31 

Pilate before Jesus
(Mark 15:1–15) 

Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed. Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. (15:1–15)

The gallery of rogues in the unfolding drama of Jesus’ murder includes a greedy traitor named Judas, high priestly hypocrites Annas and Caiaphas, and a petty tyrant, Herod Antipas. To that list, the name of a vacillating pagan politician, Pontius Pilate, must be added. These men comprise the notorious lineup of coconspirators who, on a human level, effected the unjust execution of the Son of God.

From the divine perspective, however, God was the true power at work in bringing His Son to the cross (cf. Acts 4:27–28). When Pilate asked Jesus, “‘Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above’” (John 19:10–11a). As Jesus’ words indicate, God the Father was sovereignly working to accomplish His saving purposes in spite of the wicked schemes of evil men (cf. Gen. 50:20). Peter echoed that truth on the day of Pentecost, explaining that Christ was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23a; cf. Luke 22:22; Acts 3:18; 1 Peter 1:20). In keeping with the divine plan of salvation, the Son of God would be crushed as the Father’s chosen atoning substitute, bearing the Father’s wrath and, thereby, reconciling sinners to God (Isa. 53:5, 11; 2 Cor. 5:19–21).

Having taking Jesus prisoner about 1:00 a.m. on Friday morning, the Jewish religious heads brought Him to the house of the high priest where He was first questioned by Annas (John 18:19–24) and then tried before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:55–65). When the council failed to produce consistent testimony against Jesus, they resorted to accusations of blasphemy and subsequently condemned Him to death. The trial before Caiaphas likely ended about 3:00 A.M., at the time when Peter’s denials also ended (cf. 14:66–72). For the next couple hours, Jesus would have been held prisoner by the temple police, who continued to mock and mistreat Him (cf. v. 65).

At daybreak, near 5:00 A.M., the Sanhedrin reconvened. As Mark explains, early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation. Knowing that Jewish law required all trials to be held in the daytime, and wanting to maintain a veneer of legality, the council created a quick mock trial to condemn Jesus officially (Luke 22:66–71). Jewish law required that a full day pass between sentencing and execution to allow for new evidence or testimony to surface. But in their venal haste to expedite Jesus’ death, the members of the Sanhedrin deliberately ignored the due process of their own legal system.

The council’s brief consultation constituted the third and final phase of the Jewish portion of Jesus’ trial and set the stage for the Romans to get involved. The Roman sham trial likewise consisted of three phases. First, Jesus was questioned by the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Then, He was sent briefly to Herod Antipas, the Roman-client tetrarch of Galilee and murderer of John the Baptist. After being mocked and abused by Herod, Jesus was sent back to Pilate where He faced the final sentencing.

THE FIRST ROMAN PHASE: BEFORE PILATE

and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate. Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed. (15:1b–5)

The Sanhedrin knew they needed Rome’s permission to legally enact a sentence of execution. Thus, binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect (or governor) of Judea. Having been appointed by Emperor Tiberius in A.D. 26, Pilate was responsible to command the Roman military, collect taxes, and adjudicate certain legal matters. Though he was often brutal and impulsive, Pilate also exhibited, at times, weakness and indecision. Nothing certain is known about Pilate’s life before becoming governor. However, his tenure in Judea is attested by several extrabiblical sources, including Tacitus, Josephus, Philo, and the Pilate Stone (discovered in 1961 in Caesarea) on which the names of Tiberius and Pilate are both inscribed.

Sometime shortly after daybreak, Jesus was delivered to Pilate’s judgment hall, the Praetorium, likely located in Fort Antonia just north of the temple. His official residence was at Caesarea Maritima, on the Mediterranean coast, but he was in Jerusalem for the Passover. John 18:28 notes the hypocritical duplicity of the religious leaders as they arrived at Pilate’s quarters: “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.” Incredibly, the chief priests and scribes sanctimoniously refused to enter a Gentile residence for fear of becoming ceremonially unclean, yet they had no compunction about lying in order to murder the Son of God (cf. Ex. 20:13, 16). (Being from Galilee, Jesus and His disciples had already celebrated the Passover the previous evening. For an explanation of the different times when Galilean and Judean Jews observed the Passover, see chapter 26 of this volume.)

The fourth gospel continues to set the scene:

Clearly, the members of the Sanhedrin did not want Pilate to act as judge but merely as executioner. They had already declared Jesus guilty; they only needed the Roman governor to approve and exact his power of capital punishment. Though the Sanhedrin occasionally executed people without obtaining official permission (Acts 6:12–15; 7:54–60; cf. 23:12–15), Jesus’ public profile was too high for the Jewish council to take that risk. The chief priests and scribes hoped to avoid appearing responsible for His death, pinning the blame on Rome in case there were reprisals from the people (cf. Matt. 21:46; Mark 12:12; Luke 20:19).

