PILATE’S MOMENT OF TRUTH – (1)

By Author Unknown

THE LAMB, THE EAGLE AND THE FOX (Part 1 of 2)

 

THE Roman Procurator usually resided at Caesarea, 70 miles north west of Jerusalem, but on the occasions when the Jews held their feasts he lived in the city at the magnificent palace which had once belonged to Herod the Great. Nearby, and close to the Temple, was the fortress of Antonia, the garrison of the Roman legionaries stationed in Jerusalem and the seat of government during his time in the city. The procurator’s move to Jerusalem, several times annually, was due to the influx of worshippers most of whom had swarmed in from all over the land and as far away as Egypt or even Europe. (Deuteronomy 16:16) The feasts stirred in Judaism the latent frustrations of a nation ruled over by a foreign power. Tensions ran high and trouble was never far away. As a result there was a need for the governor to be near at hand to hold the city with a tight rein, which Pilate did both contemptuously and cruelly.

ARRIVAL AT ANTONIA

The sun was rising over a waking city as Jesus arrived within sight of the fortress accompanied by his captors, his appearance like that of any prisoner of the period with his hands tied and led by a rope around his neck. It had not taken them long to reach Antonia for Caiaphas’ palace was nearby. In front of the grand building, with its marble colonnades and wide steep steps, was an impressive flat pavement 3,000 square yards in size and adorned with porticoes, fountains and colourful mosaics. Looking out across the wide expanse, Pilate had a beautiful panoramic view of Jerusalem for the fortress had been built by Herod the Great on part of the Temple hill. Once the main doors had been reached those with Jesus would go no further, this being Gentile territory. To proceed further would have rendered these “sons of the law” ceremonially unclean in their eyes, for they had been so occupied during the previous twelve hours they had not had time to eat the Passover. (John 18:28) Their hypocrisy was such they could not see that they feared ceremonial uncleanness more than moral impurity, as Jesus had earlier pointed out (Matthew 23:27), and their fastidious observance of the law’s minutiae had not prevented them from abusing and condemning innocence in a corrupt court. In any case, no self respecting Jew dared have contact with the hated heathen. Even the early church had difficulty overcoming this tradition, and Peter was obliged to give account of his actions (Acts 11:1-3) when he was commanded by the Lord to enter Cornelius’ house. (Acts 10:32-34) Pilate may have seen the party approaching because, despite the early hour, he was waiting for it, the meeting having been hurriedly arranged during the previous night’s activities. In any case, he always expected trouble once he was in the city. As his visitors were announced he must have expressed his usual impatience that he was obliged to meet the Jewish delegation at the main door. It did not help him to appreciate the Jews or their religion any better.

THE SANHEDRIN AT THE DOOR!

When he saw the entire Sanhedrin assembled in front of him, led by Caiaphas, he feared the worst knowing that this was not an ordinary case he was being called upon to assess. As he glanced at Jesus standing silently in the midst of his accusers he took stock of the person he had heard so much about, the individual who had been the main topic of conversation in Israel for several years. So this was Jesus of Nazareth! As expected, Pilate enquired after the official accusation as would have been his custom on such occasions. He was cynical about the priests’ motives for dragging their prisoner to him so early in the day, and they knew it: “lf he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. “ (John 18:30) He was answerable to the emperor in Rome for keeping the peace in a troublesome corner of the empire, and the Sanhedrin made it as difficult as possible for him to do so. As it was, his mishandling of the Jews had not gone unnoticed in Rome and the Sanhedrin only had to register an official series of complaints and Pilate’s governorship, if not his life, would have been sacrificed. He knew he had to tread carefully. Despite this, his impatience could not be restrained. (John 18:31) If these meddling priests had condemned a fellow “Jew” what was it to him? He had not realised the death penalty was involved, the Jews being forbidden to execute an offender. All such cases had to be referred to the governor, that the Roman authorities might carry out the sentence. The Jews objected to the Roman interference in their affairs, but there was little they could do about the matter. Roman law had to be strictly obeyed. The Jewish and Roman methods of execution differed. The Jews used stoning or strangling, the Romans crucified their victims. Jesus had made it plain he would be “lifted up” (John 3:14), because he knew the divine plan dictated the method to be employed for the sacrificing of the Larnb of God. (John 12:32) He was obliged to be made a curse for sinners (Galatians 3:10, 13), fulfilling the Scripture that he who was hanged upon a tree was “accursed of God.” (Deuteronomy 21:23) When Jesus therefore was handed over to the Roman governor the Jewish church and Roman state were satisfied that events were entirely in their hands, whilst in fact they were tools in the hands of Providence. (Acts 2:23) Pilate wondered what crimes the prisoner had committed demanding so extreme a punishment as execution. The priests discarded the charge of blasphemy for they knew it would mean nothing to a Roman. Instead they retorted, Jesus had been accused of “perverting the nation” (Luke 23:1-2) but to sustain Pilate’s interest in the case, they added Jesus had rebelled against Rome. He had refused to pay taxes to Caesar, and worse, taught that he was the Messiah, a King! Immediately, Pilate was on his guard for in Roman eyes no more serious a charge could be imagined. The Sanhedrin was lying, and Pilate may have guessed it, but he could not afford to take any chances. It was true, some of these men had challenged Jesus not long before about whether he was prepared to pay his taxes to Caesar, but he had given the classic reply, “Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things which are God’s. “ (Luke 20:19-26) As for his claim to be a king rivalling the emperor, Jesus had refused to allow the people to make him one. (John 6:15)

