Submitting to Show Off More Than Ever
1 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”
5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
Poor Pilate wasn’t ready for this stuff. He was a pretty terrible guy anyway, but now the leaders are accusing Jesus with just the right accusations.
Pilate wouldn’t get blasphemy. He didn’t care too much about the God of Israel. He wouldn’t get dining with sinners or healing on the Sabbath or eating with unwashed hands because Pilate ate bacon whatever day of the week he wanted with whomever he wanted. And he only washed his hands when passing the buck.
But hey, this guy says he’s a king, Pilate! We can’t have that, can we?
It’s just a weird accusation from them that Pilate double checks it with Jesus. Jesus isn’t much help because Jesus knows that none these people are listening to reason anyway. It’s almost like Jesus shrugs His shoulders and says “Whatever you say.”
As soon as Pilate finds out someone else can make this decision, he hands it off. It wasn’t really Herod’s call here, since the ‘sedition’ was happening in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem leaders were bringing the accusations, but Pilate and Herod were the law and they could do whatever they wanted.
We don’t know if Peter is still tagging along, or if John is still watching, but we can see in 1 Peter how he writes about submitting to authorities and enduring punishment for doing good.
1 Peter 2:15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
That is what Jesus is doing. Even though He could boggle their minds with wisdom, heal all of their ailments, or wipe them out of existence with a sneeze, that wasn’t the Father’s will for this moment. He submitted to the Father, which meant submitting to the rulers, and carried His life to more people than ever.
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