Biblion Bible Commentary
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I Found No Cause of Death
Luke 23:13-25
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, · WEB
Three times he is declared innocent, and three times the shouting decides it.
Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people Luke 23:13.
He convenes a formal session to announce a finding, and the finding is unambiguous. "Having examined him before you, I found no basis for a charge against this man concerning those things of which you accuse him. Neither has Herod... nothing worthy of death has been done by him" Luke 23:14–15.
Two separate authorities, independently, have found nothing. That is the state of the case, formally announced, with the prosecution present.
"I will therefore chastise him and release him" Luke 23:16.
And there the collapse begins, in a sentence that makes no sense. A man against whom nothing is proved is to be flogged first. It is a concession offered to a crowd — something to satisfy them — and it concedes the only thing that mattered, which is that the outcome is now negotiable.
"Away with this man! Release to us Barabbas!" Luke 23:18. The custom of a festival release gives Pilate what he thinks is a second exit, and the man chosen instead is described exactly: one who was thrown into prison for a certain revolt in the city, and for murder Luke 23:19.
The substitution is the sharpest irony in the chapter. The charge against Jesus was stirring up the nation; the man they ask for actually did it, and killed someone. The city releases a genuine insurrectionist and executes a man three times declared innocent of insurrection.
Pilate spoke to them again, wanting to release Jesus Luke 23:20. He said to them the third time, "Why? What evil has this man done? I have found no capital crime in him" Luke 23:22.
Three declarations of innocence, and each is followed by a further concession. He knows the law, states it correctly, and has the authority to act on it, and at no point does he simply rule. Every time he speaks he asks the crowd.
But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. Their voices and the voices of the chief priests prevailed Luke 23:23.
Prevailed is the writer's verdict on the process. Not persuaded — prevailed. What decided a Roman capital case was volume.
Pilate decreed that what they asked for should be done Luke 23:24. The verb is the formal one for issuing a sentence. Having found no crime, he passes sentence for the crime he found no evidence of.
He released him who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus up to their will Luke 23:25. The chapter's last phrase is the truest description of what happened: not to justice, and not to law. To their will.
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