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John

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Day 293

John 19:1-16 (Matthew 27:19) "ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO EDUCATE PILATE"

Day 293 – John 19

ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO EDUCATE PILATE

The Jews understood the subtle way in which Pilate was communicating with them. They knew that according to the Roman law Pilate could not pass the death sentence on Jesus! Nevertheless the Jews determined that Jesus must be executed. Perhaps Pilate could do with a “crash-course” in the Jewish laws.

“The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law,
and according to our law He ought to die,
because He made Himself the Son of God.'”
John 19:7

Pilate had been given various “reasons” as to why he must pass judgment concerning Jesus and condemn Him to death. Let’s take a look at the different reasons put forward to Pilate. We need to examine the different Gospel texts to obtain a more comprehensive idea.

1. Matthew

Pilate was amazed at the number of accusations the Jews leveled against Jesus. He said,

“Do You not hear how many things they testify
against You?”
Matthew 27:13

2. Mark

Mark made a similar observation.

“And the chief priests accused Him of many things,
but He answered nothing.”
Mark 15:3

3. Luke

While Matthew and Mark mentioned that the Jews accused Jesus of “many things” they were not stated. Luke wrote down some of these accusations.

“We found this fellow perverting the nation,
and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying
that He Himself is Christ, a king.”
Luke 23:2

He went on to add the following:-

“He stirs up the people, teaching throughout
all Judea beginning from Galilee to this place.”
Luke 23:5

4. John

John recorded the most telling of all the accusations hurled against Jesus.

“… according to our law He ought to die,
Because He made Himself the Son of God.”
John 19:7

CATEGORIZING THE ACCUSATIONS MADE AGAINST JESUS

For better comprehension, we may divide the accusations made against Jesus into a few categories.

1. Possible Political implications

a) “Perverting the nation” Luke 23:2
b) “Forbidding to pay taxes” Luke 23:2
c) Claim of being “A King” Luke 23:2
d) “He stirs up the people” Luke 23:5

2. Obvious Religious implications

a) “That He Himself is Christ” Luke 23:2
b) “He made Himself the Son of God” John 19:7

Pilate would of course have to examine whether Jesus had indeed broken the Roman laws. Had He truly perverted the nation and stirred up the people against Rome? Had He taught the multitudes not to pay taxes to Rome? Did Jesus have any political ambitions?

The investigation conducted revealed the fact that Jesus was not a real threat to Rome. Why sentence a man to death when He had done nothing worthy of the death sentence?

The religious aspect of it escaped Pilate. He would have to delve deep into the Mosaic Law to understand what the Jews were saying. There wasn’t really a specific law broken. The law that was broken by Jesus was the one called “The law of blasphemy”. The old Mosaic Law said,

“When he blasphemes the Name of the Lord
he shall be put to death.”
Leviticus 24:16b

John noted how the Jews felt when Jesus explained why He healed a lame man on the Sabbath.

“‘My Father has been working until now, and I
have been working.’ Therefore the Jews sought
all the more to kill Him, because He not only
broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was
was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”
John 5:17-18

But had Jesus indeed blasphemed? The Jews thought so! Pilate was not sure!