Over the last few studies, we have seen events of the night of Passover. Jesus led the disciples in the Last Supper, and then took them to the Mount of Olives to pray. We watched as a crowd from the chief priests arrested Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, and we saw His condemnation by the high priest. In the meantime, His disciple Simon Peter denied Him, and His former disciple Judas Iscariot killed himself.
It is now the morning of the next day (Matt. 27:1), and because the chief priests and elders of the people want Jesus put to death, they take Him to the Roman authorities. Specifically, they have delivered Him to Pilate the governor (Matt. 27:2).
Before we look at the verses before us in Matthew, I'd like to point out an interesting note that the apostle John makes here:
John 18:28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.
The chief priests were supposed to have eaten the Passover the night before, after the Passover lambs were slain at twilight. But they had been so busy plotting the death of this innocent Man, arresting Him illegally, and holding His illegitimate trial that they had not yet eaten it.
In spite of all these violations of God's Law, their adherence to their tradition made them more concerned that if they entered into the Praetorium, they would have made themselves unclean by touching the territory of Gentiles. Once again we see the hypocrisy of man's religion instead of simply having a relationship with God.
The Jews had launched many accusations against Jesus when they took Him to Pilate. But the only one that seemed to concern him was that Jesus had claimed to be the King of the Jews. Being the leader of the local Roman occupation force meant that he had to put down insurrections. All Pilate needed during the Passover - when countless Jews were filling the streets of Jerusalem - was someone rallying them together under the banner of a Jewish king.
Jesus did make the claim. After all, He was the king of the Jews. Not only did He have legal right through Joseph, and genetic right through Mary, but He was the Messiah, sent by God. But He also explained to Pilate that He had no need to worry. He said,
John 18:36 ..."My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."
At this point, Pilate realized that this wasn't a claim he needed to worry about. His only concern about Jesus had vanished.
But the Jews weren't about to let Jesus off that easy. They shouted a huge number (Mark 15:3) of outlandish accusations and false claims (Luke 23:2).
When Pilate saw how passionately the Jews hated this man, he asked Jesus, "Don't you hear this stuff?" But Jesus didn't defend Himself against any of their accusations. Matthew and Mark (Mark 15:5) both make note of how this amazed Pilate.
Jesus had been silent before the false witnesses at His trial before the high priest (Matt. 26:63), and He continued to do so hearing the false accusations before Pilate. Thus, Pilate was "exceedingly amazed" (Gk: LEE-an thou-MAD-zo).
Again, I have to wonder how often we amaze people with our silence, as we entrust ourselves to God (1Pet. 2:23).
Matthew doesn't make mention of another aspect of Jesus' time in custody. Since Jesus was a Galilean, and Herod the tetrarch of Galilee happened to be in town, Pilate decided to pass the buck to Herod. You can read about this short visit in Luke 23:5-12.
Pilate isn't concerned with Jesus believing that He's the king of the Jews. He is also amazed at the righteousness Jesus has demonstrated in the midst of what is obviously a "kangaroo court" seeking "frontier justice." Pilate is in the middle of a mess.
But Pilate didn't get to be where he was in the Roman government by being a dummy. No, he was very intelligent and a fast thinker. And this very smart man came up with a very smart solution.
Each Passover meant hundreds of thousands of out-of-town Jewish men coming to Jerusalem. This was a scary prospect for the Romans, since an uprising of civil unrest with this many people would spell the doom of the Romans. And so the Romans had begun a tradition which helped to keep the peace. During the Passover week, they would release a Jewish prisoner to promote good will and keep the anger of the Jews down to a minimum.
Pilate's plan was to give the Jews two prisoners from which to choose for release. Either they could have Barabbas or Jesus. Since Barabbas was a notorious prisoner (Matt 27:16) who was thrown into prison for a certain insurrection made in the city (Luke 23:19), had committed murder in the insurrection (Mark 15:7), and was also a robber (John 18:40), certainly they would have to choose Jesus. After all, nobody would want Barabbas out on the street!
Matthew is the only gospel writer to make mention of Pilate's wife. She had "suffered greatly in a dream because of Him" the night He was arrested, and was trying to prevent her husband from having a part in putting Jesus to death, for she knew He was righteous.
Beyond that, all we have is history and tradition on which to speculate. It has been recorded that her name was Claudia Procula, the granddaughter of Augustus Caesar, the daughter of Tiberius Caesar.
There is an ancient letter from the first century which purports to be a letter written by Claudia. Based on its contents, many believe that she became a Christian after these events, and the Greek Orthodox Church canonized Claudia as a saint. It is also thought by some that the Claudia who Paul mentions in 2Timothy 4:21 is the same woman.
Pilate's wife had warned him, but the crowd was louder. He decided to stick with his plan, and again presented the choice of Jesus or Barabbas. They chose Barabbas, and insisted that Jesus be crucified.
Next week, we will see exactly what that meant.