CHAPTER 23

(A.D. 33)

JESUS BEFORE PILATE

¹And the whole multitude of them arose (included the entirety of the seventy members of the Sanhedrin, with the possible exception of Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus, who were also members but loved Christ) and led Him unto Pilate (presents the second step which must be carried out if, in fact, they were to rid themselves of Jesus once and for all, or so they thought!).

²And they began to accuse Him (presents their response to Christ, and from the very beginning of His Ministry), saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation (claiming that Christ was attempting to agitate the Nation of Israel to enter into rebellion against Caesar; this was a total fabrication, with Him doing the very opposite), and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar (constituted their second accusation, which was also a lie!), saying that He Himself is Christ a King (they were claiming He was telling Israel that He was King instead of Caesar, which was another lie).

³And Pilate asked Him, saying, Are You the King of the Jews? (This presents Pilate completely ignoring the first two accusations, seeing clearly that they were baseless.)And He answered him and said, You say it (in effect, He answered in the affirmative).

⁴Then said Pilate to the Chief Priests and to the people, I find no fault in this Man (and neither has any other human being ever truly found any fault in Him).

⁵And they were the more fierce (proclaims the fact that Pilates position came somewhat as a surprise to these fanatics), saying, He stirs up the people (the Greek word stirs is somewhat like inciting a mob to riot; of course, what they were saying was basely false), teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.

HEROD

⁶When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.

⁷And as soon as he knew that He belonged unto Herods jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod (proclaims him thinking he could wash his hands of this affair), who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time (constituted the Passover Season, which brought Herod to the city; his usual residence was Capernaum, which had been the headquarters of Jesus, but yet seemingly without much impact upon this murderer).

⁸And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad (constitutes a gladness for all the wrong reasons): for he was desirous to see Him of a long season, because he had heard many things of Him (had to do somewhat with both of them headquartered at Capernaum); and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him (Jesus was to Herod Antipas, the slayer of John the Baptist, as a juggler is to a sated court an object of curiosity; it seems he had very little interest in Him otherwise!).

⁹Then he questioned with Him in many words; but He answered him nothing (tells us that the questions were trivial; this pompous egomaniac did not for a moment realize that the Lord of Glory, the Creator of all things, was standing before him).

¹⁰And the Chief Priests and Scribes stood and vehemently accused Him (they all evidently followed in order to accuse Jesus before Herod; we have here before us secular devils and religious devils; as bad as the secular devils might be, the religious devils are worse!).

¹¹And Herod with his men of war set Him at nought, and mocked Him (records the attitude and thinking of this despot), and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him again to Pilate (means, as well, that Herod found no cause for death in Him; consequently, we have a second record and public attestation of His innocence).

¹²And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves (worldly men with differences meet together, when opportunity offers itself for wounding Christ).

BARABBAS

¹³And Pilate, when he had called together the Chief Priests and the Rulers and the people (once again at Pilates judgment hall),

¹⁴Said unto them, You have brought this man unto me, as one who perverts the people: and, behold, I, having examined Him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof you accuse Him (presents the second public confession of Pilate, who also publicly acknowledged that the civil rulers of Galilee had found no fault in Him as well!):

¹⁵No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to Him (refers to the Sanhedrin being sent to Herod, along with Jesus); and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto Him (should have been translated by Him).

¹⁶I will therefore chastise Him (scourge Him; he would subject a Man Whom he had pronounced innocent to the horrible punishment of scourging just to satisfy the clamor of the Sanhedrists, because he was fearful of what they might accuse him of at Rome, where he knew he had enemies), and release Him (was said concerning the release of one prisoner each year at the Passover).

¹⁷(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) (This custom was probably introduced at Jerusalem by the Roman power. There is no evidence of such in Levitical Law.)

¹⁸And they cried out all at once (proclaims their strong opposition to his decision to release Jesus), saying, Away with this Man, and release unto us Barabbas (this is exactly what they got, and have had ever since; they preferred a robber, as John styled him, to the Son of God; so they got the robber, and theyve had robbers ever since; the nations of the world have robbed them of their dignity, pride, and lives for nearly 2,000 years):

¹⁹(Who for a certain sedition made in the city (tried to stir up insurrection against Rome), and for murder, was cast into prison.) (It was bad enough to prefer a robber over Jesus, but to prefer a murderer was a horror, which would be perpetrated upon them from that day forward. History is replete with the accounts!)

²⁰Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spoke again to them (presents the Governor attempting to release Jesus for the fourth time as recorded by Luke, but to no avail!).

²¹But they cried, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him (presents the type of execution they demanded; Why? the Levitical Law said that one who was hung upon a tree for gross crimes was cursed by God; consequently, Him being Crucified would prove to the people, or so they thought, that He was not of God; were He of God, they reasoned, God would not allow such [Deut. 21:22-23]).

