Matthew 27:11-26

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Introduction

Jesus Before Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

In our last time together, at the outset of chapter 27, we looked at Matthew’s brief story of Judas’ demise after betraying Jesus. However, Matthew began in verses 1-2 by introducing Pontius Pilate, and saying,

27 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.

So, when we reach verse 11 Matthew is picking up where he left off in verse 2 when he introduced Pontius Pilate. Now one of the reasons Matthew interrupts the timeline of Jesus’ trial to discuss Judas is to drive home the point that Jesus is innocent. The story of Judas’ remorse for betraying Jesus is rooted in his conviction that he has betrayed innocent blood, and I think it’s one of Matthew’s aims for us to notice this. And more than that, when Matthew returns to verse 11, back to Jesus’ trial before Pilate, we’ll see that Matthew highlights aspects of the trial which emphasize Jesus’ innocence.
As we’ve walked through Matthew’s Gospel the last few years we’ve repeatedly relied upon the other Gospels (Mark, Luke, and John), to bring additional clarity and insight to our study of Matthew, because much of what Matthew writes is also included in the other Gospels. However, the other authors often include different details than the others, which often gives gives us a fuller picture of the events of Jesus’ ministry, and it’s also true that the differences between these Gospel accounts is by design. Each author has an audience in mind, and therefore goes to great lengths to emphasize and highlight certain aspects of Jesus’ ministry where the other writers might not, and so I believe it is here.
As I mentioned in our last time, the story of Judas hanging himself, for instance, is only included in Matthew’s Gospel, therefore we should ask ourselves why. Why is that? And similarly, while the story of Jesus’ trial before Pilate is found in all four Gospel accounts, Matthew includes at least two elements that are not at all found in the other Gospels. And both of those unique elements emphasize Jesus’ innocence. Matthew is the only Gospel writer to include the story of Pilate’s wife pleading with him to have nothing to do with “that righteous man,” that she had suffered much because of him in a dream. Matthew is also the only Gospel writer to include the story of Pilate’s famous handwashing, when it says he washed his hands before the crowd, saying “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” In other words, Pilate wanted no part in the Sanhedrin's effort to put an innocent man to death.
So as we walk through verses 11-26 I want you to keep this in mind, that central to Jesus’ trial before Pilate is that an innocent man is being condemned. That an innocent man had been betrayed by one of his closest disciples, that an innocent man was condemned by Israel’s chief priests, and that an innocent man will be condemned to crucifixion by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

Changing accusations

That being said, let’s begin there in verse 11,

Jesus Before Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.”

Now, at first, notice Pilate’s question. It has nothing to do with what the Jewish Sanhedrin had condemned Jesus for earlier that morning, it has nothing to do with blasphemy. To the Jews they were deeply concerned with blasphemy, to speak of God or sacred things (like the Temple) in a profane manner was deserving of death, and this was the reason they demanded a hearing before Pilate, because he was the only government official with the authority to carry out capital punishment. However, they most assuredly knew that the accusation of blasphemy wouldn’t carry any weight with their Roman governor.
So, when they bring Jesus before Pilate their charges against him begin to morph, the chief priests alter their reasoning for Jesus deserving death. In fact, in Luke 23:1-2, we see this more clearly, it says,

23 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, 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.”

You see, the Jews were fully aware that in order to compel Pilate to put Jesus to death they were going to have to charge him with crimes that Pilate will find punishable by death. So all of a sudden the chief priests, who were otherwise mortal enemies of Pilate and Rome, are now claiming to bring a man to him who’s preventing them from giving tribute to Caesar, that this Jesus has become a threat to Caesar himself by claiming to be a king. In other words, their accusations are meant to portray Jesus as a threat to Rome and by extension Pilate himself. And just like that, the Jews are beginning to sound a lot like Roman allies.

“You have said so.”

