John 19:1-6
Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”
Pilate faced a dilemma. On the one hand, he represented Roman law which prompted him to search into the charges brought against Jesus, which resulted in Pilate declaring, “I find no guilt in Him” (Jn. 18:38). On the other hand, Pilate knew the hatred of the Jews toward Jesus and did not want to see a riot. He tried desperately to get out of making a decision. He thought he could give the Jews a choice which would remove Him from a difficult decision. As mentioned in the last lesson, Pilate brought out Barabbas, a noteworthy criminal who committed murder and started an insurrection hoping they would choose Jesus, but not so. Now Pilate, knowing that Jesus was innocent, ordered Jesus to be scourged. Once a bad decision is made, it often requires another just as bad or worse. Thus we see Pilate, who apparently wanted to free Jesus, succumb to wrong actions. Perhaps Pilate thought that this scourging would satisfy the Jewish hatred of Jesus, but to no avail.
John does not describe the specifics of the scourging. Conceivably as an eyewitness, he could not force himself to detail the intense physical suffering Roman scourging inflicted. Nevertheless, this physical suffering is part of the anguish our Lord suffered as He offered Himself up for our sins.
The Romans did not use rods, as the Jews did, each rod making only one stripe, cutting only the back; they used short-handled whips, each provided with several leather lashes, ugly acorn-shaped pieces of lead or lumps of bone being fastened to the end of each short lash. The strokes were laid on with full force, and when the executioners tired, the officers shouted … demanding full force. The effect was horrible. The skin and the flesh of the back were gashed to the very bone, and where the armed ends of the lashes struck, deep, bloody holes were torn ( R.C.H. Lenski, Commentary of the New Testament, John, p. 1244, 1245).
The Romans hated the Jews, and the Roman soldiers saw this as an opportunity to mock this “King of the Jews.” They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on the head of Jesus. Some see this event as Jesus enduring the curse of sin. As Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:17-19).
Next, the soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus which was to mockingly symbolize royalty. It is thought that this was an old, tattered robe that was worn by Roman soldiers on certain occasions. The way this is presented in Greek gives the idea that the Roman soldiers kept coming up (present continuous) to Jesus saying, “Hail, King of the Jews” and slapping him in the face; the Synoptics add that they spit on Jesus and hit him on the head with a reed driving the crown of thorns deep into his head. Apparently, Pilate was looking on with approval. The hardness of heart demonstrated by the Jewish leaders, Pilate, and the Roman soldiers shows a seared conscience burned by many decisions contrary to truth and justice. Summarizing the trial of Jesus, we find twelve reasons it was illegal.
Twelve Reasons Why Jesus’ Trial Was Illegal
The trial of Jesus Christ was without legal precedent. Although Pilate found him innocent, he was convicted and executed. The following are twelve reasons that the arrest, trial, and conviction of Jesus was illegal.
- There was no legal basis for Jesus’ arrest because no one had presented a formal charge of any crime; he was simply taken. Moreover, those who went with Judas to have Jesus arrested included the priests and elders—his judges (Lk.22:52)—among whom were the ones who bribed Judas!
- Jesus was subject to a secret preliminary examination at night (Jn.18:12-14,19-23). Jewish law permitted only daylight proceedings.
- The indictment against Jesus was illegal because the judges themselves brought up the charge without any prior testimony by witnesses. The Jewish court (the Sanhedrin) was not allowed by law to originate charges.
- The court illegally proceeded to hold its trial of Jesus before sunrise so that no one would be available to testify on his behalf.
- Even though Jewish law did not permit the trial of a capital offense to begin on a Friday or on the day before an annual festival day, Jesus was arrested and tried the day before the Sabbath, that also happened to be the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Jn.18:28; 19:31).
- Jesus’ trial was concluded in one day, but the law in the Mishna says, “If a sentence of death is to be pronounced it … cannot be concluded before the following day” (Mishna, “Sanhedrin” IV, 1). This was done to allow sufficient opportunity for any witnesses in support of the accused to present themselves. Jesus’ trial was conducted in private and completed in less than nine hours.
