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Luke 23:13–16
“You brought me [Jesus] as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him” (vv. 14–16).
Herod Antipas hoped to get Jesus to perform a sign when our Lord stood before him, but Christ refused, having come to use His power to save people and not to provide entertainment. So Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus, but the ruler finally sent Him back to Pontius Pilate, not having convicted our Lord of any crime (Luke 23:6–12).
Today’s passage opens with Jesus standing before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, once again. This time, however, Pilate had not only the priests and other Jewish leaders observing the proceedings but “the people” as well (v. 13). Luke does not specifically explain why the crowd was there. Pilate’s declarations of Jesus’ innocence as well as the custom of releasing one prisoner at Passover (vv. 14–19) might indicate that Pilate had a crowd of Jews who were not leaders of the people there because he was hoping that they might call for Jesus’ release (see v. 20), but we cannot be certain. We do know, however, that the gathering of the Jews and their leaders gave them a firsthand view of the court proceedings.
At Jesus’ second appearance before Pilate, the governor once more pronounced our Lord’s innocence. He remarked that on the first examination, he had not found Jesus guilty, and then he stated that Herod’s sending Him back meant that Herod saw Jesus as innocent of the charges brought against Him as well. Certainly, Jesus was not worthy of execution, but Pilate did agree to “punish” Him before releasing Him (vv. 14–16). Probably he wanted to appease the Jews who demanded Jesus’ death in hopes of settling the uproar that had been created. We know from the first-century Jewish historian Josephus that at least some Jews who were accused of capital crimes were flogged and then set free but not executed. Likely Pilate prescribed that treatment for Jesus.
We will see in our next study that Pilate finally gave in to the demands to crucify Jesus. Let us note, however, that the proclamations of Herod and Pilate regarding our Lord’s innocence, perhaps unwittingly, bear witness to the injustice of the proceedings and the truth of His sinlessness. The Jews who should have hailed Him as their perfectly righteous King rejected Him, but the secular kings and governors could better perceive our Lord’s innocence. In God’s providence, Pilate’s and Herod’s conclusions help testify that Jesus “committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
One of the most important truths of the gospel is the sinlessness of Christ. If Jesus had sinned, He would have disqualified Himself as the spotless Lamb of God and therefore would not have been able to atone for the sins of His people. Because Jesus never sinned, however, God could accept His death as a suitable sacrifice to satisfy His divine justice. Let us be grateful that Jesus did what we cannot do: live a life entirely free of transgression.
For further study
- Isaiah 53:9
- Luke 4:1–13
- John 18:28–38
- Hebrews 7:26
The bible in a year
- Ezekiel 29–31
- James 5