Written by: Nigel Rooms - Crosslinks

Luke 22 v 63-65
The men who were guarding Jesus began making fun of him and beating him.
They blindfolded him and said, “Prove that you are a prophet, and tell us who hit you.” They said many cruel things to Jesus.

Notes
Jesus has been arrested, no-one is quite sure what for, least of all Jesus, but that never bothers people who feel they are in charge of the law and who want to get rid of someone. These verses begin what is known as the “passion” of Jesus. Of course that doesn’t mean he starts getting hot flushes, rather it means he enters a phase of his ministry on earth which is “passive” as opposed to “active”. We are used to reading about Jesus, preaching, teaching and healing, but from this point on he says very little and does even less. Things are done to him, but he takes no active role in what happens. 

In many places in the world today being arrested means a similar experience to that of Jesus here, a loss of human rights, the endurance of a “softening up” beating and the inevitable jokes that go with it from the guards/police/soldiers. These are the people who think they hold all the power in such an encounter. Today’s verses are played out in police stations, interrogation rooms and torture chambers all over the world. And Jesus has been there and endured the violence without returning it. 

Think about this question: Is Jesus able to retain some power in this encounter by his patient, passive, non-violent endurance? 

If Jesus, as God was prepared to identify with us even in situations like this, what can we do to help those people in similar situations today? If you don’t know about them already why not look up the web sites of Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org) or Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org) and find out how you can get involved. 

Luke 22 v 66-71
When day came, the council of the older leaders of the people, both the leading priests and the teachers of the law, came together and led Jesus to their highest court. They said, “If you are the Christ, tell us.”
Jesus said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe me. And if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will sit at the right hand of the powerful God.”
They all said, “Then are you the Son of God?”
Jesus said to them, “You say that I am.”
They said, “Why do we need witnesses now? We ourselves heard him say this.”

Notes 
Jesus is under arrest at the house of the Jewish High Priest and now his trial begins. All the Jewish religious hierarchy are there. They have all been threatened by the ideas, teaching and actions of Jesus in his ministry, he has seemed to turn upside-down their idea of who a Messiah should be. When they ask him if he is “the Christ”, Christ here is the Greek word translating Messiah, which is a Hebrew word found in the prophecies of the Old Testament combining the ideas of saviour and king. The Messiah, as the Jewish leaders read it was to come to save the Jews from the oppression of colonising powers under whom they had suffered for centuries and even now were continuing to do so under the Romans. 
But Jesus is not ready to be pushed into this corner, he understands the role of Messiah differently – as one who saves through suffering first, who rules as king in power because he has earnt that position through struggle and persecution, Messiah is not a violent revolutionary leader. 

Therefore he does not deny that he is the Christ, but he knows they will not understand, so he answers indirectly, in a way dodging the questions in order to retain his own integrity, but without hope of being understood. He trusts that his place is second in command in the Kingdom at the right hand of the Father (v69), and throws their questions back at them. But this is blasphemy to the religious leaders – the equivalent of a local counsellor claiming to have the power of the Prime Minister. 

In the end all individuals, families and societies have to ask themselves the question of who Jesus is. Who is he for you? It’s the ultimate “life, the universe and everything” question. 

Luke 23 v 1-2
Then the whole group stood up and led Jesus to Pilate. They began to accuse Jesus, saying, “We caught this man telling things that mislead our people. He says that we should not pay taxes to Caesar, and he calls himself the Christ, a king.”

Notes
The Jewish leaders have arrested Jesus and they want to get rid of him because he claims to be the Christ (a greek word) or Messiah (a hebrew word), but to them he plainly can’t be because he makes no attempt lead the Jews as a true King would, just the opposite in fact. So they take him to Pilate who is the top Roman official governing Jerusalem and the surrounding area at that time. The Romans are the “colonial power”, having occupied Palestine for their profit for many years at this point, and the Jews cannot do anything to Jesus without Pilate’s consent. 

So in contrast to their own religious concerns in verses 66-71 about the blasphemy of Jesus claiming to be Messiah when he plainly could not be, here before the Roman Governor the accusations get a political “spin”. They accuse him rather vaguely at first of talking “misleading things”, but then it gets serious, as if he denies the paying of taxes then he is a real rebel and if he claims to be a King when the only ruler is Caesar in Rome ………

Any action or speech can be interpreted in different ways and one of the keys to modern life may be seeing through the “spin” or interpretation that is put on events by the media we are constantly bombarded with. Think of how the latest globalisation protests may have been presented in different newspapers or media channels. Or pick a current news story and look at the different “spins” it is given in a selection of papers or their websites. Where do you stand and how can the truth be teased out? 

Luke 23 v 3-5
Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “Those are your words.”
Pilate said to the leading priests and the people, “I find nothing against this man.”
They were insisting, saying, “But Jesus makes trouble with the people, teaching all around Judea. He began in Galilee, and now he is here.”

Notes
Jesus is under arrest and has been brought before Pilate, the Roman Colonial Governor of Jerusalem and its surrounding area. The Jewish leaders have accused him of claiming to be the Christ, a king following the Israelite Kings of the Old Testament who would liberate his people from the Romans. 

Pilate hardly understands this religious background, but knows what a king of the Jews might mean for him as the ruling and colonising power, so he asks Jesus straight out if he is the King. Jesus simply does not confirm or deny with his answer which throws the question back to Pilate. 

