Luke 23:13-16 13Pilate then, after calling together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people, and look, before you, after examining him, I myself did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16Therefore, after scourging him, I will release him.”
The scene shifts and returns to Pilate’s location in the Praetorium. Jesus had been beaten and abused already by this point, first by the guards of the Sanhedrin, and second by Herod’s soldiers. His suffering was not complete yet. One wonders what was going on in Pilate’s mind at this point as the people bring Jesus back to him wanted more to be done. Perhaps something like, “Here comes trouble again!” There is no surprise that the chief priests and rulers remain involved in Jesus’ demise because they were so bent on destroying him. The surprise is that people joined in. Luke does not describe who these people were, but the use of this word shows that the Jews of Jerusalem in general were involved in Jesus’ suffering. This was not just a select group of leaders but even the general population.
Pilate’s reply to the group of people shows his reluctance to carry out their wishes. Pilate only raised only one issue of the earlier accusations in verse 2: about Jesus trying to cause an insurrection or trying to mislead the people. He had made a careful interrogation, of which we only get a small part recorded in the Gospels. The Jews were challenging his assessment of the situation, but he had to maintain order. There were a lot of people in Jerusalem at that time because of the Passover. If things got out of hand, a lot of people could be hurt, and he could even lose his job or life if the Emperor caught wind of the problems. Keeping things calm and sweeping all these troubles under the rug and out of notice would be the best strategy.
Jesus was innocent and had not broken any laws. This was an internal religious affair of the Jews and not a Roman concern. Pilate’s answer was to scourge Jesus with whips and let him go. Scourging was enough to severely injure a person and could even lead to death, so this was not small slap on the wrist. Pilate’s plan was in itself a severe punishment and would have taught any person not to be involved in future trouble. But punishment by death went to far in this situation. The Romans had a good system of justice, but woe to the one who was found guilty. The account leaves the reader wondering and concluding that the “Jews,” inclusive of the leaders and general population, Jesus’ own people, were the instigators and cause of his death. Jesus came to show God’s love for them by dying for them, but so many were blind to the meaning of all that was happening. Their presuppositions and hardened hearts clouded their vision and suppressed their faith.
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