Matthew 27:11-25 Read the passage, I will comment on it but not quote it.

Jesus is sent to Pilate for sentencing. The Jewish people were not allowed to convict a person to death. This is important prophetically since messianic prophecies pointed toward a specific type of death of the Messiah. He had to die by crucifixion. As a side note, we do not see Herod mentioned in Matthew. Yet his role was extremely important.

With Pilate and Herod we have two groups of people represented. We have the Gentile group of people which are represented by Pilate. Then there is the proselytes, or half breeds that is represented by Herod. He was of mixed blood being both Jew and Gentile. In this section, we will see the Pilate, representing the Gentiles examine the Passover Lamb: Jesus. The purpose of Herod was to determine guilt. Jesus was found to be innocent. The purpose of the people was to have Jesus crucified. This purpose was having the Passover Lamb slain for their sin. The blood of the Lamb could not be shed if the Lamb was not slain.

Pilate examines Jesus and finds no guilt in him. The scene is quite interesting. Jesus is standing before Pilate for questioning. Pilate asked him one question “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered simply “you declare” or “you say”. The meaning is simply “you have spoken”. The Greek language marks this as an emphatic statement. Emphatic means expressing something boldly or clearly.  Biblical translators feel that embellishment is needed and insert three words which change this meaning “it is as you say” which changes it from emphatic to passive voice. This happens in Matthew, Mark and Luke (Mk 15:2-5; Luke 23:2-3). This changes the meaning of the sentence. Look at the response in John for clarification of the meaning of the emphatic statement:

John 18:33–38 (NET)

^“33 So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”³⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate asked, “What is truth?” When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders and announced, “I find no basis for an accusation against him.”

I used bold font to emphasize the response. Jesus did not testify to justify Himself. He was a Lamb brought to examination before slaughter. The purpose was not to avoid death. His purpose was to pass the test of examination. He purpose was to be declared innocent, spotless, and without blemish. It was not to get out of the crucifixion. To do this, His testimony would have quickly brought His release.

On the flip side, He did not deny being King of the Jews.  Looking back to Mathew 2:2, Jesus was born King of the Jews, and would forever be King. This was the problem that Herod faced. Jesus bore the title “King of the Jews”. Herod also bore the title “King of the Jews”. This was the reason that Herod’s father attempted to kill all the babies in order to slaughter the one prophesied to be “King of the Jews”.

He answered this question, yet refused to answer all the other questions that were presented to Him (Isa 53:7; Ecc 3:7).  It is interesting though, the answer that Jesus gave was not a straight forward answer as we have it in the English, it is much more ambiguous, non-committal suggesting a question as to whether Pilate believes the charge and is seeking verification.  In the Greek it is an emphatic statement, “You say”.

Pilate was quite amazed at this point that Jesus was not offering any defense against the accusations that were being spoken against Him (1 Tim. 6:12-13). His amazement was added to a dire warning from his wife. She warned that Jesus was innocent of all charges. This brought Pilate to try a different approach to releasing Jesus.

The custom that had taken place at the festival is quite interesting.  The custom started with blackmail.  The high priest’s son was taken prisoner and offered as a ransom if the high priest could solicit the release of certain prisoners.  The high priest went to the Romans and negotiated the release of some robbers, which started the custom.  It was better to negotiate the release rather than have his son kidnapped again.  In a way the crime element of the city of Jerusalem had tremendous power, enough to sway the high priest, and in turn enough to sway the Roman government. (I once found a reference to this in Josephus but am not able to locate it now. If you are able to find the reference, please let me know.)

Pilate knew of this custom and hoped to use it to solicit the release of Jesus.  Barabbas was a notorious prisoner, one who was a murderer and an insurrectionist, Mark 15:7.  It was desirable that he stayed in prison for both the safety of the citizens as well as the well being of the Roman government.  His name has an interesting meaning, it means “father, son of father”. This was a man who was guilty as charged. Not a man who should be released into society. The rules of the game were changed slightly though. Jesus was not a Roman prisoner!  Remember, He was not condemned of any crime.