So after Jesus is brought to Pilate outside his palace, and the Jews have brought their accusations against him, John’s tell us in his Gospel that Pilate retreated back into his palace and called Jesus to himself and asked him this question that we see here in Matthew, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And Jesus answered him, “You have said so.”
Now, if you were here when we looked at Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas and the Jewish Sanhedrin you may recall that when Caiaphas, the high priest, demanded that Jesus tell them if he was the Christ, that Jesus answered him in very much the same way, he simply said, “You have said so,” and then proceeded to go on to explain himself. And if you remember Jesus answered him this way because to him the high priest was asking a loaded question, and so it is the case here again.
Pilate’s question, whether knowingly or unknowingly, contained all sorts of assumptions within it, that Jesus would not have ascribed to or agreed with. For instance, Pilate’s idea of what it meant to be the “King of the Jews” would have been different than how Jesus understood himself as a king. That his kingdom was not of this world, that his kingdom was not like the earthly kingdoms or kings that Pilate would’ve had in view, so it would have been impossible to answer him accurately without explanation and qualification. In fact, in John’s Gospel (chapter 18), Jesus does go on to explain and qualify his answer, and there when Pilate asks him, “So, are you a king?” John records Jesus as saying, “You say that I’m a king.” That is to say, “Yes, but those are your words.”

He gave no answer

Yet Matthew doesn’t spend time to include Jesus’ explanation here, instead he intends for us to notice something else, he goes on there in verse 12, saying,

12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now, I want you to notice a couple of points about this text, the first is that it’s hard not to see the connection between Jesus’ actions here and Isaiah’s servant song in Isaiah 53:7, describing Israel’s future Messiah, when he wrote,

7  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.

One of the most painful experiences that all of us can probably attest to at some point in our lives is false accusation. To be falsely accused of something can be quite painful, to have your reputation maligned in public, or punished for something that you didn’t do. In fact, it can be so painful that it’s almost impossible to refrain from defending yourself. Which is what makes Jesus’ silence here so profound. Yet, he goes as the Scriptures foretold, “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.”

Entrusting our lives to him who judges justly

And I think, it’s at this point, we can learn something from Jesus’ silence. If you would, turn with me for a moment to 1 Peter chapter 2, starting in verse 18. There, Peter is talking about submitting to authority and enduring sorrows while suffering unjustly. He says there, starting in verse 18,

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Now, Peter isn’t saying that there isn’t a time and a place to defend yourself, but he’s saying that the overarching tenor of your life ought to look like the example that Jesus has set for us, that when he suffered for doing good he continued not by reviling those who reviled him, but by entrusting himself to him who judges justly. That at the end of the day, he entrusted himself to God. Therefore, Jesus’ example to us is that we too should find rest by entrusting our lives to him who judges justly.

Pilate is amazed

And the second point that I want you to see is that even Pilate seemed to notice this. He’s surprised that Jesus is unwilling to defend himself, so much so that he says there in verse 13, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” Why are you not interested in defending yourself? And while Pilate could have taken Jesus’ silence as an admission of guilt, instead verse 14 says that he was “greatly amazed.” Jesus’ silence seemed to lend to his innocence by Pilate’s estimation.

Jesus or Barabbas

Then continue with me there in verse 15,

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”

Now, it’s at this point in the story that Pilate seems to become acutely aware of what the chief priests have set out to do. He comes to realize he’s being manipulated, that they’re accusing Jesus of the kinds of crimes that would compel him to put Jesus to death. Look again there at verse 18, “for he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.” In other words, he realized that this had nothing to do with whether or not Jesus was deserving of death, but rather the religious leaders envied Jesus, they saw Jesus as their rival, that Jesus was a threat to their authority, and that they were seeking to destroy him by compelling their governor to put him to death for them.
And you can imagine how Pilate would have felt about the Jews manipulating his judgments within his own court, especially when he realized that this situation boiled down to an internal dispute amongst the Jews, rather than a genuine threat to Roman authority. Not to mention that even his wife had since begun to urge him to have nothing to do with this righteous man, that she had suffered much because of him in a dream.

Leveraging the crowd

And so he attempts to push back against their plot. He assumes the crowd, who had accompanied the chief priests, could be used against them as leverage to have Jesus released, or his sentence lessened. Now, you might ask, how could the crowd be leveraged against the religious leaders? Well, Jesus had become quite popular with the people, in fact, it’s the reason the religious leaders hated him so much. You might recall, when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey the crowds greeted him with adoration, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And then in John 12:19, the apostle records the Pharisees as saying to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
So Pilate attempts to leverage the crowd, whom he assumes could be used as an obstacle against the schemes of the chief priests. And he does this by offering to free Jesus instead of a criminal known as Barabbas. And, we have to realize that his release was probably decided prior to Jesus’ trial, it was probably planned, so what Pilate is offering the people is that if they would like, he’d be willing to release Jesus instead of Barabbas.
Now, that might seem like an easy decision for the crowd to make, I mean who wants a criminal running around in Jerusalem again? But when you look closely at how the Gospels describe Barabbas you realize that he’s not necessarily just a common criminal that the Jews would have been happy to see in prison, but rather he was probably an insurrectionist, that he was in prison for instigating, or being a part of a rebellion against Rome, therefore it’s likely that he would have been seen as a hero. And under normal circumstances, we’re told here that it was Pilate’s custom to release a prisoner like Barabbas during the Passover Feast in order to curry favor with the people. So by offering to release Jesus instead of Barabbas, Pilate was putting into jeopardy the efforts of the religious leaders to have Jesus killed. All of a sudden it was up to the crowd to decide Jesus’ fate!