It should be noted that God required Rome’s involvement to fulfill biblical prophecy. The cross was foreshadowed in the Old Testament (Deut. 21:22–23; Num. 21:5–9; Ps. 22:1, 12–18; Isa. 53:5; Zech. 12:10) and explicitly predicted by Jesus in the Gospels (cf. Matt. 20:18–19; John 12:32). The Jewish people did not use crucifixion as a form of execution (traditionally carrying out capital punishment by stoning, cf. Josh. 7:25; Acts 7:58), as the Romans did.

To make Jesus appear to be a revolutionary (and thus a threat to Rome), the Jewish leaders accused Him of deceiving the nation, forbidding people to pay taxes and claiming to be a king who threatened Caesar (Luke 23:2). Those charges, if true, would have constituted serious crimes against the Roman government. But Jesus was no insurrectionist. He never advocated rebellion or even civil disobedience against Rome (cf. Matt. 5:21). Rather, He instructed His listeners to pay their taxes (Luke 20:21–25) and avoided those who tried to make Him king by force (cf. John 6:15). Though Jesus is the King of kings and will establish His earthly kingdom in the future (Rev. 19:15), He had no intention of fighting against the imperial Roman government or inciting His servants to do so (John 18:36; cf. Matt. 26:52–54).

As the governor of Judea, staying in Jerusalem during the Passover to maintain order and keep the peace, Pilate must have been made aware of who Jesus was and all He had done in the city that week, from His triumphal entry to His clearing of the temple. The Roman cohort that arrested Jesus after midnight on Friday morning would not have been dispatched without Pilate’s knowledge or permission. Even so, the Roman governor never believed that Jesus posed a serious political threat, as the Sanhedrin alleged.

Standing before the governor, His face battered and bloody and His garments stained with dirt, sweat, and blood, the Man of Sorrows did not appear to be a king (cf. Isa. 53:3). Incredulous, Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Though Pilate’s words dripped with mocking sarcasm, Jesus responded directly and truthfully. And He answered him, “It is as you say.” Mark’s brief summation of the interchange between Jesus and Pilate is supplemented by details from the gospel of John:

The pagan governor was an agnostic who questioned the very essence of reality. Yet, in spite of his doubt and derision, Pilate clearly did not believe Jesus was guilty of any capital crime (cf. Matt. 27:19, 24; Mark 15:14; Luke 23:14–15; John 18:38; 19:4, 6). The official findings of the Roman magistrate exonerated Christ of any guilt, and he repeatedly said that he found no fault in Him.

Upon hearing Pilate’s findings, the chief priests began to accuse Him harshly, saying insistently, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place” (Luke 23:5). But Jesus refused to respond to their false accusations (Matt. 27:12–14). Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” The unrestrained anger and deceit of the Jews stood in stark contrast to the majestic silence of the Lord Jesus. Though they relentlessly and vehemently hurled lies at Him, Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed. The word amazed (from the Greek verb thaumazō) means “to marvel” or “to be in wonder.” To Pilate’s shock, though Jesus was falsely accused of serious crimes, He offered no testimony in self-defense. Christ’s innocence had already been declared by the Roman governor (Luke 23:4; John 18:38), making any additional defense unnecessary. Moreover, His silence fulfilled the words of Old Testament prophecy (Isa. 42:1–2; 53:7).

THE SECOND ROMAN PHASE: BEFORE HEROD ANTIPAS

When the religious leaders mentioned Galilee in the midst of their vicious tirade against Jesus (Luke 23:5), Pilate “asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time” (vv. 6–7). Hoping for help in deciding what to do with Jesus, Pilate reached out to the tetrarch of Galilee who similarly had arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover.

Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great (cf. Matt. 2:1, 19), was a regional monarch who ruled over Galilee and Perea, under the jurisdiction of Rome. When Herod the Great died (in 4 B.C.), his territory was divided among several of his sons, including Antipas. His brother Archelaus (cf. Matt. 2:22) was given the southern territories of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. But due to cruelty and incompetence, Archelaus was deposed by Rome in A.D. 6 and replaced with a series of governors, one of whom was Pontius Pilate. The northern regions of Trachonitis and Ituraea went to Philip the Tetrarch (Luke 3:1), the half brother of Antipas.