²²And he said unto them the third time (refers to the times he had attempted to free Jesus on the premise of the custom of releasing at the Passover each year; actually, this was about the fifth time he had made such an attempt over all), Why, what evil has He done? (He had done no evil, and Pilate knew the accusations of the religious hierarchy against Him to be false.)I have found no cause of death in Him (little did the Governor know that of which He spoke; had there been a cause of death in Jesus, He could not have served as the Sacrifice for sin): I will therefore chastise Him, and let Him go (sounds a note of desperation).

²³And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that He might be crucified (many have said that the same crowd who was crying, Hosanna to the Highest at the Triumphant Entry was now crying, Crucify Him!; that is incorrect; the rabble that joined the religious leaders that early morning hour was, for the most part, the night people, or lackeys of the Sanhedrin). And the voices of them and of the Chief Priests prevailed (presents their success, but a success they would ever rue; their prevailing sealed their own doom).

²⁴And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required (would prove to be the worst day of his life, but could have been the best).

²⁵And he released unto them him who for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired (they got exactly that for which they asked, which has followed them unto this hour); but he delivered Jesus to their will (was the worst thing that Pilate would ever do in all his life).

²⁶And as they led Him away (presents the horrifying trip to the place of Crucifixion, Golgotha, with Jesus carrying the Cross), they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country (as Mark tells us, this was the father of Alexander, and Rufus, notable persons in the Early Church [Mk. 15:21]), and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus (probably means that Jesus, due to being beaten so severely, which, no doubt, resulted in a great loss of blood, ultimately became too weak to bear the weight of the Cross; so Simon was compelled; what an honor to carry it for Jesus).

THE WOMEN

²⁷And there followed Him a great company of people (there were many, no doubt, in the crowd whom He had healed), and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him (no woman is mentioned in the Gospels as having spoken against the Lord, or as having a share in His Death).

²⁸But Jesus turning unto them said (represents the first time He spoke since His last interrogation before Pilate), Daughters of Jerusalem (a fixture of the Song of Solomon), weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children (proclaims His rejection by the religious leaders of Israel, and the subsequent judgment which will follow).

²⁹For, behold, the days are coming (would actually see fulfillment about thirty-seven years from this time), in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bear, and the paps which never gave suck (presents a strange Beatitude; He was speaking of the horror that was coming, which would be so bad that the dead would be blessed, along with the children never born).

³⁰Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us (this Prophecy speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70).

³¹For if they do these things in a green tree (He was the Green Tree), what shall be done in the dry? (When He would be gone! Concerns the great Tribulation, even yet to come.)

THE CRUCIFIXION

³²And there were also two others, malefactors (criminals; some think these were companions of Barabbas, who had just been released), led with Him to be put to death.

³³And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, where they crucified Him (the Cross, which was the most horrifying instrument of torture the world had ever known, became an emblem of beauty because of what Jesus did on that Cross), and the malefactors (the two criminals), one on the right hand, and the other on the left (may not have been the only ones crucified that day, but were the only ones in this particular position).

³⁴Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (presents the only prayer ever prayed by Jesus, which was not answered; if men will not seek forgiveness, even Christ praying for them will not avail!). And they parted His raiment (divided up His Garments), and cast lots (His Robe was without seam, so rather than cutting it up, they would draw straws).

³⁵And the people stood beholding (who made up this crowd is not known). And the Rulers also with them derided Him (means that they mocked Him), saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the Chosen of God (if He had saved His Life, which He certainly could have done, He could not have Saved others; in fact, the Cross had been planned from before the foundation of the world [I Pet. 1:18-20]).

³⁶And the soldiers also mocked Him (was probably carried out by these heathen simply because they heard the religious leaders mocking Him), coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar (was in response to His plea for water [Jn. 19:28]),

³⁷And saying, If You be the King of the Jews, save Yourself (what they did not know was that He was not only the King of the Jews, but the Creator of the heavens and Earth, the Maker of all things).

³⁸And a superscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew (constituted that written by Pilate; he probably did it to mock the religious leaders of Israel), THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

THE PENITENT THIEF

³⁹And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying, If You be Christ, save Yourself and us (is reported by Matthew and Mark as both doing this in the beginning; however, at a point, one, which we will read about momentarily, changed completely).

⁴⁰But the other answering rebuked Him, saying (proclaims the spirit of true Repentance), Do not You fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? (This means that he is owning up to his guilt, which is the first requirement of Repentance.)

⁴¹And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds (proclaims him making no excuses, admitting to his sin, holding no enmity toward his executers, which presents a powerful truth): but this Man has done nothing amiss (presents the only kind word uttered about Christ at this time, other than that spoken by the Centurion).