Pilate’s efforts thwarted

But then we read beginning there in verse 20,

20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate’s efforts to spoil their plan had failed, and we’re told that the chief priests and the elders were able to persuade the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. And we see there in verse 23 Pilate’s last ditch effort to resist them, “And he said, ‘Why? What evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Let him be crucified?’”
Now, I mentioned at the outset, one of Matthew’s objectives in his accounting of these events was to emphasize that Jesus is innocent, and he does that repeatedly, first, with his account of Judas hanging himself for betraying innocent blood, second, with Pilate’s wife and her dream that Pilate should avoid having anything to do with this righteous man, third, Pilate’s judgement that Jesus is innocent here in verse 23, and finally, by Pilate’s symbolic handwashing, and saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” indicating that he wanted the Jews to know that they were responsible for killing an innocent man.

Pilate’s feud with the Jews

However, I don’t think we should be left thinking that Pilate is somehow the good guy in this story, despite some having come to that conclusion over the centuries. In fact, some have even enshrined him and his wife as saints in church history. But I don’t think the text bears that out, instead we see Pilate not concerned with killing an innocent man, but rather concerned with being manipulated by the Jews. The Jews wanted Jesus put to death, but after Pilate realized he was being used to carry our their desires he wanted nothing to do with it. And he used Jesus’ innocence as merely a tool in his effort to push back against religious leaders.
Notice what he says there in verse 24,

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”

In other words, when he realized that he wasn’t going to win this feud with the Jews he relented, he realized it wasn’t worth it, that he wasn’t gaining anything, but that it was only going to lead to a riot. And at the end of the day, self-preservation was more important to him than risking an uprising. And I would even argue that his symbolic gesture of washing his hands of Jesus’ blood was simply his last effort at trying to get at the Jews.
And Matthew record’s their response there in verses 25-26,

25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

It’s as if they can feel the sting of Pilate’s comments, that the blood of an innocent man is on their hands, and so they angrily respond in kind, saying that it doesn’t bother them, in fact, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
There comments are absolutely cringe-worthy, and when you realize what they’re saying you almost wince when you read it. Their blood-lust for Jesus to be crucified had boiled over, and they were devoid of any sober understanding of the consequences that would eventually come upon them.

Conclusion

And if you were here when we walked through Matthew chapters 23 and 24 you may recall Jesus’ severe rebuke of the Pharisees at the end of the chapter 23, and his prophecy in chapter 24 of Jerusalem’s destruction, even in their own generation. As we close, turn with me to Matthew 23, starting in verse 29, Jesus wraps up his rebuke by saying,

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

And so it would be Jesus’ crucifixion that would be the culmination of Israel’s murderous history of extinguishing God’s prophets. And that climax would eventually result in the destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple in 70 AD.
Now, before we close I want to make one final point. Interestingly, in one of the earlier Greek manuscripts of Matthew it appears that Barabbas was actually this man’s last name, and that his first name was ironically, Jesus. And while we don’t know if this was a copyist error or what, we get this picture here in chapter 27 that when Jesus is before Pilate and Pilate offers to the crowd to release either Barabbas or Jesus of Nazareth, the crowd chooses the criminal. They decided they would rather have the criminal than their Messiah, and I think this is particularly emblematic of the human condition. When offered Christ, we would rather have our sin, because of our sinful nature Jesus is not naturally precious to us. And apart from the saving work of Christ, man is hopelessly dead in his sin, but the good news is, we haven’t been left without hope, Christ has come and he offers us hope, he offers us salvation from our sin. That all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That we might be given eternal life.

Prayer

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