That Herod Antipas was wicked and debauched is illustrated in Mark 6:14–29. Having illegally divorced his first wife, Antipas seduced and took the wife of his half brother Herod II (also known as Herod Philip I, not to be confused with Philip the Tetrarch) and married her. Because she was also his niece, his marriage to Herodias was both adulterous and incestuous. When John the Baptist boldly confronted the illicit union, Antipas had the faithful prophet imprisoned and later, during a drunken party, called for him to be beheaded.

When Herod Antipas heard about Jesus, he became superstitiously fearful that He might actually be John the Baptist, having risen from the dead to seek revenge. His initial interest in Jesus, then, was motivated by a desire to kill Him in case that was true (Luke 13:31–33). But the Lord had deliberately evaded Herod’s clutches, meaning that this was the first time Herod saw Jesus face-to-face. Luke records the encounter in his gospel:

When Herod finally faced Jesus, he was unimpressed. Realizing He was not John in resurrected form, the regional despot quickly slid from fear to curiosity to ridicule. He instructed his soldiers to dress Jesus in a dazzling royal robe, treating the Son of God as a mock king and turning the whole affair into a bizarre joke for his own depraved amusement. Herod then returned Jesus to Pilate without adding any charges, thereby affirming the Lord’s innocence despite the incessant accusations of the chief priests and scribes. Just as the Sadducees and Pharisees united in their hatred for Jesus, former enemies Herod and Pilate became friends that day, finding common ground in their scornful disdain for the Man of Sorrows.

THE THIRD ROMAN PHASE: BEFORE PILATE AGAIN

Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. (15:6–15)

When Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, the Roman governor found himself in a difficult political position. Though he knew Jesus was innocent and wanted to preserve justice, he was concerned about offending the Jewish leaders. Pilate’s tenure as governor had been fraught with brash missteps that angered his subjects. Any further incidents would likely result in his removal by Rome, thereby ending his political career.

Pilate’s folly began when he allowed his soldiers to enter Jerusalem, carrying banners and standards bearing the image of Caesar. The Jews regarded such depictions as idolatrous. The people, incensed by Pilate’s irreverent actions, traveled to his headquarters in Caesarea to complain. After five days of protests, Pilate finally agreed to meet them in the amphitheater. Rather than listening to their complaint, he surrounded them with his soldiers and threatened to have them slain on the spot if they would not stop demonstrating. The Jews refused to back down, defiantly baring their necks as a sign of their willingness to die. Pilate realized that he could not carry out his bluff, since such a massacre would have sparked a larger revolt. Humiliated, he reluctantly acquiesced and removed the images.

On a subsequent occasion, Pilate seized sacred funds from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem. When the people rioted in response, the governor disguised his soldiers as civilians, sent them into the crowd, and commanded them to attack the protesters with swords and clubs. Luke 13:1 refers to a similar occasion in which Pilate’s soldiers slaughtered a group of Galilean Jews while they were offering sacrifices in the temple. That kind of brutality only fueled the people’s resentment toward Pilate.

Another conflict erupted when Pilate insisted on placing gold-covered shields honoring Tiberius Caesar in Herod’s palace in Jerusalem. Again, the Jews were deeply offended, seeing the shields as idolatrous, and asked Pilate to remove them. He stubbornly refused. Finally, a Jewish delegation traveled to Rome and appealed directly to Caesar who, angered by Pilate’s insensitive provocations of the people, ordered him to take the shields down.

By the time of Jesus’ trial, Pilate had already put himself in a precarious political position. If another bad report about him reached Caesar, it would likely spell his removal from power. When the Jewish leaders told Pilate, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar” (John 19:12), he understood exactly what they were threatening. Years later, around A.D. 36, Pilate blundered again when he unwisely ordered his troops to ambush a group of Samaritan worshipers. When the people of Samaria complained to his immediate superior, the Roman legate of Syria, Pilate was summoned back to Rome. After that, little is known about him. According to tradition, he was banished in disgrace to Gaul where he eventually committed suicide.

In the trial of Jesus, Pilate attempted to retain some shred of justice by making a final appeal to the Jewish council, explaining that he had found no guilt at all in Jesus and neither had Herod (cf. Luke 23:14–15). Pilate knew there were no grounds on which to execute the Galilean. Accordingly, he still offered to punish Jesus unjustly in the hope that a little bloodshed would appease the vindictive prosecutors (v. 16). But they would not relent until He was crucified.