⁴²And He said unto Jesus (speaks of recognition as to Who Jesus really was), Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom (presents the simple prayer of Repentance; it is one of the most remarkable conversions recorded in the Bible).

⁴³And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, Today shall you be with Me in Paradise (a statement of fact, and not a question, as some claim; however, his stay in Paradise would be very short; some three days later, he would accompany Christ to Heaven, along with every other person in Paradise, which included all the Old Testament Saints).

THE DEATH OF JESUS

⁴⁴And it was about the sixth hour (12 noon), and there was a darkness over all the Earth until the ninth hour (3 p.m., this was the time that Jesus bore the penalty of sin for the entirety of mankind, and for all time).

⁴⁵And the sun was darkened (means that the darkness was so deep that it literally blotted out the light of the sun; what He experienced during this 3-hour period, no one will ever know [Ps. 22:1-21]), and the Veil of the Temple was rent in the midst (probably referred to the approximate time He died, about 3 p.m.; this Veil separated the Holy Place in the Temple from the Holy of Holies, where God was supposed to dwell; the Veil being torn apart, in effect, stated that God had accepted the Sacrifice, and now the way was open for sinful man to come to God and be cleansed; but he would have to come by the Way of Christ and the Cross; there is no other way of Salvation [Jn. 14:6]).

⁴⁶And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice (proclaims the fact that He did not die from weakness; actually, they did not take His Life, He gave it up freely [Jn. 10:17-18]), He said, Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit (proclaims the last words He uttered): and having said thus, He gave up the ghost (He didnt die until the Holy Spirit told Him He could die [Heb. 9:14]).

⁴⁷Now when the Centurion saw what was done, he glorified God (this hard-bitten Roman Centurion knew that Jesus was the Son of God, but the religious leaders of Israel didnt!), saying, Certainly this was a Righteous Man (tradition says that his name was Longinus, and that he became an avid follower of Christ, and died a martyr to the cause).

⁴⁸And all the people who came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done (seems to indicate that quite a few were there when He died, standing in the darkness, hearing His last Words and, thereby, experiencing the earthquake; but yet, due to the darkness, they really did not see Him die; in fact, no one did!), smote their breasts, and returned (speaks of an agony of heart, knowing that something horrible has happened, and that a great wrong has been done).

⁴⁹And all His acquaintance (concerned His chosen Disciples and some chosen followers), and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things (seems to indicate that they stood near the Cross for a time [Jn. 19:25-27], and then retired for whatever reason to a further distance [Mat. 27:55-56]).

THE BURIAL OF JESUS

⁵⁰And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a Counsellor (this was Joseph of Arimathaea, a member of the Sanhedrin and a person of high distinction in Jerusalem and evidently of great wealth); and he was a good man, and a just:

⁵¹(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) (speaks of the illegal and unjust decision of the Sanhedrin, of which he was a part) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews (the home of the Prophet Samuel; however, he now lived in Jerusalem due to the fact of being a member of the Sanhedrin): who also himself waited for the Kingdom of God (he would be shown that Kingdom, and would enter that Kingdom).

⁵²This man went unto Pilate (it seems that the Centurion who had testified at the Death of Jesus accompanied Joseph to an audience with Pilate), and begged the body of Jesus (there is an urgency about this because the High Sabbath of the Passover would begin at sundown Thursday; if Jesus was not taken down from the Cross before then and placed in a tomb, they would have to allow Him to remain on the Cross for another twenty-four hours).

⁵³And he took it down (refers to the Body of Jesus, which says so very much, while saying so very little), and wrapped it in linen (pertained to a part of the burial process, which was done very hurriedly because the High Sabbath of the Passover would begin at sundown, necessitating that all work must stop), and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid (the tomb belonged to Joseph, and was the very kind predicted by Isaiah [Isa. 53:9]).

⁵⁴And that day was the preparation (spoke of the preparation of the Passover, which was to be eaten the next day, Thursday), and the Sabbath drew on (is not speaking of the regular weekly Sabbath of Saturday, but rather the High Sabbath of the Passover, which would commence at sundown).

⁵⁵And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee (Matthew records that there were many women who were there), followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid (does not exactly say that they participated in this which was done by Joseph and Nicodemus, but possibly they did!).

⁵⁶And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments (means that they returned to the places where they were staying while in Jerusalem, and would have made these preparations on Friday); and rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment (the next day, Thursday, was the High Sabbath of the Passover, and so they could not prepare these things that day; they would have prepared them on Friday; and then resting again on the weekly Sabbath of Saturday as required, would have come early on Sunday morning to apply the ingredients, but would be greatly surprised at what they found).