Six Trials

Six Trials
John 19:4-15

4 Pilate [Pilatos] therefore [oun] went [exerchomai] forth [exo] again [palin] , and [kai] saith [lego] unto them [autos] , Behold [ide] , I bring [ago] him [autos] forth [exo] to you [humin] , that [hina] ye may know [ginosko] that [hoti] I find [heurisko] no [oudeis] fault [aitia] in [en] him [autos] .
5 Then [oun] came [exerchomai] Jesus [Iesous] forth [exo] , wearing [phoreo] the crown [stephanos] of thorns [akanthinos] , and [kai] the purple [porphurous] robe [himation] . And [kai] Pilate saith [lego] unto them [autos] , Behold [ide] the man [anthropos] !
6 When [hote] the chief priests [archiereus] therefore [oun] and [kai] officers [huperetes] saw [eido] him [autos] , they cried out [kraugazo] , saying [lego] , Crucify [stauroo] him, crucify [stauroo] him. Pilate [Pilatos] saith [lego] unto them [autos] , Take [lambano] ye [humeis] him [autos] , and [kai] crucify [stauroo] him: for [gar] I [ego] find [heurisko] no [ou] fault [aitia] in [en] him [autos] .
7 The Jews [Ioudaios] answered [apokrinomai] him [autos] , We [hemeis] have [echo] a law [nomos] , and [kai] by [kata] our [hemon] law [nomos] he ought [opheilo] to die [apothnesko] , because [hoti] he made [poieo] himself [heautou] the Son [huios] of God [theos] .
8 When [hote] Pilate [Pilatos] therefore [oun] heard [akouo] that [touton] saying [logos] , he was [phobeo] the more [mallon] afraid [phobeo] ;
9 And [kai] went [eiserchomai] again [palin] into [eis] the judgment hall [praitorion] , and [kai] saith [lego] unto Jesus [Iesous] , Whence [pothen] art [ei] thou [su] ? But [de] Jesus [Iesous] gave [didomi] him [autos] no [ou] answer [apokrisis] .
10 Then [oun] saith [lego] Pilate [Pilatos] unto him [autos] , Speakest thou [laleo] not [ou] unto me [emoi] ? knowest thou [eido] not [ou] that [hoti] I have [echo] power [exousia] to crucify [stauroo] thee [se] , and [kai] have [echo] power [exousia] to release [apoluo] thee [se] ?
11 Jesus [Iesous] answered [apokrinomai] , Thou couldest have [echo] no [ou] power [exousia] at all against [oudeis] [kata] me [emou] , except [ei me] it were [en] given [didomi] thee [soi] from above [anothen] : therefore [touto] [dia] he that delivered [paradidomi] me [me] unto thee [soi] hath [echo] the greater [meizon] sin [hamartia] .
12 And from [ek] thenceforth [toutou] Pilate [Pilatos] sought [zeteo] to release [apoluo] him [autos] : but [de] the Jews [Ioudaios] cried out [krazo] , saying [lego] , If [ean] thou let [apoluo] this man [touton] go [apoluo] , thou art [ei] not [ou] Caesar's [Kaisar] friend [philos] : whosoever [pas] maketh [poieo] himself [autos] a king [basileus] speaketh against [antilego] Caesar [Kaisar] .
13 When Pilate [Pilatos] therefore [oun] heard [akouo] that [touton] saying [logos] , he brought [ago] Jesus [Iesous] forth [exo] , and [kai] sat down [kathizo] in [epi] the judgment seat [bema] in [eis] a place [topos] that is called [lego] the Pavement [lithostrotos] , but [de] in the Hebrew [Hebraisti] , Gabbatha [gabbatha] .
14 And [de] it was [en] the preparation [paraskeue] of the passover [pascha] , and [de] about [hosei] the sixth [hektos] hour [hora] : and [kai] he saith [lego] unto the Jews [Ioudaios] , Behold [ide] your [humon] King [basileus] !
15 But [de] they cried out [kraugazo] , Away with [airo] him, away with [airo] him, crucify [stauroo] him [autos] . Pilate [Pilatos] saith [lego] unto them [autos] , Shall I crucify [stauroo] your [humon] King [basileus] ? The chief priests [archiereus] answered [apokrinomai] , We have [echo] no [ou] king [basileus] but [ei me] Caesar [Kaisar] . KJV-Interlinear

4 And Pilate came out again, and said to them, 'Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.' 5 Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, 'Behold, the Man!' 6 When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, 'Crucify, crucify!' Pilate said to them, 'Take Him yourselves, and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.' 7 The Jews answered him, 'We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.' 8 When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid; 9 and he entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, 'Where are You from?' But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said to Him, 'You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?' 11 Jesus answered, 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.' 12 As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, 'If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.' 13 When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, 'Behold, your King!' 15 They therefore cried out, 'Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!' Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.' NASB

We have a long passage today. This will take us from the time of the scourging of Jesus up to the time of Pilate's washing his hands, in frustration, of this whole matter.

