Knowing The Word in Luke 23:1-5

Jesus Before Pilate

23:1 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” 3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”

Comments

Compared to the other gospels, Luke abbreviated the proceeding between Pilate and Jesus. The Sanhedrin took Jesus to Pilate and accused him of sedition and encouraging tax evasion. Both were lies. Then they added that he called himself a king. The third more serious charge was conceived to get Pilate’s attention.

The real problem the Sanhedrin had with Jesus was blasphemy—a theological affair the Romans could have cared less about. But to get the Romans to act against Jesus, they had to accuse him of being a self-proclaimed king and a political revolutionary.

Pilate asked, “Are YOU the King of the Jews?” All for gospels record his exact question with an emphatic “you.” Jesus’ answer gave reluctant consent to the question. He was the King of the Jews but not a king in the sense of what Pilate was asking. Pilate discerned no capital charge but only the malice of Jesus’ accusers.

Application

God gave the Ten Commandments to protect his people and others from human sinfulness. Yet the “protectors” of the law, Jesus’ detractors, broke commandment nine: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Everything they did that night was against the law.

Where in our contemporary society do you see people bearing false witness against others? Is there anything you can do about it?

Prayer

Lord, help me never to bear false witness against my neighbor or participate in gossip. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be always acceptable in your sight.