Hoping for a way out, Pilate appealed to an annual Passover tradition. As Mark explains, Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. Each year, the governor would grant amnesty to one sentenced criminal of the people’s choice as a way to cultivate goodwill and to demonstrate Rome’s mercy. Pilate thought the crowd would select Jesus, thereby solving his dilemma. The other option was a violent man named Barabbas, a robber (John 18:40) and insurrectionist who had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists and who had committed murder in the insurrection (cf. Luke 23:18–19). It is likely that the wood that held Jesus, situated between the two thieves, was initially intended for Barabbas. Ironically, the name Barabbas means “son of the father.” Here the lawbreaking son of a human father was being offered to the people in the place of the sinless Son of the divine Father.

Pilate was glad to oblige when the crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. Aware of Jesus’ popularity from just a few days earlier (Mark 11:8–10), the governor was confident the crowd would never choose Barabbas. Pilate’s plan was simple: when the multitude selected Jesus, there would be nothing the Jewish council could do. He could preserve justice and at the same time garner favor with the people. Thus, Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” By calling Jesus the King of the Jews, Pilate intentionally sought to snub the religious leaders (cf. John 19:21), for he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. The governor recognized their motivation for executing Jesus had nothing to do with loyalty to Rome, and everything to do with safeguarding their influence and prestige with the people. Unmoved by any option and driven by jealousy and pride, they rejected their own Messiah, the Son of God, because He exposed their hypocrisy, challenged their authority, and threatened their religion and power. Put simply, He performed miracles, they could not; He proclaimed truth, they did not; He was from God, and they were not.

In the middle of the unfolding drama, Pilate received an unexpected message from his wife. Matthew 27:19 records the peculiar incident: “While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, ‘Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.’” Her fear, having manifested itself in a vivid nightmare, prompted Pilate’s wife to issue an urgent warning to her husband. (Perhaps she had been awake the night before when her husband’s soldiers were dispatched to arrest Christ, causing her to be anxious while she slept.) Though Pilate ultimately disregarded the words of his wife, her frightened warning was another testimony to the innocence of the Lord Jesus.

While Pilate was considering his wife’s intense concern, the chief priests were moving throughout the multitude, stirring up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead of Jesus. Consequently, when Pilate posed his question to them, they exclaimed of Jesus, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” (Luke 23:18). Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” The governor was undoubtedly surprised by their ruthless response. Though the crowds on Monday exclaimed enthusiastic support for Jesus, this crowd on Friday shouted back, “Crucify Him!” Incredulous, Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” The crowd’s reply was loud, incessant, and relentless. They shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”

As the mob began to riot (cf. Matt. 27:24), the mounting pressure on Pilate became overwhelming. Another uprising would end his political career, and the only means of quieting the demands of this angry mob was to sentence Jesus to death. Using a Jewish custom (Deut. 21:1–9) to symbolize his reluctance to grant their request, Pilate “took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves’” (Matt. 27:24). He had repeatedly declared the innocence of Christ, and now Pilate tried to maintain his own. In reality, he was blackmailed and fell guilty of deliberately perverting justice for the sake of political expediency. Unlike Pilate, those in the angry crowd gladly acknowledged their culpability in the death of Christ. “And all the people said, ‘His blood shall be on us and our children!’” (Matt. 27:25; cf. Acts 2:22–23). Incredibly, at the very time when the nation was preparing to remember God’s mercy and goodness through the Passover, the people were violently screaming for the death of His Son, and wanting to be held fully responsible for the crime.

The final phase of Jesus’ Roman trial ended with a wavering politician caving to the violent demands of a raucous mob. Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified (15:15). To be scourged was to be whipped with a device known as a flagellum, consisting of a wooden handle with long leather thongs attached. The thongs, which were embedded with sharp pieces of bone and metal, were designed to rip the flesh to the bone. The victim would be tied to a post, his hands extended high over his head and his feet suspended off the ground so that his body was taught. As the scourge tore into his back, muscles would be lacerated, veins cut, and internal organs exposed. Intended to hasten death on the cross, scourging itself was sometimes fatal. After enduring such a debilitating form of torture, the Lord Jesus was handed over to be crucified.

With a final sentence, Pilate condemned Jesus to a cruel form of execution. Though it seemed as if Christ were on trial before Pilate, in reality, the Roman governor was on trial before the Son of God (cf. John 5:22–30; Acts 10:42; Rom. 2:16; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8). Though he lacked spiritual awareness, Pilate articulated the ultimate question that every human being must answer, “What shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:12). The destiny of every person is determined by what he or she does with Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Those who reject Him will face everlasting judgment (Heb. 6:2), but all who embrace Him as Lord and Savior will be rescued from divine wrath and receive salvation (Rom. 10:9). Tragically for Pilate and his coconspirators, their calloused antagonism and unbelief sealed their eternal destruction.