The Trials of Jesus I

Luke 23:1-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 3, 2016.

This begins the official trials of Jesus.  However, he has already been questioned, beaten, and mocked for several hours at this point.  As we walk through this process it is valuable to recognize the actions and motivations of all involved.  All humans can be manipulated to promote actions that are not above reproach, and do not come from good motivations.  Yet, we see many who are operation out of pure selfishness and impure motives.  How do you defend yourself before such people?  Thus we see that the famous silence of Jesus before his accusers is more than just his mission to die for our sins.  It is also about the difficulty of convincing hardened hearts of the truth of God's love.  We live in a day of hard hearts, impure motives, and evil actions.  Can such peopel truly know what justice is?  Hardly.  May God help us to navigate these times as the Lord would have us, because these times are our trials and tests.

Jesus Is Accused Before Pilate

Pilate is a Roman who has been appointed as Governor over Jerusalem and Judea by the Emporor Tiberius.  At this time, the Jews could not execute anyone without his approval.  Thus, the religious leaders must make their case before him.  Their first accusation is that Jesus promotes revolution.  Perverting the nation is just a way of saying that he is leading the people astray.  Thus they are representing Jesus as a revolutionary who is stirring people up against Rome.  He is dangerous and instigating insurrection.  This is a powerful argument to make before Pilate because he has a vested interest in shutting down any rebellion before it gets started.  If Ceasar thinks that he can't control Judea then Pilate will lose his position.  Of course this accusation is a bald faced lie.  Jesus in no way ever promoted political revolution against the Romans or Herod.  Let Christians today keep this in mind.  It is not our job to conquer the governments of this world.  This is not the way of Jesus.

The next accusation is that he tells people not to pay the Roman taxes.  Again, Pilate has a vested interest in protecting the ability of Rome to extract taxes from Judea.  Caesar needs a constant supply of money to pay the expenses of having military throughout the Mediterranean area.  But again, this is a lie.  Jesus never taught his disciples to refuse to pay taxes, even to a wicked government.

The last accusation is that Jesus claims to be the Messiah, and therefore a king.  This claim is true.  However, the insinuation is that Jesus fancies himself a king and will therefore fight against Rome.  It is the first accusation dressed up in religious garb.  He is not just a rebel.  He is a fanatical, religious rebel.  Again, Jesus never instigated his disciples and followers to prepare for war against Rome or Herod.  In fact, it is important to notice that at such a critical hour Jesus does not send his disciples to fight against those trying to kill him.  In the days ahead he will actually send them out to fight against the spiritual powers that were behind the power of Rome and Herod.  It is easy for us to get so caught up in the political battles of our day that we lose sight of the greater battle that we have been called to fight.

Though Jesus is generally silent through these trials, he does not back away from the truth.  Jesus admits to Pilate that he is King of the Jews (that is the rightful king).  I am reminded of Psalm 2 where it says, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed (Messiah), saying 'Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.'  He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.  Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in his deep displeasure: 'Yet, I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.'"  You see, Jesus is more than the king of the Jews.  He is also the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  He will one day take up the rule of all the nations, but that day was not yet here.

As Pilate views all that is put before him, he comes to the conclusion that Jesus is not guilty of anything and he is not interested in putting this man to death.  There is no real threat in Jesus, and Pilate doesn't trust the religious leaders.  He cannot afford to be seen as weak and manipulated by them.  This first "No fault" verdict is vehemently rejected.  The religious leaders give fierce opposition to the intention of Pilate to let Jesus go.  As Pilate sees the riotous nature of the crowd, he knows that he must do something to keep the peace in Jerusalem, otherwise he is endangering his own position.

It is at this point that Pilate perceives that Jesus is a Galilean.  This provides him with the perfect opportunity to avoid the pickle that he is in.  Jerusalem is his jurisdiction, but Galilee was under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas.  He uses this fact to send Jesus to Herod and thus avoid a sticky situation.

Jesus Is Accused Before Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas was one of the sons of Herod the Great who was also lucky enough to not be put to death by his father.  He ruled over Galilee and a portion on the eastern side of the Jordan called Perea.  This is the same Herod who had John the Baptist executed.  He at one point was worried that Jesus was actually John the Baptist come back from the dead.  Herod is actually in Jerusalem because of the feast, thus Jesus is quickly taken before Herod.

It is immediately clear that Herod sees Jesus as entertainment.  He is not interested in giving a decision of justice.  He is clearly not threatened by this man who is sent to him, however, is is interested nonetheless.  Herod asks Jesus to show him a miracle.  When Jesus refuses to "perform" for Herod the fun quickly runs out.  Note that a desire to see a miracle is generally not motivated by a love for God.  Many people who witnessed lots of miracles went on to doubt God.  God is not some kind of "dog and pony" show that seeks to fascinate us with tricks while we sit and enjoy.  The sad thing is that this is what many churches have turned into in this generation.  Jesus remains silent and "seemingly" does nothing.  However, we must recognize that this is a challenge to our wicked hearts.  He will not throw pearls before swine.  Jesus is not our entertainment.  He is our rescuer and savior.  He is the one died in our place so that we can live.  No matter how much Herod questions Jesus, the Lord remains silent.  Often the silence of God is a rebuke to our wicked desires.  Sometimes it is also a test to see if we will still trust Him.  Be careful that your heart does not become so hard that there is no way that God could break through to your heart.  The image of Jesus on the cross should break all our hearts and hardness towards God.  But, sadly enough, many reject such love.

The scene deteriorates into a hall of mocking as a royal cloak is put upon Jesus and he is mockingly called the "King of the Jews."  To Herod, Jesus is a joke.  He is no threat and need not die.  Thus Herod refuses to assert his jurisdiction and sends Jesus back to Pilate.  He is basically saying "Thanks, but no thanks.  You can have him."  This game of hot potato with Jesus will soon come to an end.  No matter how many times a person seeks to avoid making a decision about Jesus in their life, it will come back around again, and again, until a decision is finally made.  May we choose to stand with Jesus rather than give in to the crowd and condemn him.

Trials of Jesus Audio