Jesus has been totally beaten. He is now virtually unrecognizable, bloodied, and wearing a crown of thorns which do their obvious damage to the head.

Now Pilate will hope that the crowd will back off in their vehement attack and demand for Jesus' death. The chief priests probably see the ploy and they begin to shout 'crucify' over and over again.

Pilate again states that he finds no wrong in Jesus. A good judge would have turned the accused free, and without a beating, but Pilate was caught in between the opinions of the masses and that of his own conscious (as indicated by his wife). Notice that now the argument is between the chief priests and Pilate. The crowd is more subdued, probably due the appearance of Jesus, having been beaten so bad.

Pilate, having beaten Jesus, presents Him, and in such a manner that He couldn't possibly be perceived as a threat, 'Behold the man!' Just a man. He has been beaten, humiliated, and shown to be without power in the presence of the power of Rome. Surely people can see that if Jesus did anything wrong in the future he would be subject to arrest and worse punishment. Any normal person would change their ways and not be such a problem for society any longer (rehabilitated as it were) for fear of punishment.

But instead of receiving this kind of response, Pilate was faced with another totally new charge and it brought him to fear. 'He makes Himself to be the Son of God.'

Pilate can deal with a person who thinks himself a king. He can punish him and not insult the crowd, but religion is another matter altogether. The scriptures, and God are an ingrained tradition and an integral part of the Jewish daily life. To punish a person who has made such claims and then release him might be more than the crowd could take. Then again, if the charge were true .....??? This Jesus did not act like any other normal person.

Pilate has seen many an accused. He has heard their cries and pleas, their screams, their begging for mercy. He has seen more and better charges and evidence to back up a guilty verdict. But this Jesus stood there silent and calm through the whole ordeal. When stripped anyone could see that He was a powerful man as described by Matthew. A man who could easily fight off many of Pilate's own officers with ease, yet Jesus did not fight nor resist, nor complain, nor beg, but remained silent and took the punishment with great poise.

Pilate withdraws to the privacy of yet another questioning with Jesus. In private and outside the hearing of the crowd and beyond their noise, Pilate asks from whence does Jesus come. Before he asked straight out, 'Are you a king?' And Jesus answered the straight question. But now Pilate asks an ambiguous question? 'Who are you? Where do you come from? From above in heaven, or from mankind? What is all of this about?

Jesus remains silent. His time is at hand and this is not the time to begin to impose ones power and authority onto mankind. Jesus remains silent. If He stated 'Yes,' then more questions might be coming forth and that might jeopardize the Cross. Jesus remained silent.

Pilate presumes more authority and power than he really has.

'You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?'

And to this Jesus teaches Pilate a lesson from the book of Daniel. No person can do more than God allows them to do. God has placed all leaders in their respective positions of power. It is there that they are to carry out the authority of their position with fairness and integrity. No leader or person in a position of authority can do any more than God permits. Jesus Christ controls history.

Pilate of course did not do this. He abused his position in that he allowed his personal well being to enter into his decision making. He abused Jesus when he did not need to.

But Jesus also teaches Pilate that his sin is not as great as the sin of those who have raised accusations against Him.

Two things will follow. Pilate goes back out to face the yelling chief priests and tries to get Jesus off. They become even more vehement and a riot is on the brink of starting. Second, Pilate finally gives up but treats Jesus now as he would any other condemned criminal. No more abuse, but he does give in to the demands of the chief priests and elders.

The chief priests finally assault Pilate's loyalty to Caesar. This is the last straw. Who is the true king, Caesar or Jesus. Pilate is not intimidated and sees the direction of their threat. If he does not give in to their demand, to crucify Jesus, then they will go over his head and cause trouble for him (Pilate) in the palace of Caesar. That Pilate does not want to deal with. This is hardball politics. The gloves are off. Pilate will give up and give in to their demand.

Their sin is the greater and Pilate's is the lessor. Why? This will be your home work question until tomorrow's study. Now think about it very carefully before you come up with an answer. Clue: In what situation is one sin far worse than any other sin?

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