Jesus on trial before Pilate - Luke 23:1-25 - Bromborough Evangelical Church Wirral

It might be stretching things to say that Jesus is on trial before Pilate in these verses. For a trial you need a clear charge, witnesses, usually a defence, and an impartial judge. All those things are missing here.

What you do see is a bunch of wicked lies and a judge that is swayed by the majority shouting very loud. So a guilty and convicted criminal went free, and an innocent man was brutally executed.

All of which is probably the best news you will ever hear.

These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in November 2023. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.

Jesus was innocent (1-16)

Last time we saw the chief priests trying to find a charge against Jesus that they could take to the Romans. They heard Jesus claim to be the Son of God, and in their eyes he should be put to death for blasphemy. But they needed a different charge against him to persuade Pilate the Roman governor to have Jesus executed. Read Luke 23:1-2.

We found this man misleading our nation – deeply ironic, given that it was actually them. Jesus has shown them up for their two-faced all-for-show religion over and over.
opposing payment of taxes to Caesar – a flat lie. Jesus said we’re to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s; pay your tax
and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king – absolutely true and verifiable from the Scriptures they claimed to know so well.

The case against Jesus is shambolic and hate-filled. It still is.

There are plenty of people today who will condemn Jesus and they either don’t know why or their vague ideas are just plain wrong. People see terrible abuse done by evil people claiming Jesus’ name, and they blame Jesus. It’s often said that most wars are the fault of religion – but that’s factually incorrect, and contrary to Jesus’ teaching.

If you have objections against Jesus, at least have the decency to formulate your ideas properly and ask the right questions. Now: Pilate wasn’t a good man, but he wasn’t stupid either. Read Luke 23:3-5.

Three times in these verses, Pilate declares Jesus ‘not guilty’.

Lies and accusations

The accusers don’t want to hear it. Notice how liars work. Partly, they tell outright lies. Partly, they misrepresent the truth – as if “teaching throughout all Judea” was automatically bad. And partly through not telling the whole truth: There’s no mention of demons cast out, sick people healed, even dead people rising!

In view of those things, you can see the wickedness of Jesus’ accusers. This shouldn’t surprise you. Jesus described the time as the “hour of darkness”. And so it was. Truth extinguished; lies and evil on the rise.

Pilate sees a way out for himself. Read Luke 23:6-7.

Remember it was the time of the Passover. Everyone was in Jerusalem! In fact, that’s why Pilate was there. Normally he’d have been in Caesarea, but he would be in Jerusalem for the festivals to keep a lid on any uprising.

Silent condemnation

For Herod, this is a happy day. He’s heard about Jesus and regards him as a bit of a circus act he’d like to see. Read Luke 23:8-9.

This isn’t a court; it’s a freak show.

Why didn’t Jesus say anything? Not even in condemnation? Never lose sight that Jesus is a determined saviour of souls, going through that whole humiliation specifically to save you. Nothing could jeopardise the plan. But also, Jesus’ rebukes often have an implicit invitation to repent. His silence here is frightening. It’s judgment. And everything Herod did and said was storing up God’s wrath against him.

That’s what’s meant by the verse on our wall: “Seek the LORD while he may be found.” There comes a day when he is deaf to your cry, and refuses to speak comfort to you. A day of severity and judgment.

God won’t be mocked. The notion that you’ll pray on your deathbed is a mockery of God’s grace. You dishonour him if you think that way. Having rejected him all your life, you may find yourself rejected by him in death. Too late.

But he came to save you: Turn to God today! Seek him now! Repent of the sin that offends him, and cry to him for forgiveness. He will forgive you; he won’t turn you away today.

Herod is under judgment, and next Pilate joins him: Read Luke 23:10-12.

Joining forces against Christ

It shouldn’t surprise you to find people joining together against Christ and what he represents.

In Acts 4, Peter and John were brought before the Jewish authorities for speaking about Jesus.
- Read Acts 4:23-29. Notice a few things there:
- (a) Herod and Pilate were accountable for their sin, even though what they did was within God’s overall plans for us.
- (b) The fact that they conspired against Jesus was no surprise, because Psalm 2 predicted it.
- (c) The disciples didn’t pray for an end to opposition; they prayed for boldness to speak – and God answered by the power of the Holy Spirit in them.
That should encourage us when we see it too. E.g.:
- You’ve heard of the “LGBT community”. It’s not a community. In fact, there’s a lot of hostility between the LGB people and Trans activists.
  - But that hostility turns to unity when they conspire against any religion that calls same-sex relationships sinful.
- Another example: There will probably be a General Election next year. As Christians, you want to vote to promote the values of the kingdom of God.
  - You find that every major party has policies that directly oppose the values of God’s word.
  - There’s an assembly against God and his anointed, Jesus.

In the light of joint opposition against Christ and his church, those believers in Acts 4 show you what to do: Pray for boldness to continue to proclaim Christ! For his glory, and for the sake of those who rebel against him.

