July 12 2025

Saturday July 12

Pilate the Coward

Luke 23:13-25

13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14 said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; 15 no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.

16 I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" 17 (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast). 18 And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas"-- 19 who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. 20 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. 21 But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" 22 Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go." 23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. 24 So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. 25 And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

We're continuing to look at Luke 23, and today we're focusing on verses 13-25. Up to this point Jesus had three unfair trials before the Jews; before Annas, the father-in-law of the high priest Caiaphas, and also Caiaphas at his house, and then before the Sanhedrin. Now, in the early morning hours between six and nine o'clock on Friday morning, Jesus is taken before Pilate. Pilate has his first trial with Jesus and finds no fault in Him after questioning Him personally in the Praetorium. Pilate sent Jesus to King Herod Antipas where Jesus is again questioned, mock and ridiculed. Jesus is silent and does not respond to Herod who then sends Him back to Pilate (v. 11).

In these verses, 13-25, Pilate proves to be a coward. It is interesting to note that many Christian sources describe Pilate as “the model of a coward” who knew the crucifixion was wrong but acted out of fear of political repercussions, such as losing favor with Emperor Tiberius or inciting a riot. C.S. Lewis is referenced in these sources, suggesting Pilate represents “men without chests”—people unwilling to pursue truth, leading to cowardice and injustice. The fact that Herod backed Pilate's decision would not have impressed the Jews very much, because they despised Herod almost as much as they despised the Romans.

When Jesus is returned to Pilate he again meets with the Jewish leaders and announced for the second time that he did not find Jesus guilty of the charges they had made against Him (vv. 13-15). Since it was customary at Passover for the governor to release a prisoner, Pilate offered the Jews a compromise: he would chastise Jesus and let Him go. He had another prisoner on hand, Barabbas, but Pilate was sure the Jews would not want him to be released. After all, Barabbas was a robber (John 18:40), a murderer, and an insurrectionist (Luke 23:19). He may have been a leader of the Jewish Zealots who at that time was working for the overthrow of Rome.

Several times Luke notes that it is the chief priest and rulers of the people that are demanding that Christ is guilty and should be crucified. We must not think that the general populace of the city was gathered before Pilate and crying out for the blood of Jesus, though a curious crowd no doubt gathered. It was primarily the official religious leaders of the nation, the chief priests in particular (Luke 23:23), who shouted Pilate down and told him to crucify Jesus. To say that the same people who cried "Hosanna!" on Palm Sunday ended up crying "Crucify Him!" on Good Friday is not completely accurate.

Finally, after vacillating back and forth and at least three times proclaiming Jesus to be innocence, Pilate realized that his mishandling of the situation had almost caused a riot, and a Jewish uprising was the last thing he wanted during Passover. So, he called for water and washed his hands before the crowd, affirming his innocence (Matt. 27:24-25). Pilate proves to be a compromiser and a coward, who was "willing to content the people" (Mark 15:15). Barabbas was released and Jesus was condemned to die on a Roman cross.

Pilate was a complex character. He openly said that Jesus was innocent, yet he permitted Him to be beaten and condemned Him to die. He carefully questioned Jesus and even trembled at His answers, but the truth of the Word did not make a difference in his decisions. He wanted to be popular and not right; he was more concerned about reputation than he was character. What a sad state to be in! We must be careful that we don’t follow in his footsteps.

It would also be good for us to remember what Jesus said in Mark 8:35-38, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

God bless!