Matthew 27:11-25 - Homiletics

Christ before Pilate.

I. THE ACCUSATION .

1 . Pilate ' s question. Pilate was proud and cruel; he despised and hated the Jews. But he had something of the old Roman love of justice—he would not condemn the Lord unheard, as the Jews at first desired ( John 18:30 , John 18:31 ). He rejected their request contemptuously, "Take ye him, and judge him according to your Law." They kept back at first the charge of blasphemy, which they knew Pilate would dismiss at once, as Gallio afterwards dismissed a similar accusation. They invented fresh charges in their cruel injustice—charges which would, they thought, force Pilate to act as they wished. "We found this fellow," they said, "perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a King." The first two charges were utterly and manifestly false; the third had some show of truth. Pilate put the question to the accused, "Art thou the King of the Jews?"

2 . The Lord ' s answer. "Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest." It is an emphatic affirmation; he was the King of the Jews; he is the King of the Israel of God. At his nativity the Wise Men came from the East, asking, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" At the beginning of his ministry he permitted Nathanael to address him as the King of Israel; at his solemn entry into Jerusalem he would not listen to the Pharisees when they bade him rebuke those who were welcoming him as "the King that cometh in the Name of the Lord." He would not conceal the great and solemn truth; but neither would he leave Pilate in ignorance of the true nature of his claims. "My kingdom is not of this world," he said ( John 18:36 ). Pilate understood the hollowness of the charge of sedition; he was not deceived by the clamour of the Jews, "If thou let this Man go, thou art not Caesar's friend; whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." He understood enough of the Lord's words and position to feel that the kingdom which he claimed was of a spiritual character, not opposed to the rule of Caesar; he felt that the accusation was false and malicious.

3 . The Lord ' s silence. He had answered Pilate; he would not answer the false charges of the chief priests and elders. Pilate had some sense of justice; they had none. Their one object was to compass his death; they cared not for truth or justice, but only for the accomplishment of their wicked purpose. They brought charge alter charge, all alike untrue. The Saviour heeded them not. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth." He stood before them in calm majestic silence. Pilate, anxious, it seems, to hear his defence, pressed him to answer; but still "he answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly." He had never seen such a Prisoner before, so calm and collected in the immediate prospect of a death of agony, so meek and yet so dignified; he felt the nobleness of Christ, and he strove to deliver him.

II. JESUS OR BARABBAS .

1 . The choice offered to the Jews. Pilate was, as St. Peter afterwards said ( Acts 3:13 ), determined to let the Saviour go. He tried every expedient. At first he declined to hear the case: "Take ye him, and judge him."' Then, when forced to hear it, he declared himself convinced of his innocence: "I find in him no fault at all." Then he sent him to Herod. Now he appeals to the people, hoping, perhaps, that they would reverse the judgment of the chief priests, or possibly wishing to shift the responsibility of the decision from himself. He was ready, according to custom at the Passover, to release a prisoner. There was a prisoner called Barabbas, probably a mere robber and murderer ( Acts 3:14 ); possibly, as some have thought, a leader of a band of patriots, who sought to do what Christ was accused of seeking—to put down the Roman power and to restore the Jewish kingdom. Pilate waited till a multitude was gathered together. He gave them the choice between the two prisoners—Jesus the Christ or Barabbas the robber. He had heard, perhaps had seen, how the Lord had been welcomed into the city five days before; he thought that the people would ask for his release, and that so he should be saved from the ungrateful task of condemning One whom he knew to be innocent.

2 . Pilate ' s wife. She had had a dream that morning. She saw in a vision the holy and innocent Saviour. It may be she saw his awful sufferings; it may be she saw him in his majesty sitting on the throne of his glory to judge the world. Whatever the dream was, it caused her much anxiety. She sent at once to Pilate. He was sitting on the judgment seat, awaiting the decision of the multitude. The message was, "Have thou nothing to do with that just Man." It seems, then, that something was known of the Lord Jesus in the household of Pilate. The governor had heard, perhaps, of his miracles; probably of the great influence which he had possessed in Galilee. He had heard also of his innocence; he was no leader of sedition, no conspirator against Caesar. Pilate's with had no hesitation, no fears of consequences, such as her husband had. She bade him deliver the falsely accused, the Innocent One. Happy would it have been for him if he had followed her advice!

3 . Barabbas chosen . The people, left to themselves, might, perhaps, have chosen rightly. We are not told what was the composition of the crowd; whether there was a large Galilaean element in it; whether or no many were present out of those great multitudes which had received the Lord on Palm Sunday with so much enthusiasm. Some of them, surely, must have been there; they must at least have felt an interest in the fate of One who a few days ago had been so conspicuous; curiosity, if no better motive, would have brought them there. But however this may have been, the chief priests and rulers, who ought to have guided the people aright, led them astray. They mingled with the crowd, they stirred them, they appealed to their Jewish prejudices, they used all the arts of persuasion; and they succeeded in turning the current of popular opinion. The voice of the people is by no means always the voice of God. Crowds are apt to be led by sudden impulse, by a cry, by ignorant party spirit. Alas! for a nation, when its clergy or its chief men guide it into error. The chief priests must have been astonished at the rapidity the completeness of their own success . Five days before, the Pharisees had "said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him." But now, when after a pause for consideration, the governor put the question to the multitude, "Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?" they all said, "Barabbas." They denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto them. And when Pilate asked again, "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" the fierce cruel answer burst from the crowd, "Let him be crucified!" It was the first mention of the cross, save in the prophetic language of the Lord himself. It was known, perhaps, that that fearful punishment awaited Barabbas and the two other malefactors; and the chief priests, it may be, thought that by bringing about that mode of death they would both satisfy their own cruel hatred and exhibit the Lord as a raiser of sedition, a conspirator against the Roman government. The question had shown Pilate's want of courage. A judge should not devolve his responsibility upon the populace. He made now a weak attempt to check the violence of the crowd. "What evil hath he done?" he asked. But the fierce cry only gathered fresh strength. Stimulated alike by the persuasions of the chief priests, by the faint opposition of Pilate, and by the excitement of numbers and noise, it became every minute more and more violent and menacing, "Crucify him! crucify him!"

4 . Pilate washes his hands. His defence of the Lord had been only half-hearted. He knew that he was absolutely innocent; he evidently had some vague undefined awe of him. He would have saved him if he could have done so without endangering himself. But Pilate feared a Jewish mob. It was at all times formidable, but especially so at the seasons of the great national festivals. His previous experience gave him reason to fear an accusation at Rome. He began to yield; but he made a weak attempt to throw the responsibility of the crime upon the people. He washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person: see ye to it." He thus at the same moment pronounced the innocence of the Accused, and his own guilt; for by this symbolical action he declared that it was out of fear of the people that he delivered Jesus to their will. Cowardice often leads to guilt. Very earnestly we ought to pray for holy courage and strength of purpose to persevere in the path of rectitude . Pilate, who despised the Jews, now used a significant act prescribed on certain occasions by the Mosaic Law ( Deuteronomy 21:6 , Deuteronomy 21:7 ), and shared apparently some of the feelings which led the Jews to attach so much importance to ceremonial washings. But as the outward washings of the Jews could not cleanse the heart, so Pilate's act could not remove the guilt which rested on him. He condemned the Innocent through selfish fear; his hands were full of blood. No mere outward rite can purge the soul. There is only one fountain opened for sin and uncleanness—the precious blood of Christ, which applied by faith can cleanse the conscience and make the penitent sinner whiter than snow. The people understood the meaning of Pilate. They were willing, in their wild infatuation, to take the guilt upon themselves; they answered and said, "His blood be on us, and on our children!" A fearful imprecation, and fearfully fulfilled. Some doubtless of those who uttered it, very many of their children, were sharers of the dreadful calamities which attended the siege and capture of Jerusalem less than forty years afterwards. They had said, "His blood be on us!" the streets of Jerusalem were deluged in blood. They had cried, "Crucify him! crucify him!" they perished in thousands by the cross. Still the guilt of his blood rests on that outcast race; and only that blood can wash away the stain. For the blood of Christ could cleanse even those who shed it. It is "the one full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." It could cleanse Pilate, Caiaphas, the fierce bloodthirsty multitude, the Roman soldiers, who indeed were obeying the orders of the governor, but plainly took an evil pleasure in the cruel deed. "His blood be on us!" the crowd shouted in their frenzy. The guilt of that blood must rest even now in a greater or less degree upon all who sin wilfully against the light of the knowledge of Christ; who, knowing what the Lord most holy suffered for them, live as though the cross had never been, as though the blessed Saviour had never suffered there for them that they might live. And the holy influence of that blood is upon the hearts of those who come to Christ in faith and love, who live under the shadow of the cross, walking in the royal way of the cross, seeking ever to realize in all its depth and fulness the precious and stupendous truth that "the Son of God loved me, and gave himself for me." Pirate knew that that blood was innocent blood; but he knew not its sanctity and exceeding preciousness. He quailed before the wild clamour of the multitude; he gave sentence that it should be as they required; and he released Barabbas unto them, whom they had desired.

LESSONS .

1 . Silence is sometimes golden. The Lord was silent amid false accusations. Let us learn of him.

2 . Selfish fear often leads to great sin. Pray for holy courage.

3 . The favour of the multitude is uncertain. Trust not in popularity,

4. We must wash our hands in innocency. Outward rites will not cleanse the impure soul.