But for Pilate the whole thing is quite ridiculous. How can this sorry looking figure (Jesus has already been beaten up) whom he has never heard of be any threat to Pilate, representative of the most powerful force in the whole known world? It’s a laugh, it’s a joke, and he has no problems pronouncing Jesus innocent without even thinking about it. 
But the Jewish religious leaders are insistent that Jesus is a real problem and needs to be dealt with. 

One of the most remarkable things about the gospels is how Jesus manages to be so un-religious while talking about God and doing God’s work. Its partly this irreverence of Jesus for his own religion that got him arrested in the first place. Who are the people you know who are able to talk God and live it out without falling into being religious for its own sake? Ask them what the secret is and what they do when they get into trouble with the “authorities”. 

Luke 23 v 6-8
Pilate heard this and asked if Jesus was from Galilee. Since Jesus was under Herod’s authority, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, because he had heard about Jesus and had wanted to meet him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus work a miracle. 

Notes 
Jesus has been arrested by the Jews who are trying to persuade the Roman Colonial Governor, Pilate to deal with him, since they can’t do anything without his authority. They have accused him of claiming to be a King and spreading all sorts of rebellious teaching around Jerusalem and its surrounding area, Judea, but also in Galilee in the north of Palestine where he began.
Pilate is bored already since he knows the charges have no real basis, but now he sees his chance. If Jesus was also teaching his rebellion in Galilee and actually came from there, then Pilate has no jurisdiction over him and he’d better pack him off to Herod, who happened to be in town. This Herod was the son of Herod the Great who died in 4BCE – he had ruled all Palestine for the Romans, but after his death it was divided in to four and this Herod Antipas, as he was called, ruled in Galilee – he was the one who had Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist beheaded. 

Jesus is passed around now – like an exhibit for examination and Herod is looking for some fun, maybe a miracle. He knows a bit more about Jesus than Pilate the Roman does, coming as he does from a half Jewish background. He hopes Jesus might conjure up a trick or two, like a circus act to liven up his day!

Its possible to be interested in Jesus purely as a “phenomenon” – to have heard about Jesus and his amazing teaching and miracles – but to remain completely untouched by his person. We must allow the question of who Jesus is to go deeper than this superficial interest if he is to have any meaning for us. Where does Jesus touch your life, and even heart, the most?

Luke 23 v 9-12
Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus said nothing. The leading priests and teachers of the law were standing there, strongly accusing Jesus. After Herod and his soldiers had made fun of Jesus, they dressed him in a kingly robe and sent him back to Pilate. In the past, Pilate and Herod had always been enemies, but on that day they became friends.

Notes
Jesus is under arrest and has been sent by Pilate, the Judean Governor, to Herod for questioning because he comes from Galilee, which is under Herod’s jurisdiction. Herod, as a son of Herod the Great (d. 4BCE) and a half-Jew is interested in Jesus and has a lot to catch up on with him, never having met him. But Jesus is not interested in Herod, so he says nothing and remains silent. All the Jewish religious leaders accuse Jesus before Pilate, but still the silence remains. 

This is quite a scene. Take a minute to imagine it – the marble floor, the columns around the walls, Herod’s throne, the angry religious leaders and the silent Jesus in the middle of it all. 
It makes Jesus look ridiculous of course and the cheap jokes come thick and fast – culminating in the kingly purple robe they put on Jesus, who everyone says is claiming to be a king – what a laugh! In the midst of all this Jesus, in his silence as a victim, somehow is able to draw Pilate and Herod together – former enemies are now friends. 

Jesus here is a “passive” figure, not preaching, teaching or healing any more and this leaves us with some questions: When is silence the best response? When is doing nothing most helpful – even if it makes us look ridiculous? Is there a time for activity in our lives and a time for passivity – doing nothing, but being done to, remaining silent?

Luke 23 v 13-17
Pilate called the people together with the leading priests and the Jewish leaders. He said to them, “You brought this man to me, saying he makes trouble among the people. But I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty of what you say. Also, Herod found nothing wrong with him; he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing for which he should die. So, after I punish him, I will let him go free.” 

Notes
Jesus is on trial for his life, arrested by the Jewish religious leaders and brought to Pilate, the Roman Colonial Governor who has the power of life or death over Jesus. The Jewish leaders think they have Jesus on a blasphemy charge – of claiming to be the Messiah when his life and teaching does not match their expectation of what a Messiah should be. Pilate doesn’t really understand all this and pushed Jesus off to see his fellow Governor Herod who was half-Jewish and who might have understood the issues a bit better. Nothing has stuck, Jesus refuses to defend himself, he says nothing. So Pilate gathers all the interested parties together to pronounce judgement. 

This is not a modern Western court (!), but Pilate at this point is still concerned to do the right thing. He is convinced that Jesus has not done enough wrong to deserve the death penalty. OK he wants to punish him, no prisoner can get away without something, but after that Pilate says: “I will let him go free”. 

Freezing the story at this point is interesting isn’t it? It helps us realise that the outcome of the story of Jesus could have been so different. Pilate is ready to free Jesus and change the course of history. 

This is important because we need to understand the future is open, we are not simply directed by fate, the stars or even “the will of God”. Of course God’s will comes in to it – but in the daily choices we make – we change the future for ourselves and others. Do you understand the future as being “open” or “closed”? What difference would it make to the way someone lived if they discovered they were not just subject to the “stars” or some kind of fate?


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes