Barry Metz 06/07/15
The Passion of Christ, Part 2
John 18:28-19:24
Pontius Pilate, famous as the Roman ruler who sentenced Jesus Christ to die, really existed.[1] That might seem like a funny thing to say but we’re always trying to drive home the fact that our scriptures are true. Several historians make mention of him. And as a warm-up to our time in John 18 and 19 this morning where Pilate is a central figure, I thought I’d begin by bringing the historic Pontius Pilate to life through the eyes of historians.
Tacitus, a second century Roman historian, confirmed that Jesus was executed during Pontius Pilate’s time in office. He writes this. “Christus, from whom they got their name, had been executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate, when Tiberius was emperor.” [2] So Tacitus gives reference to Jesus’ execution under Pontius Pilate.
Josephus’ lengthy history, Antiquities, mentions Pontius Pilate three times. Josephus tells how Pontius Pilate didn’t leave a good first impression when he first arrived in Jerusalem with Roman troops. Pilate set up Roman standards bearing images of the emperor. The Jews were incensed. They protested and Pilate finally backed down and removed the image bearing standards. Josephus also tells how Pilate enraged the Jews one year by using money from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct to carry water to Jerusalem. Again the Jews were very angry at this. And finally Josephus tells us the story of Pilate’s dismissal from office. The year was 36 AD and a Samaritan false prophet pretending to be the Samaritan Messiah promised to show his followers sacred vessels hidden on Mt. Gerazim. (You remember the Samaritans worshipped on Mt. Gerazim) Well Pilate sent a heavily armed band of soldiers who intercepted the pilgrims and slaughtered most of them.[3] As a result, Pilate was relieved of his position and replaced.
Well it’s Philo, another historian, who gives us the best window into Pilate’s character and actions. Pilate, said Philo, was “by nature rigid and stubbornly harsh” and of “spiteful disposition and an exceeding wrathful man”. Philo speaks of Pilate’s ‘bribes, (his) acts of pride, (his) acts of violence, (his) outrages, the cases of spiteful treatment, the constant murders without trial and the ceaseless and most grievous brutality’ that he subjected the Jews to.[4]
It’s this Pilate who takes center stage in Christ’s passion story this morning in John chapters 18-19.
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Before we dive into the text, let’s summarize what’s happened so far in Christ’s passion--and we’re using the term passion as an umbrella term for Jesus’s arrest, trial and crucifixion.
1. Jesus and his disciples head to the Garden of Gethsemane.
2. A mob led by Judas comes to arrest Jesus.
3. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss (John doesn’t mention this in his gospel).
4. Peter, still not understanding the trajectory of Jesus’s life cuts off a man named Malchus’ ear.
5. Jesus heals Malchus’ ear (John leaves this detail out but Dr. Luke mentions it,Luke 22:51).
6. Jesus is bound and taken to Annas for an informal hearing and then to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin for a formal trial. (John only mentions the informal hearing before Annas)
7. “(While) Jesus stands up to his questioners and denies nothing….Peter cowers before his questioners and denies everything”[5] Peter denies Christ three times.
8. Jesus is accused of blasphemy in the Jewish trial, a charge which “morphs” to a political charge of sedition (inciting people to rebel), a charge that Pilate can sink his teeth in.
9. Jesus is sent to Pontius Pilate
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If you were with us last week when we began to look at John 18, we highlighted the fact that when Jesus was delivered over to Pilate, the Jewish leaders purposely didn’t enter Pilate’s quarters because they didn’t want to become ritually unclean.[6] It’s been suggested that the Jews believed that Gentiles would bury aborted fetuses in their homes and contact with a dead body, according to the law, led to a seven-day defilement.[7] So because the Jewish leaders didn’t want to miss out on the festivities associated with Passover itself and the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread that followed it [8] they erred on the conservative side and didn’t enter Pilate’s headquarters.
What’s interesting is that their fastidiousness about ritual purity created an interesting dynamic in the trial of Jesus. All of a sudden Pilate was forced to shuffle between the Jews and Jesus--outside to speak to the Jews and back inside to talk with Jesus. And, as we said last week, this movement outside and then inside characterized Pilate’s entire time with Jesus. There are actually seven ‘movements’. Let me show them again to you on the screen:
As we said last week at the center of these seven movements Jesus is crowned king in a mock fashion. And in a scene dripping with irony, Jesus’ enemies declare exactly who Jesus really is. Even Jesus’ enemies end up communicating who Jesus is! More on that later.
Let me briefly review what happened at the end of John 18 and then we’ll move on into John 19.
When Jesus was brought to Pilate, verse 29 of chapter 18, Pilate went outside to ask them what the accusation was against Jesus. The Jews responded somewhat evasively[9] with a non-answer… “If Jesus wasn’t evil, if Jesus wasn’t a criminal we wouldn’t have brought him to you!” Pilate, well aware of the weakness of the Jew’s case, responded essentially, “Handle this yourselves”. And then the Jews tipped their hand at the end of verse 31, “It’s not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” The Jews were determined to put Jesus to death.
We said last week that the Sanhedrin didn’t have the power of capital punishment.[10] And if Jesus was to be lifted up (and to be lifted up in the book of John is a repeated euphemism for being crucified)… if Jesus was to be lifted up, as he himself had predicted, the Romans, who practiced crucifixion, had to be involved.[11]
Well the second movement in this ‘Pilate shuffle’ dance comes in verse 33. Notice Pilate goes inside his headquarters to speak with Jesus. Pilate’s first question to Jesus was “Are you the king of the Jews?” (Clearly the Sanhedrin had clued Pilate in to the charge of sedition, that Jesus was a troublemaker, that he was an enemy of Caesar)[12]
In verse 34, Jesus returns Pilate’s question with a question and we begin to wonder who really is on trial here. And then in verses 35-38, the subject turns to the nature of Jesus’ kingship: Is he a king? If he is a king what’s his kingdom like?
