What Is the Charge? (18:28–32)

“What Is the Charge?” (18:28–32)

As soon as the Sanhedrin had voted to condemn Jesus, the officers took Him to the palace where Pilate was living during the Passover season. The Roman governor was typically in Jerusalem at Passover in case there were any outbursts of Jewish nationalism. The religious leaders were willing to condemn an innocent man, but they feared that walking on Gentile ground would defile them! To be ceremonially defiled during the seven days of Passover would be a tragedy!

Pilate’s request for the formal charge was, of course, only logical. The Jewish leaders were evasive instead of stating the charges clearly, which probably made the astute politician suspicious. Luke 23:2 lists three “official charges”: (1) He misled the nation. (2) He was against paying tribute to Caesar. (3) He said He was the Jewish Messiah and King.

Pilate was reluctant to become involved in a Jewish court case, particularly at Passover, so he sought to sidestep the issue. After all, if the prisoner was a troublemaker for the Jews, then let the Jews try him according to their law. Rome had allowed the Jews to enjoy a certain amount of jurisdiction, especially in respect of their religious laws and customs. (Another example is in Acts 18:12-16.)

But if the Jews alone had judged Jesus and found Him guilty, He would have been stoned to death, and God had ordained that the Son would be crucified (see John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32–33). Jesus was to take the curse of the law and be a curse for us. To achieve this, He was to be hung on a tree (Deut. 21:22–23; Gal. 3:13). That the Romans permitted the Jews to stone Stephen to death is a sign that Rome was lenient with the Sanhedrin in some capital cases (Acts 7:57–60).

When you really look at the three charges against Jesus, you quickly find out that they were completely without foundation. First, He had not “overthrown” the country politically or religiously. True, He had publicly denounced the Pharisees and their hypocritical system of religion, but others had done so before Him. God had blessed the nation through Jesus and given them new hope. It was not our Lord’s fault that some of the militant Jews saw in Him a potential king (John 6:15), and He fled from all such political demonstrations.

As for refusing to pay tribute to Caesar, He taught just the opposite! He said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21).

He claimed to be King but not in a political sense. Even His own disciples didn’t fully grasp these truths until after His resurrection (Acts 1:1–8). No wonder the common people at times misunderstood Him (Luke 19:11). Naturally, the Jewish religious leaders were looking for any scrap of evidence they could obtain to build a case, and they were even prepared to get false witnesses!