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Author: Stephen Weller
801 words, 4 minutes read time

A Very Weak Case

Scripture: Matthew 27:12; Mark 15:3; Luke 23:2; John 18:31-32

In the previous lesson we ended with Jesus before Pilate with the charge of doing evil, not a strong charge deserving of death, which they were seeking. In this lesson we will listen to the Jews try to convince Pilate that Jesus should die.

^{Jn 18:31} Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ³² This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ^{Mk 15:3} And the chief priests accused him of many things, ^{Lk 23:2} 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.” ^{Mt 27:12} [But Jesus] gave no answer.

Pilate asked the Jews what their accusation against Jesus was and their response of, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” contained no indication of anything deserving of death and thus the Jews had the authority to punish according to the crime. In desperation the Jews implied that the crime was serious enough to deserve death and that they were not able, under Roman law, to execute such a punishment.

In John 12:32-33 (ESV), Jesus said, ³² “when I am lifted up from the earth, [I] will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” This points back to John 3:14 ESV: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

To be lifted up indicates death either by crucifixion or hanging as they were considered the same because in either case the person is considered to be cursed by God. ²² “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, ²³ his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 21:22 – 23 ESV) (To hang on a cross is equivalent to hanging on a tree.) This curse is also mentioned in Galatians 3:13 ESV: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—.” If Jesus had been put to death by the Sanhedrin, he would have been stoned, the Old Testament punishment for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16). To be cursed by God, Jesus had to be crucified not stoned and only the Romans could crucify.

In addition to their accusation against Jesus the Jews told Pilate that they “found Jesus misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” Any accusation on religious grounds would be of little interest to Roman authorities, so the Jews change their charges to political ones. The first charge of “misleading our nation” would mean that Jesus was seducing the nation of Israel away loyalty to Roman, which was not true.

The second accusation of “forbidding [them] to give tribute to Caesar” is also false according to Luke 20:20-26 when Jesus asks for a denarius and said, “Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The third accusation of Jesus “saying that he himself is Christ, a king” is true, but they fail to distinguish that the kingdom he is king of is not of this world and therefore is of no threat to Caesar. Nothing in the statement made by the Jews is a worthy charge against Jesus and Pilate knows it.

Even though these accusations were wrong, Jesus refuses to say anything in his defense. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7 ESV).

Conclusion

You can feel the desperation on the part of the Jews to actually get Jesus condemned to death and actually executed. Their struggle is not over as Pilate tries to sort things out and find a way to defuse a potential uprising during Passover.