Jesus replies that his kingdom is not from this world. In fact, Jesus says that the ‘true test of his kingdom can be seen in the behavior of his disciples’[13] They won’t fight. Jesus goes on to say in verse 37 that his kingdom is a kingdom of truth. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. What’s Jesus’ kingdom like? It’s a kingdom where truth reigns! I was reflecting on the fact that we give ourselves to the truth as often as we can. We give attention to the truth in every setting. And the reality is that we’re doing kingdom work. The Kingdom of God in its spiritual form has arrived and it makes progress in our lives, it makes progress in the lives of those we disciple when the truth is preached, taught, believed, and obeyed. Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom characterized by truth.
And then Jesus spoke very personally to Pilate…Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.
I said last week that it seems that Jesus is seeking Pilate’s soul. Will you listen to me Pontius Pilate? Everyone who is of the truth listens to me. Are you on the side of truth Pilate? To that, Pilate quickly shrugs his shoulders in a sense, and asks “What is truth?” and then shuffles back outside to announce to the Jews, ‘I find no guilt in him’ …. Pilate essentially says, “I find no case against this man whatsoever!”[14]
Oh to hear an audio recording of Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” Was he cynical? Seeking? Despairing? Inviting? Dismissing?[15]
In verse 39 PIlate mentions a custom, a ‘tradition of Passover’[16], either a practice of Pilate[17] or the governor generally[18] where a prisoner would be released.
So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews? Pilate clearly thinks that’s the right idea given that Jesus is innocent. 40They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that Barabbas was a notorious prisoner.[19] Mark, in his gospel, tells us that Barabbas committed murder in the insurrection.[20] Luke tells us that Barabbas had been thrown in prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.[21] Essentially Barabbas was a terrorist[22] who had committed many crimes including murder.
We ended last week with the question, , Do you know what Barabbas’s name means? Son of the father. And so the Jewish crowd asks that a terrorist named ‘Son of the Father’ be released and that the true Son of the Father, Jesus, be crucified.
As we pick up in chapter 19 we are in the fourth movement of the “Pilate Shuffle” and Pilate has moved back inside the Praetorium. And from a literary standpoint, the climax or turning point of the structure is in these first three verses of John 19 where Jesus is in a sense, coronated.[23]
Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
Believing eyes see that Jesus is working out our salvation.
Since Pilate had just declared Jesus innocent (back in verse 38), it’s surprising that Pilate would now flog Jesus. But the context shows that this is actually a fresh strategy to set Jesus free. It seems that if Pilate can just punish Jesus enough and evoke a little sympathy for Jesus, the crowd might change their mind about him.[24]
So Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. Now I didn’t know this but there were actually three types of floggings in the first century under the Romans. Let me put up a slide that summarizes the three on the screen.
As listed on the slide, these three forms of Roman flogging are from ‘least brutal’ to ‘most brutal’ or from ‘least severe’ to ‘most severe.’ You can read the differences between the three. The ‘fustigatio’, the first one on the list, was for troublemakers who needed to be punished and warned. The ‘verberatio’, the final one, was typically a preparation for crucifixion.
It’s believed that Jesus received the fustigatio, the least severe form of flogging, at this point. (When Jesus is delivered over to be crucified after his sentencing, we’ll suggest that he is flogged with the verberatio. More on that later) In giving Jesus this less severe flogging, it seems that Pilate intended partly to appease the Jews and to teach Jesus a lesson.[25] Since the task of flogging generally belonged to soldiers, the same soldiers also began to mock Jesus and strike him. In verse 2, they twisted together a crown of thorns. Students of scripture suggest that the soldiers may have used the thorny date palm, whose thorns unbelievably can exceed twelve inches.[26] As a mockery of kingship the crown of thorns imitated R-A-D-I-A-T-E crowns worn by ‘divine’ rulers.[27] (I saw them described as radiate crowns or radiant crowns)
Here is a picture of Caesar Augustus wearing a “radiate” crown. So the crown of thorns imitated a radiant crown and made Jesus look like a ‘god-king’ with radiating beams coming from his head.[28]
Besides the crown of thorns, they arrayed him in a purple[29]—more likely dark red—robe and they began to mock him, “Hail, king of the Jews” again imitating a greeting reserved for Caesar, “Hail Caesar!”[30]
The robe may have been a military cloak flung around Jesus’ shoulders.[31] Mark adds in his gospel that they also hit him with his reed scepter, spit on him, and bowed down before him in mock worship.[32]
And again believing eyes see that Jesus is working out our salvation.
What irony that Jesus is seen so clearly—but not really seen at all—by these brutal Roman soldiers.
Well in verse 4, the Pilate shuffle continues….Pilate went out….
Follow with me as I read verses 4-8…
4Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.
In verse 4, Pilate went out and delivered his verdict again, the second time, “I find no guilt in him” And then Jesus dramatically came out—‘a sorry sight, swollen, bruised, bleeding from the crown of thorns’[33]…beaten, harmless, pathetic….Pilate says, Behold the man! … “in all his ludicrous unworthiness and wretchedness.”[34]