Six Trials

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Six Trials

Luke 23:13-16

13 And [de] Pilate [Pilatos] , when he had called together [sugkaleo] the chief priests [archiereus] and [kai] the rulers [archon] and [kai] the people [laos] ,
14 Said [epo] unto [pros] them [autos] , Ye have brought [prosphero] this [touto] man [anthropos] unto me [moi] , as [hos] one that perverteth [apostrepho] the people [laos] : and [kai] , behold [idou] , I [ego] , having examined [anakrino] him before [enopion] you [humon] , have found [heurisko] no [oudeis] fault [aition] in [en] this [touton] man [anthropos] touching those things [hos] whereof [kata] ye accuse [kategoreo] him [autos] :
15 No [alla] , nor yet [oude] Herod [Herodes] : for [gar] I sent [anapempo] you [humas] to [pros] him [autos] ; and [kai] , lo [idou] , nothing [oudeis] worthy [axios] of death [thanatos] is [esti] done [prasso] unto him [autos] .
16 I will [paideuo] therefore [oun] chastise [paideuo] him [autos] , and release [apoluo] him. KJV-Interlinear

13 And Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, 'You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. 15 'No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. 16 'I will therefore punish Him and release Him.' NASB

Matt. 27:19
19 And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, 'Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.' NASB

Matthew 27:19 is being taken a little out of order, but rest assured that we will go back and cover verses 15-18 in the next couple of days.

But for now, even Pilate's wife is uneasy about all of this. Jesus has been returned to Pilate from Herod. Herod had his fun and sent no conviction or any other finding against Jesus. No miracles being performed, and in Jesus' present condition (obviously having been beaten and abused), Herod was not impressed with the Man who had been a thorn in his side for over three years, or about two years since the arrest of John the Baptist.

Now there is a decided change in the atmosphere. A crowd is now growing. Jesus comes back to Pilate, who is summoned by those bringing Jesus back to him, the chief priests and elders.

Pilate's wife expresses her concern regarding this matter. Pilate in turn calls the court into session. Pilate summons all concerned. By the way, it is interesting that Pilate's wife gets into this issue. Remember history. Satan is fighting God. God has promised a savior, who is to be crucified. Satan does not want the savior part of the prophecy to come true, naturally.

Satan would welcome any fault in Jesus, just to disqualify Him from being the perfect offering for mankind's sins. But all things seem to be leading toward Jesus being crucified. The priests want Him dead, but they do not want to do it themselves. Satan just wants a flaw, or better yet, this day to pass without Jesus being taken to the Cross. Anything which will prove God wrong just this once.

But this is not to be. Pilate's wife warns Pilate to get rid of this matter, but there is ever increasing pressure from the leadership of Judea, and now a crowd is gathering, and a not so friendly crowd.

Both Pilate and his wife were certainly aware of Jesus and His reputation of miracles, the recent raising of Lazarus from his death, and certainly the actions Jesus took in the temple when he threw the merchants out. Regardless of the source of her dream, Pilate's wife, somewhat removed from these proceedings, now contributes her testimony regarding Jesus' innocence. God does not include in the Bible, comments such as her dream and the warning to Pilate, for no reason. All things point to the impeccable life and character of Jesus, and of course, to the many flaws in the character of mankind.

The chief priests represent the attitude of mankind in his aggressive action against God. Pilate represents a man being trapped between two opinions (wife and crowd) and the indecision that results. Herod represents indifference and the typical ridicule of mankind to things of a spiritual nature. And the crowd represents those being clueless to life in general and the ease of their emotional manipulation. Regardless of ones spiritual weakness, a negative attitude will lead a person astray and into oblivion.

Note also, just in passing, that crowds have no personality. There is no such thing as a 'crowd' entity. This is a collection of individuals and they do not act on their own but will be whipped into a frenzy by the chief priests. Just a peek of things to come. Crowds do not assume any particular character until they are shaped into something by others who would manipulate them for some use. This certainly says much about those in the crowd, as to their lacking individual wisdom and lacking the ability to discern and to reach legitimate conclusions. The crowd which lacks wisdom is easily manipulated and led astray. This is why you will see public opinion polls change continually. The general public is fickle. Obviously this applies to individuals who lack doctrine in their souls - forewarned (check yourself).

By 9 a.m. Jesus will be on the Cross. This is the last trial for Him. It is probably around 7 or 8 a.m. by now.

This is a special feast day in Judea. Most folks should have been elsewhere making preparations for the events of the day, namely by noon all leaven is to be removed from the households and the sacrifices are to begin in the afternoon and completed by 3 p.m. But we will eventually see that even the sacrifices of this day will be interrupted. Herod wanted to see a miracle, but before this day is over, everyone is going to see several very remarkable miracles.

Pilate re-states his findings. Jesus is guilty of nothing. But the chief priests and now the crowd are intensifying their objections against his finding.

Pilate appeals to the crowd. He offers to beat Jesus, just to please them, and then release Jesus. Pilate is now addressing all who have gathered, not just the original priests and elders who showed up much earlier that morning, with Jesus in tow. If Jesus has been found not guilty of any crime, then why the beating?

Pilate is now playing to the crowd, and not to justice. He should have released Jesus immediately having reached a decision. But he continues to hear the chief priests and elders out, not because of justice, but because their accusations are intensifying, and now the crowd is being whipped up against Jesus.

Through all of this, Jesus still remains silent. All of these events prove the perfection of Christ, and the absolute corruption and inability of mankind, to reach any kind of fair and just decision.

These events of history are the most dramatic of all of history, of course, but they are a pattern of events that are repeated throughout history in social clubs, in online chat rooms, in office politics, and certainly in government politics, and so forth in life.

Your responsibility is to avoid being caught up in the frenzy of life, and to redirect your priorities toward growing up in your spiritual life. So that you can have a clear head, and the ability to discern between right and wrong, and to bring yourself into Gods will for your life. Namely to be positive toward God and doctrine, to study regularly everyday of your life, to remain in fellowship, to apply what you learn to your daily life, and to grow up spiritually toward maturity. That is your objective in life.

Succeed in your spiritual life and you'll succeed in everything else. Fail in your spiritual life, and everything else in life will mean nothing.