This is where Pilate may have been soothing his conscience for delivering Jesus up for crucifixion. The Romans had a custom. If an innocent man, not guilty of any crime, wanted to assume the charge of a guilty man, he could stand in his place. This was the process of cancelling out a certificate of debt (Col 2:13-15). Jesus was not a Roman prisoner. He was made a Roman prisoner by changing places with Barabbas. In this way Pilate declared that Jesus was not guilty of any crime. Pilate also created a situation where he could justify allowing an innocent man to be crucified.

Yet, Pilate was not willing to surrender easily. He kept appealing to the people that Jesus was innocent. He wanted them to understand that he found absolutely no guilt in Jesus. He determined that Jesus was the spotless lamb of God who did not have any blemish. He emphasized his stand by naming Jesus as “Christ” which literally means in the Greek “Messiah”.

Remember, this was during the Passover. The people declared by order of and fulfillment of the festival: His blood would be “upon” us and our children (from the Greek preposition). The Lamb that was slain would have his blood shed so that that blood would offer deliverance from sin. This blood brought salvation (1 Pet 2:18-23).

Mikvah (Baptism): Pilate used a Jewish custom to represent cleansing himself. The washing of his hands was a symbol of a high priest going through the mikvah which cleansed him from uncleanness. This was the purpose of the laver in the temple (Ex 30:18-21; also see Deut 21:6-9; Ps 73:10-14). Washing was done prior to offering sacrifice on the altar. Pilate offered Jesus up to be slain and washed his hands in the same manner to remove the curse of death from himself. Look up the verses.

Scourging: Matthew 27:26

This is a puzzle unless you consider what Pilate had just done. Jesus was placed in the Roman system in the place of Barabbas. He assumed the punishment that Barabbas stood for under Roman law. Pilate used this loophole to deliver an innocent man for punishment. Jesus was scourged in a hideous way that would drain almost all the blood from his body. After scourging with the cat of nine tails, the back was reduced to hamburger meat. Often after scourging, the lash would wrap around the torso and even expose the intestines. Prophecy stated that He would be more marred than any man (Isa 52:13-15; 53:5). His blood was to be sprinkled on all nations because of this marring.

Matthew 27:27-31

Jesus was beaten and assaulted a third time.  The Roman soldiers made a cruel game of harassing Jesus for being the King of the Jews.  They created for Him a crown of thorns, then handed Him a staff to symbolize a scepter.  Upon their creation of this image they took the staff from Him and drove the crown of thorns deeper into His head.  It is understood that the Praetorian guard consisted of 600 soldiers, depending upon how many took part in the fiasco, would depend greatly upon the outcome.  According to the number of soldiers stationed there, one tenth of them would have been 60 soldiers.  You can  be sure that more than that participated, considering that Jesus stood for holiness.

It is thought that the red cape was actually one of cast offs from the king.  The special red colored garment was not available to the common man due to its expense.  Yet the red color symbolized the blood that Jesus would shed for all of mankind.

In a very short time, Jesus was beaten with fists and rods by the religious people, whipped by the Romans, and now beaten and mocked by a large group of soldiers.  It is as if the devil was determined to destroy Jesus before He made it to the cross.  It seemed that all the evil intentions of the universe were focused upon destroying Jesus both physically and mentally.

Matthew 27:32

Jesus was so weak at this point that it was a major undertaking to try to carry the cross Himself.  A Gentile was forced into service to aid Jesus in carrying the cross.  Think about that for a moment, a Jew wasn’t forced into service or a Roman, it was a Gentile from a foreign nation.

It is incredible that Jesus is still walking at this point, after all the beatings and whippings that had been done, Jesus was beaten to within an inch of His life.  Matthew lists three sets of beatings to this point.  A normal man would have given up the will to live and died, but Jesus knew that the cross was where redemption would take place.  Remember, all the beatings, judgments and actions took place between sundown on Friday and sometime in the late morning on Saturday.

I am going to close here, all comments are welcomed.