INSIDE ANTONIA FORTRESS

Pilate called Jesus to him and together they went inside the main building, with no doubt the priests reluctant to let their prisoner out of their sight for fear of what he might say to their disadvantage. However, whatever else can be said about Pilate, he was not foolish enough to believe all the Sanhedrin’s accusations. He had no respect for its members knowing they were envious of Jesus’ reputation and following. (Matthew 27:18) Once inside the hall, Pilate and Jesus looked at each other closely. The governor was a typical Roman, hard and disdainful of the conquered races, cruelty and arrogance being his stock in trade. His reputation since becoming procurator in 26 A.D. was notorious. Two incidents had provided him with his reputation. The first occurred shortly after taking office. Riding rough-shod over Jewish susceptibilities, Pilate ordered his troops to bring the Roman insignia from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Realising the Jews would consider such an action sacrilegious the troops travelled overnight. By the time the citizens had awoken, the symbols of conquest were to be seen in prominent places. This contemptuous act incited an uproar among the Jews, who for five days and nights laid siege to Pliate’s residence in Caesarea risking their lives in the process. The new governor had tasted Jewish resilience the hard way. On another occasion, Jerusalem suffering from a water shortage, Pilate built an aqueduct (whose ruins can be seen to this day) which would stretch from the pool of Siloam to the city centre. This might have appeared a sound idea, except for the fact that he raided the “Corban” (sacred treasury) to pay for the enterprise, money supposedly dedicated to the Jewish God. Again, the Jews expressed their fury in Jerusalem’s streets as protesters reacted violently against the insult to Jehovah. Pilate retaliated by sending some soldiers disguised as Jews into the mob, with weapons hidden in their clothing. At the prearranged signal, carnage followed, including many trampled to death trying to escape. These, and other similar conflicts, helped establish his dislike of the Jews as well as their hatred of him. Yet there was something about Jesus the “Jew” from Galilee standing before him, but Pilate could not fathom what it was. It disturbed him. During the three sessions of interrogation he, the governor with Roman law and military might behind him, appeared agitated as if seeking answers to deep-rooted questions: “Art thou the King of the Jews?… What hast thou done?… art thou a king then?… what is truth?… whence art thou?” and again, “speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee … to release thee?” (John 18:33-38; 19:9-10) By comparison, his strange prisoner was extraordinarily calm, mysterious and in the end non-committal. (John 19:9) The roles of governor and prisoner appeared reversed. Pilate found himself slowly being drawn into a situation for which he was unsuited temperamentally and religiously, nor could he escape from it without a loss of prestige as a Roman official. He had not been in this position before.

