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434
Humble Hero
Again Pilate asked, “What accusation do you bring against this
Man?” The priests did not answer his question. In irritation, they
said, “If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered
Him up to you.” When the Sanhedrin brings you a man it considers
worthy of death, is there need to ask for an accusation against him?
They hoped to lead Pilate to give in to their request without going
through many preliminaries.
[334]
Before this, Pilate had hastily condemned to death men who did
not deserve to die. In his opinion, whether a prisoner was innocent
or guilty was of no special importance. The priests hoped that Pilate
would inflict the death penalty this time on Jesus without giving Him
a hearing.
But something about the Prisoner held Pilate back. He did not
dare do it. He remembered how Jesus had raised Lazarus, a man
who had been dead four days, and he made up his mind to know the
charges against Him and whether they could be proved.
“If your judgment is sufficient,” he said, “why bring the Prisoner
to me?” “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.” The
priests said they had already passed sentence on Him, but they must
have Pilate’s sentence to make their condemnation valid. “What is
your sentence?” Pilate asked. “Death,” they answered. They asked
Pilate to enforce their sentence; they would take the responsibility
of the result. Weak though he was in moral power, Pilate refused to
condemn Jesus until they had brought a charge against Him.
The priests were in a dilemma. They must not allow it to appear
that they had arrested Christ on religious grounds, because this would
have no weight with Pilate. They must make it appear that Jesus was
a political offender. The Romans were constantly on the watch to
repress everything that could lead to an outbreak.
In their desperation, the priests called false witnesses. “And they
began to accuse Him, saying, ‘We found this fellow perverting the
nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself
is Christ, a King.’ “ Three charges, each without foundation. The
priests knew this but were willing to commit perjury.