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Welcome to this Bible Study. Read
what I have written slowly. If you have a Bible look up the reference verses
given, and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to your soul through them.
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We have read of the arrest of Jesus and
how He was taken to the high priest. Only John and Peter followed Him, the
rest of the disciples disappearing into the darkness. It was now early morning
and very cold. When Peter entered the courtyard he was challenged by a girl
there who queried whether he was with Jesus. Peter denied this. As we shall
see, this was only the first of three times that he would claim not to know
Jesus.
| 19 | Meanwhile the
high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. |
| | It was the religious hierarchy that wanted to
get rid of Jesus. Having apprehended Him, they now wanted to gain some
evidence against Him to bring to the Roman authorities. By questioning Him,
they thought they would catch Him in His own words. They would have a number
of witnesses that could confirm their claims. |
| 20 | ‘I have spoken openly to the
world,’ Jesus replied. ‘I always taught in the synagogues or at
the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in
secret. |
| 21 | Why question Me? Ask
those who heard Me. Surely they know what I said.’ |
| | Jesus had always spoken plainly and not dealt
in some underhand way. What He taught about Himself and the Father was known
fairly broadly, though peoples’ understanding was limited. The people He
was now addressing understood this and had arrested Him because of His claims
about Himself. |
| 22 | When
Jesus had said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the
face.
‘Is that any way to
answer the high priest?’ he demanded. |
| | Those standing about wanted to see Jesus humbled,
submissive, even pleading for mercy. |
| | Instead, He was calm, strong, a just man standing before
unjust judges. At no point was He afraid. |
| 23 | ‘If I said something
wrong,’ Jesus replied, ‘speak up about it. But if I spoke the
truth, why did you hit Me?’ |
| 24 | Then Annas sent Him, still bound, to
Caiaphas, the high priest. |
| | Jesus
gave an answer showing the unfairness of this procedure. No doubt that is why
they stopped their questioning and sent Him to Caiaphas. It appears that Annas
was still referred to as a high priest though his son-in-law, Caiaphas was
officially the high priest for that year. |
| 25 | As Simon Peter stood warming
himself, he was asked, ‘Surely you are not another of His
disciples?’ He denied it, saying ‘I am not.’ |
| 26 | One of the high
priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off,
challenged him, ‘Didn’t I see you with Him in the olive
grove?’ |
| 27 | Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to
crow. |
| | In chapter13: 37, 38chapter13: 37, 38, Peter
vowed loyalty to Christ even to death. Jesus told him that he would deny Him
three times before the rooster crowed. Now it has happened. In a tight
situation where he was completely out-numbered, Peter was afraid and took the
cowardly way. Luke 22:62Luke 22:62 tells us that he went out of the courtyard and wept
bitterly. |
| 28 | Then the
Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it
was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter
the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. |
| | According to their law, the Jews would be
defiled by entering this Gentile establishment and would have disqualified
themselves from celebrating one of their annual feasts, the Passover. So they
stayed outside. Quite a group seems to have gathered by this time. |
| 29 | So Pilate came out to them
and asked, ‘What charges are you bringing against this man?’ |
| | Pilate was the man stationed in
Jerusalem by Rome to govern the province of Judea. He had found it to be a
difficult task as the Jews were constantly stirring trouble of some kind,
hating the Roman occupation. He had no idea how significant this latest matter
would be and how hard for him to handle. |
| 30 | ‘If He were not a criminal,’
they replied, ‘we would not have handed Him over to you.’ |
| | See in this answer the deceit of
these religious leaders. Not one of them could honestly accuse Jesus of
breaking any law yet they wanted Pilate to gain the impression that He was
obviously a guilty man, a cause of trouble in the land. |
| 31 | Pilate said ‘Take Him
yourselves and judge Him by your own law.’
‘But we have no right to execute anyone,’ the
Jews objected. |
| 32 | This happened indicating the kind of death he was going to die
would be fulfilled. |
| | It seems that Pilate
had almost immediately seen that this was a set-up and he wanted nothing to do
with it. But to appease the crowd he suggested they handle it. Notice in their
answer that they had already decided the prisoner should die despite there
being no evidence and no trial as yet. The note about the kind of death refers
to the means of execution. The Jews stoned a person to death whereas the
Romans crucified those who were condemned. |
| 33 | Pilate then went back inside the palace,
summoned Jesus and asked Him, ‘Are you the king of the
Jews?’ |
| | We see the following
verses that those who handed Jesus over to Pilate had said that He claimed to
be the king of the Jews. They were hoping that this would sound like treason
against the rule of Rome. Pilate wasn’t greatly moved by this. In
another place (Matt 27:18Matt 27:18) it says that Pilate knew that it was out of envy
they had handed Jesus over to him. |
| 34 | ‘Is that your own idea,’
Jesus asked, ‘or did others talk to you about Me?’ |
| 35 | ‘Do you think I am a Jew,’ Pilate
replied. ‘It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over
to me. What is it you have done?’ |
| | Once more we see Pilate trying to be neutral. He
doesn’t want to either condemn Jesus or declare His innocence. This is
leading him further into a corner. His question ‘What have you
done?’ is to try and get some sort of confession from the
prisoner. |
| 36 | Jesus said,
‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to
prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another
place.’ |
| | Of course Jesus has
nothing to confess. He explains that He has no intention of threatening an
earthly kingdom because His kingdom is of another kind. His rule is of a
different nature. |
| 37 | ‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered,
‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was
born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on
the side of truth listens to Me.’ |
| | Pilate is being further drawn into mystery. All this is too
much for him. Though he was well-known to be a harsh ruler who did not
hesitate to put troublemakers to death, in this case he was confused and
defeated. He must have wondered just who was this man standing before
him. |
| 38 | ‘What
is truth?’ Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and
said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against Him. |
| 39 | But it is your custom
for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want
me to release “the king of the Jews”?’ |
| | Pilate’s ‘What is truth?’
perhaps indicates his dilemma. It would seem to him that truth was hard to
find. Yet the Truth was standing before him. (Remember, Jesus said, ‘I
am the way, the truth and the life.’ John 14:6John 14:6). Pilate’s hope
that they may ask for Jesus to be released was vain indeed. Things were only
going to get worse for Pilate. |
| 40 | They shouted back, ‘No, not Him! Give us Barabbas!’ Now
Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. |
| | This man was a thief and a murderer (Mark 15:7Mark 15:7). Yet the
people chose him before Jesus. |
| | Other
Gospels show us the desperation of Pilate as this trial unfolded. He asked for
water in a bowl to wash his hands of the whole matter in front of the people,
claiming no responsibility for Christ’s death. He knew there was a
miscarriage of justice taking place but he was too cowardly to prevent it. In
fact, the crucifixion could only go ahead when he gave the order for it to
happen. He could not avoid responsibility. |
Conclusion
The
trial of Jesus was a mockery. It was simply hatred and blindness at work but
Jesus was calm and purposeful, knowing the outcome but bearing it all with
confidence in the plan of the Father. The people chose a murderer above Jesus,
something which the crowd still does today. We need to ask what our preference
is. What do we ask for before and instead of Jesus? Are we ashamed of Him?
Would we rather be popular and acceptable to the crowd or are we prepared to
follow Jesus at all cost? Will we sacrifice principle for the sake of
expediency? These are questions to ponder.
If you live in South Africa and after reading
this article you have any questions you want answered then write to Multi
Ministries in South Africa using the response form
and post it to: Multi Ministries P.O. Box 2032 FLORIDA HILLS 1716
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The “NIV” and
“New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark
Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.
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