THE GATHERING CROWDS

As the interrogation continued, the sun was rising in a clear spring sky and the city awaking to the sound of a rumour that Jesus the prophet of Nazareth had been arrested during the night and was incarcerated at the castle of Antonia. Soon Jerusalem was filled with enquirers, the indignant and the curious, converging upon the praetorium amidst the fountains and porticoes and waiting to see whether the rumours were correct. The air increasingly resounded with the noise of clamour from all directions. To begin with, the people were sympathetic to Jesus. Only the previous Sunday, they had waved palms and chanted their praises as he entered the city riding on a donkey. (Matthew 21:8-9) Nothing had happened since then to make them change their minds, yet before lunch time on that Friday morning the same excited crowds would be transformed into a seething mob of hatred demanding Jesus’ crucifixion. (Matthew 27:22-23) There must have been a sound reason for such an astonishing turnabout. The answer lay not far away from where the crowds were standing. Several dozen high ranking priests were grouped together discussing what might be happening within the hall behind the main doors which had been dosed to them. The entire membership of the Sanhedrin was never seen together in public, the situation therefore had to be at crisis level for this to occur. What the crowds did not know was that arrangements had already been made by this august body of priests and elders to change the general thinking of the people gathering in large numbers behind them. As many priests as could be mustered were to make their presence felt in the crowds on the pavement. (Matthew 27:20) At that time there were about 6,000 Pharisees in the land, apart from the Sadducees and scribes, and most of these were congregated in the Jerusalem-Jericho regions. It would have been a simple matter for the Sanhedrin to imprint its authoritative weight upon the priesthood, which in turn would persuade the people where their sympathies were supposed to lie. After all, the priesthood possessed the power of excommunication from the synagogue and could threaten any dissenters with its use if necessary. (John 9:34)

PILATE CONFRONTS THE TRUTH

Pilate looked at the Prisoner standing before him and sneered. Jesus was tired and dishevelled, a rope fastened his hands and hung from his neck. “Art thou the King of the Jews?”, asked the Roman. (John 18:33) Outwardly, he certainly did not appear regal, quite the reverse. Pilate had thoughts of the grandeur and magnificence he had seen in Rome, with the emperor looking every inch what he claimed to be. Jesus was merely a condemned prisoner, yet he possessed a serene nobility which shone through the facade, even answering the question as no prisoner would normally have dared. He questioned the interrogator! (John 18:34) He was careful to make the pagan procurator understand the nature of his Kingship. Had he replied that he was a king, Pilate would have presumed him guilty of treason. On the other hand he was certainly a King, the King of all kings. Pilate looked genuinely puzzled. At least he was prepared to discuss the issue, which was not his usual custom with Jews brought for judgement. It is often difficult, usually impossible, for a Christian to explain spiritual matters to someone whose thinking rises no higher than the earth. On one occasion, Jesus reminded the unbelieving Jews of this fact by saying, “Ye are from beneath; 1 am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. “ (John 8:23) The two belong to different realms, have little in common. How much more so was this true of Jesus whose purity was divine, engrossed in conversation with one familiar with the fleshpots of Rome having tasted the dregs of worldly pleasures.

THE CLASHING OF KINGDOMS

In the hall, were two who stood on opposite sides of the eternal divide, the Lord of glory and the representative of pagan Rome. They belonged to separate kingdoms, both noted for their different kinds of glory and beauty, whose kings were pleased to be worshipped. For one brief morning they stood facing each other. Could there be any hope, albeit for a few seconds, of bridging the gulf between them? Pilate must have appreciated he was in an unusual situation, one from which his curiosity refused to shy away. When prisoners were normally brought before him, they felt the strength of his aggressive right hand but with Jesus he found himself offering a sensitive right ear! His prisoner was gaining an advantage over him, quietly but surely the governor was being introduced to something new and outside his experience and training. Jesus had a way of approaching sinners and gaining their interest, even those as far removed from God as Pilate was, building bridges however flimsy seeking to find some common ground. He employed a similar approach with the Samaritan woman, although with more encouraging results. (John 4:5-30) There were two matters which appealed to every Roman: the glory of the empire, fortified by the might of military conquest. The sight of Roman generals proudly rnarching ahead of their conquering legions bore this out. On Good Friday morning Rome was at the zenith of its power, the Eternal City on the Tiber boasting pomp and magnificence, with all roads throughout the known world literally leading to Caesar’s front door. He was the master, or so he and his subjects and slaves thought, of each of those roads and of every traveller upon them. He claimed deity as his right, and the citizens of the empire were required to offer incense to him as a mark of their allegiance. To be a Roman citizen, as the apostle Paul appreciated, was considered an honour for which many were prepared to pay. (Acts 16:37-38) There was no other kingdom to match the Roman empire, yet Pilate’s prisoner not only claimed to know of one but was its King! Jesus upon being asked what he had done to warrant arrest almost casually introduced into the conversation the reality of his kingdom: “My kingdom is not of this world. “ (John 18:36) To any Roman citizen, especially one of high rank, life was precarious and likely to be short-lived. If there were not battles to be fought in the field, there were rivals to be noted. Caesar particularly had to be on his guard against the potential assassin, therefore thoughts had to be constantly focused upon this world not on any other. Despite this, Pilate’s interest was maintained when Jesus astonished him by adding, ” If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that 1 should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence. “ (John 18:36) Jesus was graciously excusing Peter’s violent behaviour in the garden, about which Pilate would have been told. (Matthew 26:51) If arrested Peter faced execution. Pilate overlooked the apology in favour of another aspect of Jesus’ remark. What king can control a kingdom without employing an army? Surely, no kingdom can endure without one. When required to do so every subject will wield a weapon in defence of their king and country. Pilate could not conceive of the empire without its legions, or even of Caesar without his praetorian guard to protect him from the assassin’s sword, yet his prisoner was claiming to be the King of such a kingdom. A kingdom not of this world! Pilate was losing the gist of what Jesus was telling him, as well as his patience, but at that stage of the interrogation his impatient bewilderment had not turned to outright hostility. “Art thou a king, then?” he asked with perhaps less incredulity than at the first. (John 18:37)

