John 18:28-32
Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ They answered, ‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)
The interview with Caiaphas was apparently quite brief, or at least little came from it, as Jesus apparently lingers there only briefly before being hustled on to meet with Pilate.
Because the religious authorities will not go into the headquarters of a Gentile just before Passover, Pilate comes out to them, initiating an intricate dance of moving forward and back again that we will pay closer attention to as this scene develops. For now, though it’s enough to note Pilate’s curiosity about the affair unfolding before him. He is after all, an administrator and, even more, a solider, a commander of troops. So Pilate wants to know exactly what is going on and what is expected of him. For this reason, he requests to know what accusation Jesus’ accusers have leveled.
Their answer is rather intriguing. Or, rather, their non-answer is rather revealing. They offer no specific accusation, but simply assure Pilate that Jesus is guilty. But guilty of what?
Which surfaces one of the themes of John’s depiction of the Passion of our Lord. Jesus has done nothing wrong except, by his revelations about God’s mercy and accessibility, to unsettle the status quo. Indeed, to call the status quo into question entirely. Jesus, as he reminded Annas, has always spoken openly. He has come as a witness to the truth. And only those who are afraid of the truth have need to fear Jesus.
All of this draws us back to the verses just after the world’s most famous Bible verse: John 3:17 and following:
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil (John 3:17-19).
No accusation, only condemnation, for Jesus’ mere presence as revealer of God’s light and truth reveal the brokenness and need of all those around him.
At the close of this exchange we discover the real intent of the meeting as, when Pilate suggests they take Jesus and judge and punish him according to their law, they reply that they are not permitted to put anyone to death. They want Pilate, that is, to play the role of executioner.
There is great debate about whether or not Pilate really had to be persuaded to execute Jesus. By all accounts, he was a ruthless leader who was not afraid to employ cruelty to enforce Roman rule. Moreover, it may very well have served later Jewish Christians to characterize those Jews who did not follow Jesus as the instigators of Jesus’ death. But John has another motive as well, for he wants his readers to know, again, that all that happened to Jesus occurred according to his own will. For when the religious authorities turn Jesus over to Pilate for punishment, there is no doubt of the form that punishment will take: death, death by crucifixion, a means and method of political execution for which the Romans were famous. Just like Jesus’ said.
Prayer: Dear God, when we see the light of Jesus, let us not be afraid, but both confess our shortcoming and receive your grace, mercy, and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: “Christ before Pilate,” Mihály Munkácsy, 1881.
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