Luk 23:1-2 | KingComments | STEP | There is no one who takes the side of the Lord. They all stand up against Him and together they bring Him before Pilate (who was governor of Palestine from 26-35 AD). The Lord allows them to deal with Him without resisting or defending Himself ( ). No threatening language comes out of His mouth. His surrender into the hands of His enemies is impressive. When they stand before Pilate, the accusations come out in full force. They must and will show Pilate what a great criminal he has before him. Cunning as they are, before Pilate they do not accuse the Lord of religious transgressions, but of political transgressions. Every accusation is – how could it be otherwise – a conscious, coarse lie. The leaders of the people act solely for their own sake. People who do so use all possible means to safeguard their own interests. If the truth must perish for that, they settle with Him Who is the truth. The Lord Jesus has not misled the people anywhere, but has insisted in every preaching on submission to God. Those who in reality cannot bend under the Roman yoke and from time to time erupt in fierce resistance, are the prosecutors who stand at the forefront here to express their ‘loyalty’ to the Romans. Also that He would have forbidden to pay taxes to Caesar, is a coarse lie. They know better from the spies they sent out not so long ago. The Lord has pressed them to the heart that they will render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and no less to God the things that are God’s ( ). That He says of Himself that He is Christ, a King, is true and therefore cannot be called an accusation. This is only small compared to the blindness of the unbelief that denies their own Messiah. By the way, did He not leave them when they wanted to make Him King ( )? Pilate goes into the last accusation, because it is the only accusation that is of interest to him. He asks the Lord a question about this. He does not ask whether He is a King, but whether He is “the King of the Jews”. That is not how the Jews want to call Him, but Pilate does so. The Lord answers his question in the affirmative. After everything Pilate has heard from both the chief priests and the Lord, he comes to the conclusion that he cannot find guilt in “this man”. The expression ‘man’ for the Lord Jesus emphasizes that it is about Him as the true Man of God. It is the first testimony of the innocence of “this man” of the six testimonies of it in this chapter ( ). He is the Sinless One. He is innocent and so Pilate should have let the Lord go. He doesn’t do that. He knows the feelings of the people and their rebelliousness. That is why he operates carefully, taking care not to do anything they necessarily don’t want to happen. The leaders of the hate campaign have no intention of accepting Pilate’s statement. They bring forward that the Lord by His teachings sets the people against Roman authority. And, they underline, this is not an incident. This dangerous Man has been doing this for a long time and everywhere. He started it in Galilee and continued it in Judea. His influence is great, and so He must be silenced forever.

‏ Luke 23:1-2

Before Pilate

There is no one who takes the side of the Lord. They all stand up against Him and together they bring Him before Pilate (who was governor of Palestine from 26-35 AD). The Lord allows them to deal with Him without resisting or defending Himself (Isa 53:7). No threatening language comes out of His mouth. His surrender into the hands of His enemies is impressive.

When they stand before Pilate, the accusations come out in full force. They must and will show Pilate what a great criminal he has before him. Cunning as they are, before Pilate they do not accuse the Lord of religious transgressions, but of political transgressions.

Every accusation is – how could it be otherwise – a conscious, coarse lie. The leaders of the people act solely for their own sake. People who do so use all possible means to safeguard their own interests. If the truth must perish for that, they settle with Him Who is the truth.

The Lord Jesus has not misled the people anywhere, but has insisted in every preaching on submission to God. Those who in reality cannot bend under the Roman yoke and from time to time erupt in fierce resistance, are the prosecutors who stand at the forefront here to express their ‘loyalty’ to the Romans.

Also that He would have forbidden to pay taxes to Caesar, is a coarse lie. They know better from the spies they sent out not so long ago. The Lord has pressed them to the heart that they will render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and no less to God the things that are God’s (Lk 20:20-25). That He says of Himself that He is Christ, a King, is true and therefore cannot be called an accusation. This is only small compared to the blindness of the unbelief that denies their own Messiah. By the way, did He not leave them when they wanted to make Him King (Jn 6:15)?

Pilate goes into the last accusation, because it is the only accusation that is of interest to him. He asks the Lord a question about this. He does not ask whether He is a King, but whether He is “the King of the Jews”. That is not how the Jews want to call Him, but Pilate does so. The Lord answers his question in the affirmative.

After everything Pilate has heard from both the chief priests and the Lord, he comes to the conclusion that he cannot find guilt in “this man”. The expression ‘man’ for the Lord Jesus emphasizes that it is about Him as the true Man of God. It is the first testimony of the innocence of “this man” of the six testimonies of it in this chapter (Lk 23:4 ; 14 ; 15 ; 22 ; 41 ; 47).

He is the Sinless One. He is innocent and so Pilate should have let the Lord go. He doesn’t do that. He knows the feelings of the people and their rebelliousness. That is why he operates carefully, taking care not to do anything they necessarily don’t want to happen.

The leaders of the hate campaign have no intention of accepting Pilate’s statement. They bring forward that the Lord by His teachings sets the people against Roman authority. And, they underline, this is not an incident. This dangerous Man has been doing this for a long time and everywhere. He started it in Galilee and continued it in Judea. His influence is great, and so He must be silenced forever.