Luke 23:1-7
Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.” When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
It’s hard to know quite what’s going on here. It could be that the assembled elders are simply shrewd politicians. Good politicians, after all, always gauge their audience, adjusting or adapting their message slightly in response to the particular viewpoint or perspective of those listening. That could be what’s happening here. For whatever the particular charge Jesus was arraigned on, it was likely a religious one. Before Pilate, those accusations are presented as political: “He forbids paying taxes to the Emperor” (subtext: which is costing you precious money, Pilate) and “He presents himself as a king” (and therefore a threat to Rome).
Pilate, interestingly, doesn’t bite. He finds no particular basis for the charges and upholds Jesus’ innocence. Perhaps he hasn’t heard of Jesus before and so counts him no threat. Or maybe he doesn’t want to get involved in what must seem to him like an intra-religious squabble. In any case, according to Luke he is not ready to pass judgment. But the resistance to Jesus is persistent, and Pilate wants an out. So, hearing that Herod, who himself was Jewish, is in town, Pilate sends Jesus to him.
Which would mean that as shrewd as the assembly of elders is, Pilate is no political slouch himself. He knows he is in a jam – these are, of course, serious charges – but does not want to get involved. And so he passes the buck, hoping someone else will take responsibility for whatever difficult decision needs to be made.
Pilate, from all accounts, was a brutal military leader. But he is also, at least in this scene, portrayed as something of a coward who is afraid to meddle, afraid to get involved, afraid, as we’ll see, to do the right thing. And so he looks for an escape.
Fear to act in risky situations isn’t uncommon. And sometimes it is prudent. But at others it is incredibly costly, and this is one of those times.
Prayer: Dear God, preserve us from the kind of fear that robs us of the ability to do what is right. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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