Jesus
Goes Before the Authorities
[Luke
chapter 23, verses 1-12]
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After
taking a break for Thanksgiving last week, I'd just like to say it's
good to be back, and I thank God for restoring and refreshing me
during my time of rest. I hope everyone did as well as I did, if not
better! Two weeks ago when we finished up chapter 22, Jesus had just
been brought before the Jewish authorities after being arrested by
them in the middle of the night, something law enforcement has always
been noted for. This week as we continue with part 1 of chapter 23,
we find Jesus being brought before Pontius Pilate, who in turn sends
our soon-to-be-risen Savior to King Herod for jurisdictional reasons.
So let's get started with this week's lesson beginning at verse one.
“Then
the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began
accusing him, saying, 'We have found this man subverting our nation.
He opposes paying taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.'
So Pilate asked Jesus, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' Yes, it is as
you say,' Jesus replied. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests
and to the crowd, 'I find no basis for a charge against this man.'
But they insisted, 'He stirs up the people all over Judea by his
teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.' Upon
hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned
that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was
also in Jerusalem at the time.” (Luke 23, verses 1-7)
So
at this point Jesus has just made his court appearance before the
Temple ruling body and quickly found 'guilty' of allegedly pretending
to be the Messiah found in their own scriptures. As before, these
scriptures were the Law and the prophets of old, what we now call the
Old Testament, or what Jewish people call the Torah (pronounced
Tor-AAH in Hebrew). The Temple authorities and chief priests,
together with the Temple Guard who were presumably still there
guarding Jesus, then brought him before Pilate to have Jesus charged
with fomenting a revolt. They also bore additional false testimony,
saying Jesus was opposed to taxation. Yet Christ had already said,
“Then pay unto
Caesar what is Caesar, and unto God what is God's.”
(Luke 20: 25) But under Roman law at that time, this still evidently
carried insufficient weight to even consider any prosecution.
“....'I
find no basis for a charge against this man.' But they insisted, 'He
stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in
Galilee and has come all the way here.'”
As before, Pilate reminded the crowd of Jesus' accusers that the
teachings of Christ did not legally constitute an insurrection
against the Roman Empire. Then Herod sends Jesus to King Herod, who
was king over Judea where Galilee was located, and who was the son of
the elder King Herod, who had all the first-born male children under
age 2 killed in Matthew chapter 2, verses 12-18. The irony of this is
strikingly inescapable! The son of King Herod I, Herod II, was going
to get an opportunity to prosecute Jesus under the law. To call this
a conflict of interest would be a huge understatement! Herod II must
have figured out that his father had not succeeded several decades
before, and that Jesus had somehow escaped his father's 'baby
dragnet'. So Herod II may have viewed this as an opportunity to
avenge his deceased father. Now let's move on to the second half of
today's study, beginning at verse 8.
“When
Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a very long time
he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he
hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many
questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and
teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.
Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in
an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and
Pilate became friends – before that they were enemies.” (Luke 23,
verses 8-12)
Based
on the apostle Luke's narrative here, king Herod II saw Jesus as some
kind of guru who would willingly perform for him in the hope of
possibly being set free. The young Herod clearly had no clue as to
the true identity of our Lord and Savior. But it was then that Herod
found out why Jesus never came to see him, even though he had
apparently extended an invitation that had been ongoing for at least
a year or two. “He
plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.”
All right, I'm sure you all remember the “Miranda rights” –
'you have the right to remain silent', etc. in the event someone gets
arrested? This passage of scripture is the basis for that legal
argument, as well as for the Supreme
Court decision that followed it. Jesus never accepted any of
Herod's invitations because Jesus already knew more about King Herod
than Herod knew about himself. Just as surely as Jesus had ignored
Herod's previous invitations, our Redeemer pointedly ignored every
one of Herod's questions with remarkable steadfastness. As you can
see, Herod became increasingly irritated at Jesus' refusal to respond
in any way. So did our Lord's accusers.
Our
Lord and Savior stood firmly and silently as the volume and the tempo
to Herod's questioning increased to the tune of the accusers who had
brought Jesus before King Herod. “The
chief priests and teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently
accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him.”
You will recall in our earlier studies of Luke's gospel how we
observed a certain contingent of Hebrew scholars and high priests
that shadowed Jesus and the Twelve everywhere they went. From town to
town and from village to village, they straggled along pretending to
be admirers until – at what seemed like just the right moment to
them – they found opportunities to ask Jesus trick questions of one
kind or another in the hopes of tripping him up or catching him in
some sort of contradiction. As you also undoubtedly recall, Jesus
would stymie the efforts of these 'religious leaders and teachers of
the law' every single time. Moreover, this had been going on for at
least the last couple of years. A huge expenditure of time and travel
had been invested in this effort up to this point by the Temple
leadership – and the Pharisees, Saduccees and Temple high priests
had nothing to show for it. And by this time they were enraged at
Jesus and everything he represented because they felt their
livelihoods were threatened by what He taught. And, they were
absolutely right.
So
all of this had built up until this moment. It was the Hebrew
religious leadership's first chance to strike, and they struck hard.
Really, really hard, even to the point of obsession. The apostle Luke
wrote that they were “vehemently accusing him”, and even that may
be an understatement. “Dressing
him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod
and Pilate became friends....”
All of the frustration the Temple leadership's inability to catch
Jesus in a lie or a contradiction was erupting as this was occurring.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest, I would classify this
as a 99, and that's no joke either! These people were absolutely
livid!
They
were using a tactic similar to what the police use today. They were
bullying and assaulting our Lord in the hopes of provoking Jesus –
to see if they could make him snap (sound familiar?)! You know, so
they could press additional charges. When that didn't work either,
Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate, complete with his brand new “robe”
which sealed the Lord's fate as well as Herod's own condemnation.
Next week when we return, we'll get into detail about what happens
next. Even if you've heard or read this story before, relating this
Gospel of Luke in a Progressive interpretation so that it is most
applicable in a 21st
century frame of reference is why I write these Biblical studies on
the various apostles (The Apostle Paul is already in print, you can
learn more here).
The more relevant I can make these ongoing studies, the larger
audience I will attract, and that's what I'm here for. It's about
souls, people. It's not about me, it's all about Christ Jesus our
Lord! See you next week for part 2 of Luke chapter 23.
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