Luk 23:1-25 | TNotes | STEP | 23:1 The council did not have the right to administer capital punishment (John 18:31 ), so they had to take Jesus before the Roman governor , who was in Jerusalem to maintain order during the potentially turbulent Passover festival.

23:1 ^a The council did not have the right to administer capital punishment (John 18:31 ^b), so they had to take Jesus before the Roman governor, who was in Jerusalem to maintain order during the potentially turbulent Passover festival.
23:2 ^c The religious charges against Jesus were now replaced by political ones in order to gain a Roman conviction. Pilate was only interested in what concerned Rome. The Jewish charge of blasphemy would not be sufficient, so the council had to show that Jesus was a danger to Rome. They accused Jesus of inciting insurrection against Roman taxation and claiming to be a king. All but the last charge were false.
23:3 ^d You have said it: This is the same vague answer that Jesus gave to the high council (22:70 ^e), emphasizing Jesus’ acceptance of the title “king of the Jews” but suggesting that Pilate’s understanding of the title was different from his own.
23:4 ^f I find nothing wrong with this man! To Pilate, Jesus did not seem to be a political threat.
23:5 ^g he is causing riots: This accusation was also false, but the religious leaders knew that Pilate feared civil unrest and revolt against Rome.
Summary for Luke 23:6-7: 23:6-7 ^h Realizing that Jesus was a Galilean and thus under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, Pilate saw an opportunity to get out of this sticky situation without condemning an innocent man or angering the religious leaders.
23:8 ⁱ Herod was delighted: He was curious about Jesus’ power as a miracle worker and religious teacher, just as he had been curious about John the Baptist (9:7 ^j, 9 ^k; Mark 6:20 ^l).
23:9 ^m Jesus refused to answer: See Isa 53:7 ⁿ.
23:12 ^o Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before: There was a history of bad blood between Herod Antipas and Pilate. Herod and three of his brothers had previously brought charges against Pilate before Tiberius Caesar when Pilate set up idolatrous golden shields in Jerusalem, and Tiberius had ordered Pilate to remove the shields. Pilate was also governing Judea, which Antipas’s father, Herod the Great, had once ruled, and which Antipas hoped one day to claim as his own.
Summary for Luke 23:14-15: 23:14-15 ^p Pilate and Herod repeatedly declared Jesus innocent (23:4 ^q, 22 ^r)—Jesus was the righteous and innocent suffering servant of the Lord (see also 23:41 ^s, 47 ^t; Isa 53:11 ^u).
Summary for Luke 23:16-18: 23:16-18 ^v I will have him flogged (or I will teach him a lesson!): The Greek word can mean “instruct,” “punish,” or “discipline”; it refers to a relatively mild whipping given for lesser offenses. It was different from the severe flogging that Romans gave in preparation for crucifixion (see Matt 27:26 ^w; Mark 15:15 ^x).
23:19 ^y Palestine was a breeding ground for insurrection in the decades leading up to the Jewish revolt of AD 66–74. The Jewish historian Josephus describes a series of first-century revolutionaries, such as Judas of Galilee, who opposed Roman rule and taxation (see also Acts 5:36-37 ^z).
23:24 ^aa So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die: Pilate, always the ruthless pragmatist, felt that it was worth a miscarriage of justice to avoid antagonizing the religious leaders and crowds and jeopardizing his political career (see John 19:12 ^ab and corresponding study note).