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

At this point, Jesus had brought the governor to the moment where a personal decision on his part was called for and where there was a need to enter further into the discussion. Pilate had asked three questions about Jesus’ person, but was he going to be drawn into asking about Jesus’ mission? In other words, was he concerned enough about his soul to enquire after the nature of the gospel? It was in every way his “moment of truth”: “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came 1 into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. “ (John 18:37) Truth by its very nature is something desirable and worth attaining, but to find it people have sought long and hard throughout their entire lives. Where within the empire could Pilate lay hold of it, through the writings of the Greek and Roman philosophers or in the magnificence of its art forms? Rome prided itself upon stern discipline, the rule of law and the pacifying of its numerous gods, and these it felt were sufficient to unite its citizens and maintain the empire for generations to come. Even Greece famed for its love of beauty and wisdom, did not possess truth. (I Corinthians 1:22) All the prevailing philosophies were debated, all the existing art forms found expression in Athens, the “university” of the ancient world. Travellers passing through, as Paul was (Acts 17:16-31), were invariably waylaid by the learned men and women and invited to share with them aspects of their culture and philosophy. For the Athenian philosophers, scraping among the ashes of other people’s thoughts was among their chief delights. Indeed, in their search for truth Paul discovered they spent “their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing. “ (Acts 17:21) It was fundamentally a religious act, denoting a feverish attempt at finding the correct answers to the questions all men and women ask in their yearning “deep down” for reality Mankind originated from a common Source, from which it has been cut-off, and inwardly hankers to return. There is no possibility of rest and peace until it does. In the meantime, mankind clutches hold of intellectual straws in an effort to help them in their search. It is not a thirst for mere knowledge, but rather an innate longing for reality, personal identity, which no one in their heart believes willl ever be satisfied. Insoluble questions are always plentiful, but answers are never found. Consequently, there is a crying for contentment without finding it, and an endless hankering for peace without ever experiencing it. As for the Jews: Pilate might have wondered whether Caiaphas and his fellow priests had discovered truth. They would certainly have thought so. After all, they considered themselves numbered among those to whom had been “committed the oracles of God”, and also “… the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants. “ (Romans 3:2; 9:4) Surely of all people the descendants of the patriarchs, the people to whom God revealed Himself, knew the truth. In fact, the tragedy was that although they could claim a racial kinship with Abraham and were legally bound to the covenant, they were not necessarily his “children” sharing the same saving faith. (Galatians 3:9) As Paul put it, “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel “ (Romans 9:6) In other words, despite all the privileges, the Jewish nation did not possess the truth but just aspects of it. This debate had featured prominently in the controversial ministries of both John the Baptist and Jesus. They insisted the Jews were unsaved, their boasting vain. God had taken hold of an axe and had, in Christ, hacked down the Jewish tree at the roots. (Luke 3:9) Something new had “begun’ and all reliance upon the Abrahamic covenant for salvation was null and void, God demanding repentance and “good fruit” to prove it. (Matthew 7:13-29) In fact, and this enraged the Jews more than anything, there was no difference in God’s sight between them and the hated Gentiles! Neither could boast in the possession of truth, whether through pagan philosophy or in formal religion. In the light of this, Pilate’s cynical question “what is truth?” (John 18:38) is understandable. Like most worldlings he was world weary, resigned to the possibility that the search for ultimate reality was vain. Truth has its source in the mind of God, and can only be known and understood if He desires to reveal it. He would have been fully justified in leaving man to grope in the darkness, but instead he graciously manifested the truth by sending his Son to the world, that is why John the apostle was able to testify, “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) His remarkable Prologue (John 1:1-14) reveals how this was accomplished. The divine Word came in order to communicate the truth, not any truth nor truths in general but the ultimate in truth. He was “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) He insisted that he had come from God, that his doctrine was not his own, “but his that sent me.”(John 7:16) The Speech, or Word, arrived in the midst of men and women in order to communicate the thoughts and feelings of God. If they wish to know what He thinks or feels about them it is to Christ the Truth they must turn. (John 14:6) He alone can supply the answers, all of which are found within “the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Every true follower of Jesus, indwelt and taught by God the Spirit (John 3:7; 16:13), has not only heard Truth’s voice but rests contentedly in him. (III John 3-4)

