t remove his responsibility (as he had wanted) by this act: after all, he was the high judge, knowing that the Accused was completely innocent. Since that time, the expression “wash your hands” has become a well-known saying. God’s punishment overtook Pilate for his spineless and unjust judgment of Him, Who he himself called Righteous. He was banished to Gaul, where after two years, exhausted by anguish, gnawing conscience and despondency, he ended his own life.