- Two false witnesses charged Jesus with saying he would destroy the temple made with hands (Mk.14:58), yet he was condemned by the court on the charge of blasphemy. And he was condemned on his own testimony (Lk.22:67-71). However, according to Jewish law, a person could not be condemned by their testimony.
- The merits of Jesus’ defense were not considered. The high priest did not “inquire, and make search, and ask diligently” (Deut.13:14) to see whether Jesus’ statement was blasphemous. The law in the Mishna says, “The judges shall weigh the matter in sincerity of their conscience” (Sanhedrin IV, 5). Instead, the court pronounced sentence without deliberation!
- Those who would have voted against condemnation were not at Jesus’ trial. Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the court, yet he was not there (Lk.23:50-51). Jesus’ opponents had made sure that only those who hated him would be there.
- The sentence was pronounced in a place forbidden by law. The trial took place at the high priest’s house (Lk.22:54), and according to the law, a death sentence could be pronounced only in the court’s appointed place.
- Most of the judges were not legally qualified to try Jesus because most were his enemies. In such cases, Jewish law required these judges to disqualify themselves in order to ensure that the accused would be tried by impartial judges.
- The court illegally switched the charges from blasphemy to treason when the case went before Pilate. Jesus’ opponents wanted him killed, but they did not want to do it themselves. Therefore, they charged him with treason (Lk.23: 2) —a crime against Rome—so the Romans would be responsible for his death. No evidence of treason was ever presented (Jn.18:29-30), and after a brief interview, Pilate determined that Jesus was not guilty of treason (Jn.18: 38; 19:4; Matt.27:18).
Understanding the political implications of the situation, Pilate allowed the Jews to crucify an innocent man.
The trial of Jesus was a mockery of justice. However, this illegal trial did fulfill the prophecies concerning the condemnation of the Messiah by the covenant people (See http://www.bibleresearch.org/observancebook5/b5w29.html).
After Pilate had Jesus scourged and his soldiers had mocked Jesus in the most inhumane way, Pilate, said,
Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him. Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!”
Was Pilate hoping the Jews would be satisfied with the scourging, mocking, and mistreatment of Jesus so he would not have to make a decision? In essence, this presentation of Jesus was evidence to the injustice of Pilate, who found Jesus innocent and then presented him scourged, mocked, and humiliated.
Some have connected two of Pilate’s statements. “What is truth?” and “Behold the Man!” Whether or not, combining these two phrases is good exegetical teaching; the truth is clear. Yes, Jesus is “The Truth.”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (Jn. 14:6).
So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”
As stated before, the Jews’ method of execution was by stoning. They could not crucify. Pilate, morally weak as he was, did not want to be the one who ordered him to be crucified, especially since he had just declared that Jesus was not guilty. Therefore, he placed the decision- making onto the Jewish leaders. However, his wording, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him” gave the Jewish leaders the green light to move forward with crucifixion.
Application
- We might ask, who put Jesus to death? Was it the Jews? Yes. Was it the Romans? Yes. Was it our sins? Yes. Was it the will of God? Yes. It is so easy for us to take for granted the free salvation wrought out for us by Christ. We would do well to meditate on the passage in Isaiah, “The Gospel Prophet,” as He describes the “suffering Servant” and once again understand the high price paid for free grace!
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge, the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities (Isa. 53:1-11).
- Once again, we must realize the danger in trying to get out of making a moral decision. Often that will lead us to make a wrong decision. This, in turn, often becomes a repeated pattern leading to a seared conscience where one is not able to discern the truth. To not decide is to decide.
- Today in our country, there are many competing standards of morality and “truth.” Much that is being done violates the law, and many political leaders do not seem to care as long as they get what they want. There is a danger that these practices may become so common that they influence our judgment. In the crowd witnessing Jesus’ trial were many who had supported Jesus in His ministry. However, as the Jewish leaders whipped up the call to “Crucify, Crucify,” they apparently were silent and only observers to the injustice
Prayer
Father, as we rehearse the unjust trial and suffering of Jesus on our behalf, we bow in humble wonder and thankfulness that this was all done for us. May I never forget the price paid for the free grace I enjoy. May I be more than an observer and one who stands for truth and speaks for truth.
In Jesus name.
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