SO NEAR – SO FAR

It was too much for Pilate. Not wishing to hear any more, he shrugged his shoulders: “what is truth?” (John 18:38) It was not a question of genuine enquiry, but one of cynical indifference. Without waiting for an answer he returned to the Sanhedrin in the porch outside. Jesus was taken out with him. Truth had spoken to Pilate face to face, but tragically like most he failed to appreciate it. The question Jesus asked the Jews on one occasion was applicable to the Roman, “Why do ye not understand my speech? {Even} because ye cannot hear my word. “ (John 8:43) It takes more than good eyesight to see the truth, and yet one can be deaf and hear it.

BETWEEN PRIESTS AND PEOPLE

Outside, the relative quietness of the hall was in sharp contrast to the noise of the gathering crowds on the pavement. In the porch Jesus was met with verbal abuse as Caiaphas and his priests shouted accusingly at him, but he remained silent. Pilate was amazed. Jesus had held a lengthy conversation with him, a Roman pagan, but was silent before his fellow Jews. His prisoner baffled him, “Answerest thou nothing? Behold, how many things they witness against thee. “ (Mark 15:4) But the silence continued, for truth is not only revealed it is at times kept hidden. (I Corinthians 2:7) By this time, the people realising Pilate and Jesus were in the porch with the priests directed their attention to the group above the steps. Pilate turned to them and pointing to his prisoner shouted out within hearing of both the priests and the people, “I find no fault in him” (John 18:38), a verdict which was guaranteed to produce an enraged outcry from the Sanhedrin. The priests were shocked, and tried again to change Pilate’s mind by reminding him of Jesus’ supposed guilt of insurrection, “from Galilee to this place.” (Luke 23:5) Mention of Galilee came as a relief to Pilate, who by this time was sandwiched between the Sanhedrin’s guile and the crowds’ gullibility. Upon hearing that Jesus was from Galilee he saw a loophole through which he might escape from his responsibility. It so happened that Herod Antipas, notorious son of an infamous father, was in Jerusalem on a visit. Herod had been tetrarch of Galilee since his father Herod the Great died thirty years or so earlier. Pilate saw his chance to hand Jesus over to Herod for judgement.

