Luke 23:1-25

The Voice

23 So the whole council got up and took Jesus to Pilate. ²They brought accusations against Him.

Sanhedrin: We have observed this man leading our nation astray. He even forbade us to pay our taxes to Caesar. He claims to be the Anointed One and a King Himself.

Pilate: ³Are You the King of the Jews?

Jesus: It’s as you say.

Pilate (to the chief priest and crowd): ⁴I find this man guilty of no crime.

Sanhedrin (growing more intense): ⁵He has been stirring up discontent among the people all over Judea. He started up in Galilee, and now He’s brought His brand of trouble all the way to Jerusalem!

Pilate: ⁶Just a minute. Is this man a Galilean?

⁷When Pilate learned that Jesus was indeed Galilean—which meant He was officially under Herod’s jurisdiction—Pilate sent Him over to Herod, who was currently in Jerusalem. ⁸Herod was fascinated to meet Jesus for he had heard about Him for a long time. He was hoping he might be treated to a miracle or two. ⁹He interrogated Jesus for quite a while, but Jesus remained silent, refusing to answer his questions. ¹⁰Meanwhile the chief priests and religious scholars had plenty to say—angrily hurling accusations at Jesus.

¹¹Eventually Herod and his soldiers began to insult Jesus, mocking and degrading Him. They put expensive clothing on Him and sent Him back to Pilate. ¹²This ended a long-standing rift between Herod and Pilate; they became friends from that day forward.

¹³Pilate assembled the chief priests and other Jewish authorities.

Pilate: ¹⁴You presented this man to me as a rabble-rouser, but I examined Him in your presence and found Him not guilty of the charges you have leveled against Him. ¹⁵Herod also examined Him and released Him to my custody. So He hasn’t done anything deserving the death penalty. ¹⁶I’ll see to it that He is properly whipped and then let Him go.

[¹⁷It was the custom for Pilate to set one prisoner free during the holiday festivities.]^[a]

Crowd (all shouting at once): ¹⁸Away with this man! Free Barabbas instead!

Crucifixion is a favorite Roman punishment for insurrectionists, slaves, and prisoners of war. Anyone daring to defy the power and authority of Caesar is executed in this public and humiliating way. Jesus indeed is a revolutionary. He doesn’t come to proclaim a new religion, but a new kingdom—a new way of life. He is indeed a threat to Caesar’s way of doing things, a way that co-opts the religious leaders.

Jesus’ revolution is a peaceful revolution. He doesn’t advocate the use of violence—in fact, when one of His disciples uses the sword to try to protect Jesus from arrest, Jesus heals the “enemy” and rebukes His disciple. So Jesus doesn’t support the regime of Caesar or follow the usual violent path of revolution: He leads a revolutionary revolution—in a path of love, healing, justice, and reconciliation.

Jesus appropriates and transforms the symbol of their power into a symbol of His greater power. He makes the cross not the icon of violent domination, but the reverse. By hanging on the cross and speaking of forgiveness, Jesus shows that there is a greater power at work in the world than the power of domination: it’s the power of God’s saving and reconciling love.

¹⁹Barabbas had been imprisoned after being convicted of an insurrection he had led in Jerusalem. He had also committed murder. ²⁰Pilate argued with them, wishing he could release Jesus, ²¹but they wouldn’t be silenced.

Crowd (shouting): Crucify Him! Crucify Him!

Pilate (countering a third time): ²²Why? What has He done that is so evil? I have found in Him no offense worthy of capital punishment. As I said, I will punish Him and then release Him.

²³But they would not relent. They shouted louder and louder that He should be crucified, and eventually Pilate capitulated. ²⁴So he pronounced the punishment they demanded.

²⁵He released the rebel and murderer Barabbas—the insurrectionist they had pleaded for in His place—and he handed Jesus over to them to do with as they desired.

Read full chapter