Luke 23:13 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the blessed Jesus pushed down by the crowd and hurried toward the cross in a storm of public noise and confusion. The chief priests stirred up that uproar by malice and lies, acting as tools of the prince of the power of the air. Satan was at work in this whole wicked scene.

Pilate first makes a formal protest that he finds nothing in Jesus worthy of death or even chains (Luke 23:14). If he truly believed that, he should have let Jesus go at once. More than that, he should have protected Jesus from the rage of the priests and the mob, and he should have checked the men who brought such shameless charges. But Pilate was a bad man, and he had no real kindness for Christ. He was also afraid of offending either the emperor or the people, so he lacked the courage to do what was right.

Because of that fear, he called together the chief priests, rulers, and people, even though he should have driven away such a riotous and rebellious crowd. He listened to men whom he should have ignored, since he could clearly see what spirit was driving them. He said, in effect, “You have brought this man to me. I have examined him in your presence, and I can find no fault in him. You cannot prove the things you accuse him of” (Luke 23:14).

Pilate then pointed to Herod, the ruler who had already handled Jesus, as further proof of innocence (Luke 23:15). He said that Herod, who had more reason than he did to judge Jesus, had sent him back without any charge that would deserve death. Herod may have mocked Jesus as a harmless fool, but he had not marked him as a dangerous man. Pilate seemed to think Jesus belonged in an asylum more than in a place of execution.

Pilate next offered to release Jesus, if only the crowd would agree. He should have done that without asking their permission. Justice should have been done, whatever the cost, even if all heaven and earth seemed to come apart. But the fear of people traps many rulers into doing wrong. When justice should stand firm, they choose an unjust act instead of risking the anger of the crowd.

Pilate declared Jesus innocent and still wanted to please the people. So he proposed to release him as though he were a prisoner being pardoned, because he had to release one man at the feast (Luke 23:17). Jesus should have been released as an act of justice, not as a favor to the crowd. Pilate also said he would have Jesus whipped and then let him go. But if no fault could be found in him, why should he be punished at all? It is just as wrong to scourge an innocent man as to crucify him. Evil does not become right just because someone hopes it may calm public anger. We must not do wrong so that some good may come.

The people then chose Barabbas, a vile man who had nothing to recommend him except the boldness of his crimes. He had been imprisoned for starting an uprising in the city and for murder, two crimes that make a man deeply guilty in the eyes of society. Yet this was the man they preferred over Christ: “Away with this man, and release Barabbas to us” (Luke 23:18, 19). It is no surprise that such a crowd favored a man who was truly rebellious over one who was loyal but falsely accused of rebellion.

When Pilate urged them a second time to release Christ, they shouted, “Crucify him, crucify him” (Luke 23:20, 21). They did not only want him dead, they wanted him to die in the most shameful and painful way. Nothing less than crucifixion would satisfy them.

When Pilate reasoned with them a third time and showed how unreasonable and unjust this was, they only grew more harsh and determined (Luke 23:22). He asked, “Why? What evil has he done? Tell me his crime. I have found no reason to sentence him to death, and you cannot name one either. If you will only say the word, I will punish him and let him go.” But popular fury only grows worse when it is flattered. They shouted all the louder, not asking but demanding that he be crucified. It was as though, at a feast, they thought they had as much right to demand the death of an innocent man as the release of a guilty one.

At last Pilate gave in to their pressure. The voices of the people and the chief priests overcame him, and he went against both his conscience and his own wishes. He lacked the courage to resist such a strong current, so he sentenced Jesus as they demanded (Luke 23:24). Here justice was pushed backward, and fairness stood far away because of public rage. Truth lay in the street, and honesty could not get in (Isaiah 59:14). Justice was expected, but oppression appeared instead, and righteousness was replaced by a cry of violence (Isaiah 5:7).

This is repeated in Luke 23:25, with the added shame that Barabbas was released. He was the man imprisoned for sedition and murder, and letting him go would only harden him further and make him more harmful, because he was the kind of man the crowd wanted, one like themselves. But Pilate handed Jesus over to their will. He could not have treated him more cruelly than by giving him into the hands of those who hated him deeply and whose so-called mercy was really cruelty.