THE LAMB FACES THE FOX

It satisfied Herod’s pride to think that Pilate had asked him to sit in judgement upon so famous a prisoner, especially as up until then they had been enemies. The fact that Pilate was merely using him for his own ends was conveniently overlooked, and instead the incident brought the two closer together. (Luke 23:12) Through the narrow streets Jesus was taken for the second stage of his civil trial towards Herod Antipas’ residence which may have been the Asmonean palace, once the home of the old Herodian family when in Jerusalem. It must have been a long and noisy procession, with Jesus attended by the guards on either side of him, and the several dozen priests of the Sanhedrin followed by the inquisitive crowds. The procession no doubt lengthened as bystanders joined themselves to it. Soon the palace was the centre of attention as hundreds converged upon it and awaited events. Jesus was taken inside to meet the king he had once been warned wanted to kill him. Jesus’ comment on that occasion was revealing for it was the only time he had shown contempt for any single individual: “Go, and tell that fox, Behold, 1 cast out devils (demons), and 1 do cures today and tomorrow, and the third {day} I shall be perfected.” (Luke 13:31,32) Herod had to learn that assassination was not in the Father’s plan and purpose for his Son. In other words, whatever Herod had planned for him was irrelevant. As the early church was later to pray: “Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. “ (Acts 4:27-28) The first tirne Antipas had beard of Jesus and his miraculous powers, being superstitious he immediately thought of John the Baptist. Perhaps the fiery preacher had risen from the dead to haunt him! (Luke 9:7-9) It had been he who had ordered the arrest and execution of John after his courageous denunciation of Herod’s adultery, following the latter’s marriage to his stepbrother Philip’s wife. (Luke 3:19-20) The king was excited at the prospect of seeing Jesus. Perhaps he would perform a miracle in front of him. (Luke 23:8) Such was the restless spirit of monarchs in ancient times, payment was made to anyone who could invent new and exciting pleasures. Herod’s desire to meet Jesus was on that level, wishing to be entertained. He was disappointed for although he tried hard Antipas failed to get his captive to open his mouth throughout the entire period he had with him. It was an ominous silence. Jesus had at least granted an opportunity for Pilate the Roman eagle to quest after salvation, but for Herod the Edomite fox no chance was afforded him. Any “birthright” that might have been his had long since been bartered (Genesis 25:27-34; 36:1)

THE FOX SNARLS

There being no miraculous spectacle to watch, the king applied his victim with questions. Nobody knows today what they consisted of, but their absence from the scriptural record seems to suggest they were trivial and merely a substitute for Jesus’ lack of entertainment value. Perhaps the fox was hoping he might be able to extract more information from Jesus than Pilate had done. It would have been a feather in his cap to have been able to boast that he had. Nothing produces rage from bullies more than dignified silence. They feel belittled, an emotion they find intolerable. Herod’s courtroom suddenly erupted with the blare of angry voices as the priests, allowed in to share in what was to have been Herod’s moment of triumph, shouted their repeated accusations against Jesus. (Luke 23:10) They were not rebuked, but rather encouraged to vent their ire upon the victim by the king’s own unregal behaviour. Jesus, the Lamb before his shearers, remained dumb. (Isaiah 53:7) Herod also was infuriated. He had dealt with John the Baptist, an experience which had given him an uneasy conscience, and now he feared Jesus’ reaction. Nothing that he said to his prisoner appeared to ruffle him. He had desired miracles, asked questions, had listened to the priests’ provocation: all to no avail. Mockery of the One claiming Kingship was the last resort. Herod’s father had sought to kill Jesus when newly-born, but failed. (Matthew 2:1-16) Now, in one of history’s great ironies, the son had the man born to be King at his mercy. Mockery is the coward’s last resort. (Luke 23:11) Herod aided by his guards roughly handled Jesus, still bound with twine, and draped him in a sumptuous regal robe no doubt removed from Herod’s shoulders. Thus fittingly attired as a king, Jesus silently suffered the taunts of all in the room. No mercy was expected by him and none was shown. He who had known eternal purity in the Highest, was now the butt of impure humanity at its lowest. He who had experienced exquisite and eternal love within the Godhead, was now subjected to vile hatred among the godless. Herod, reflecting the depravity of his family, sought to convert the Christ into a clown whilst the priests cast aside their masks of piety and revelled in the devilish charade. The room was filled with course laughter as many claiming Jacob for their ancestor joined forces with the descendants of Esau to make rnerry with the Prince of Peace. He, the messianic King-Priest, saw the irony in it all as the Herodian king and Jewish high priest encouraged the obscenity. Jesting cannot survive for long without encouragement from the victim. Soon it must run its course and fizzle out with an uneasy and embarrassed quietness. So it proved that morning. Jesus had failed to stimulate the excitement as he “endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.” (Hebrews 12:3) It was time for him to be sent on his way again, back to Pilate. (Luke 23:11) Along the streets Jesus was pulled unceremoniously by the rope around his neck to the castle of Antonia. He was exhausted and his appearance must have begun to show it, not having closed his eyes for many hours. He had been abused at the hands of the Jews, the Romans and now the Herodians, the strain was tremendous. Making matters worse was the gruelling heat, increasing in intensity as the sun rose in an azure sky, as well as the jostling crowds on either side of him as they sought to obtain a good view of the proceedings. They had not witnessed anything like this before.

 

Next time: The Washing of the Hands.

With acknowledgment to ‘1521’- “Vocal Protestant’s International Fellowship ”