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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 23:20 - 23:25
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The sentence of Pilate:
v. 20. Pilate, therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.
v. 21. But they cried, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him!
v. 22. And he said unto them the third time, Why? What evil hath He done? I have found no cause of death in Him; I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.
v. 23. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that He might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.
v. 24. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.
v. 25. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.
When the first wrong step has been taken, a person is liable to be carried forward by his own impetus. Pilate was no longer in control of the situation. And he was not dealing with rational human beings, but with an infuriated mob, which now might have been quelled by only one method: ruthless violence. As well try to stop a tornado by raising your hand as to reason with a bloodthirsty mob. Pilate called to them, trying to make himself heard above the turmoil, for he wanted to release Jesus. But they shouted back, with ever-increasing strength, demanding that Jesus be crucified. For the third time Pilate tried to urge the fact of Christ's innocence, that he had found no reason to put Him to death, and that he would therefore chastise Him and release Him. But there was no staying the current. They were instant, urgent, with the full volume of their combined voices. Their shouts rolled and reverberated along the narrow streets until they broke into frightened echoes against the Temple walls, demanding that Christ be crucified. And the longer the governor hesitated, the more confidently their cries rang out, and the threatening tone grew from one minute to the next. At last weak Pilate, outgeneraled by the high priests, succumbed; he decided, he gave judgment according to the will of the people; for of right and justice not a vestige remained. Note the contrast brought out by Luke: Him who on account of rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison, the obstinate, wicked criminal, he released because they wanted it; but Jesus, the Savior of the world, who was even then suffering for the sins of the howling mob, he delivered to their will; he decided that He must die by crucifixion. Pilate is a type of the unjust judges of this world that do not follow righteousness and justice in the fulfillment of their duties, but far too often are tools of the enemies of the Church. And, like Pilate, many children of the world hesitate between truth and falsehood, between friendship and enmity for Christ, until in the crisis they are overcome by the evil, and openly persecute the cause of Christ.