The silence of submission

Back to the trial: Read Luke 23:13-16.

For the second time (of three): Pilate declares Jesus ‘not guilty’. But he says he’ll have him whipped anyway (presumably as a ‘just in case’?). It’s so unjust. Psalm 38:19-22 ends with words that reflect Jesus’ situation – and also his response to it: But my enemies are vigorous and powerful; many hate me for no reason. Those who repay evil for good attack me for pursuing good. LORD, do not abandon me; my God, do not be far from me. Hurry to help me, my Lord, my salvation.

Throughout the events, Jesus says little.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.

Jesus had unlimited power at his disposal. And he applied himself – submitted himself – to injustice and brutality.

He did it for you. Because:

We’re all Barabbas (18-25)

Read Luke 23:18-19.

Literally, “Take this away!” – not even “him”. Their treatment of Jesus is like that of an unclean animal. The other gospel writers tell us that it was a custom of the Passover for the Roman governor to release a prisoner. Amazingly, the people ask for Barabbas to be released.

It’s a bizarre twist: Firstly, Jesus is only on trial. The judge (Pilate) has already declared him ‘not guilty’ twice. Barabbas is convicted. It’s not a straight swap. Worse, Barabbas was actually guilty of the kind of crimes the Jewish authorities were trying to pin on Jesus.

Make no mistake: Pilate was wicked to give in to them. He played politics, when he should have applied justice. Read Luke 23:20-22.

There’s the third time: ‘No grounds for the death penalty.’ The crowd don’t care. They want blood. If you don’t see our own culture right there then you’re not paying attention. They might not shout “Crucify!” But you will hear “Cancel!” Lives and careers wiped out, forgiveness impossible, no way back. The unwillingness to look properly into Jesus, the Bible, the Christian faith is staggering. For a society that prides itself on science and tolerance, the blanket opposition to God demonstrates wickedness and blindness.

Jesus was not guilty. He was an innocent man.

A Good Day for Barabbas

It turned out to be a good day for Barabbas: Read Luke 23:23-25. Jesus couldn’t be crucified as guilty, but he was because Pilate gave in to the crowd’s demands. And an innocent man was crucified, while a guilty man went free.

Praise God, that is the very heart of the gospel right there.

The gospel of Jesus Christ hinges on what is sometimes called penal substitutionary atonement (forgive the long words!).

You have sinned against God.
That means you’ve chosen not to do good (as he defines it), but to go your own way.
- He gave you life. He sustains you.
- You live in a beautiful world. His world.
- But you’d rather he didn’t exist or hold you to account
The penalty for your sin is death – separation from life – both this life, and from God in the next.
You can’t atone for your sins (make up for them), by doing more good. That isn’t justice.
The only way your sins can be atoned for is for the penalty for your sins to be paid.
This is the Good News: Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world to die in your place.
- His death is substitutionary; he’s instead of you.
- His death atones for your sin, because he has taken your punishment.
- And so his death is penal – it’s a penalty, a punishment for your sins.
Penal substitutionary atonement.

But for that to work, Jesus must be wholly innocent of everything. If he had sinned at all, he’d need to be punished (to die) for his own sin.

The statement “Jesus was innocent” is heavily loaded.

If there’s a glimmer of doubt about his complete innocence, he can’t die in your place – you will die to hell for your own sin.

Complete innocence

Herod and Pilate found no guilt in him, but is that enough?

There’s more evidence even than their declarations:

Remember: Jesus’ accusers struggled to get a charge together – they had no case to bring and had to cook something up.
When they did bring their 3 charges to Pilate, 2 of them were lies and 1 was that Jesus claimed to be Christ! That would only be a crime if it weren’t true.
Notice that Judas wasn’t called to testify. What might he have said? “Jesus was a good man who went about teaching righteousness, healing the sick, driving out demons, making the lame walk, the blind see, the dead rise.” – Nothing bad to say, as there was nothing.
It’s the repeated claim of the New Testament that Jesus was guilty of no sin:
1. He who knew no sin became sin for us.
2. He was tempted in every way as we are but was without sin.

Animals sacrificed in the Old Testament could atone in part and allow a sinful person to approach a holy God. But Jesus’ sacrifice was clean flesh and a guilt-free conscience – a completely pure and perfect offering – wholly in your place. Your guilt is atoned for. All of it. The charge sheet against you was nailed to the cross.

Someone might ask, “So that’s it? Your sins don’t matter?” But they matter very much; Jesus was punished.

Full atonement – can it be? Only because Jesus was completely and utterly sinless all his life.

Barabbas was a guilty man who walked free that day.

Jesus was the innocent man punished unjustly, literally taking the place of the sinner Barabbas. And we’re all Barabbas!

As you call out to God, confessing your sin and asking for forgiveness, you’re trusting that you won’t be held accountable for your sin any more: Jesus has been punished in your place.