The unjust condemnation (Luke 23a)

Luke 22:63-23:25
Key Verses: 22:69-70

When do you get distressed and hurt the most? I think it is when we feel that we are unfairly blamed, criticized, and treated. Years ago, one of my colleagues quit his job when he did all the hard work and then was blamed for a problem with it though that was not even his fault. I think that you might have had such experiences at work, in school, or even in church. I had such an experience, too, when I was condemned to be a bad guy by a person I knew well. I was so upset. It was hard to control myself and forgive the person who blamed me. I also felt lonely and helpless because no one defended me. By the way, I am often distressed when my wife blames me. (?) I believe that you husbands also have similar experiences. In today’s passage, our Lord Jesus received unfair condemnation, which was unbearably terrible. He was innocent and sinless. But he was treated as a criminal. Let’s talk about his unfair condemnation. 

While having the last supper with his disciples, Jesus taught his disciples his upcoming death and the meaning of his blood. Then he went to Mount Olives and prayed earnestly to obey God’s will. Now he was ready to face the most horrible and critical time in his life. Judas betrayed Jesus to the enemies. Jesus was arrested and handed over to the high priest. In today’s passage, Jesus is tried before Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate and he is condemned to death. We will learn their charges against Jesus, which led him to death. We will also learn how he went through the trials and why he was condemned?  I pray that God’s grace may be with you all through Jesus’ trial. The title of my message is “The Unfair Condemnation.”

The chief priests, the officers of the temple guard and the elders seized Jesus at Mount Olives and then took him to the house of the high priest. While he was in custody until the next morning, the guards mocked and beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him who hit him, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” Jesus got bruises on his face and head. They mocked Jesus that he had no power to tell who hit him or to protect himself. They insulted Jesus in many ways. To them, Jesus was a laughingstock. Jesus was getting exhausted and could not sleep that night.   

66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67 “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68 and if I asked you, you would not answer.

Then at daybreak Jesus was brought up to the Sanhedrin members. A trial should be held in the daytime. But Jesus’ trial was held at daybreak and in a private house. They held this illegal trial to finish it as quickly as possible because the Sabbath would begin from that evening. (23:54) Though they arrested Jesus, they needed to find something with which they could accuse Jesus. They asked Jesus if he was the Messiah, which was their main concern with Jesus. But Jesus did not answer their question because he knew that they already decided to accuse and kill him. Whatever Jesus answered and asked, they would do anyway what they wanted. But Jesus was not defensive. What he said next was shocking and it was the key to his claims and his guilty verdict at this trial.

"69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”

Jesus claimed that he would be with God in heaven and would be the ruler and judge over the world. Here Jesus cited Dan 7:13-14 and Ps 110:1-2.

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Dan 7:13-14)

1 The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” 2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” (Ps 110:1-2)

By saying this, Jesus meant that he himself was the very Messiah and the Son of Man who would reign over the world in power. From Jewish perspective, the Messiah would be a powerful man who could save them. But they never imagined that the Son of God would be the Messiah. Here Jesus claimed that he is the Son of God. In other words, they were judging the Son of God who is the Judge of the world! Though they seemed to judge him, actually they were at the judgment of the Son of God. This came to them as a great shock but in a different way. Claiming to be Messiah was not necessarily a crime in ancient Judaism but claiming to be the Son of God was definitely blasphemy. (biblegateway.com)  

70 They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

They were astute enough to understand what Jesus meant by that. So they asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” Jesus didn’t answer, “I am.” Instead, he said, “You say that I am.” This was an ancient expression that threw responsibility back upon the one asking the question. Jesus did not deny who he was and called for their responsibility in rejecting the Son of God. But they took this as affirmation of Jesus’ blasphemy. Matt 26:65-66 read,

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered.

Claiming to be the Son of God was the most serious blasphemy and the person must be put to death according to the law. (Ex 20:7; Deut 13:1-5) So they condemned Jesus to death. But they were wrong in regard to Jesus because he is indeed the Son of God. They had seen who he was, through his word and power. So the real problem here was not that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God but that they would not believe Jesus and tried to kill him maliciously. They had knowledge of God but no fear of God. They were greatly mistaken and would take grand consequences for their evil.

Thinking that they had an undeniable charge against Jesus, they took Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of province of Judaea at that time. The reason they brought Jesus to Pilate was that they had no authority to execute him. (Jn 18:31) Usually, Roman governor stayed in Caesarea on the West Coast but came to Jerusalem during Jewish Festival in fear of Jewish rebellion since a huge crowd gathered into the city. Let’s see how they accused Jesus before Pilate.

2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”

Their charges against Jesus were three: his subversion of the nation, his rejection of payment of taxes, and his claim to be Messiah. The first charge meant that Jesus was subverting Israel like their customs and traditions, which might not be Pilate’s major concern. The second charge was not true (20:25) but could be Pilate’s concern. The third charge was directly against the Roman government. The Messiah meant a Jewish king as they said and Pilate should take this very seriously. Overall, their charges against Jesus was that Jesus was a dangerous man to Rome so he must be condemned to death.

Pilate asked Jesus about the third charge only, “Are you the king of the Jews?” But that question covered the other two charges too. Jesus answered as he did to the religious leaders, “You have said so.” In John 18:36-37, Jesus said to Pilate,

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”  “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Hearing this, Pilate understood that Jesus claimed to be a religious king of Israel not a political king. He also knew that their accusation was out of self-interest. (Matt 27:18; Mark 15:10) Most of all, there was no evidence for their charges. So, Pilate learned that Jesus was not a dangerous man to Rome so he was not guilty.

4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” 5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

They however rejected Pilate’s verdict. They claimed that Jesus stirred up the people by his teaching on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem. Pilate was in dilemma between truth and their demand. Knowing that Jesus came from Galilee, however, he sent Jesus to Herod Antipas to avoid his responsibility.

Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea in those days. He also happened to stay in Jerusalem. Seeing Jesus, Herod was pleased. He wanted to see Jesus perform some miracles. He plied Jesus with many questions. Jesus did not answer him because it was not worthy to tell truth to such a man. (13:32) The chief priests and the teachers of the law were accompanied and vehemently accused Jesus. Seeing that Jesus did not answer to their questions, Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him by dressing him an in elegant robe, meaning that he was a powerless king. Herod had no desire or intention to seek truth at all. Getting tired of mocking Jesus, Herod sent him back to Pilate. Pilate and Herod were enemies but this time they worked together. Pilate got some help from Herod to reduce his responsibility for the verdict.

13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

Let’s talk about the Roman trial system briefly. The formal trial procedure consisted of charges, which the religious leaders did, investigation (cognito), which Pilate and Herod conducted, and verdict, which Pilate was doing now. From Pilate’s perspective, their charges against Jesus were not sufficient for death penalty. There was no substantial evidences for their charges. So he wanted to simply punish Jesus to please them and then release him. And according to the governor’s custom at the Feast Pilate let them choose which one they wanted to release, Jesus or Barabbas who was put into prison for an insurrection and murder. (Matt 27:15)

18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”

Thing did not work as Pilates however expected because it was their hour when darkness reigned. (22:53) The crowd strongly and persistently demanded that Pilate put Jesus to death and release Barabbas. For the third time Pilate appealed to them to release Jesus. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” They were determined to kill Jesus. They inveighed against Pilate and their shouts prevailed. Pilate was afraid that a riot would take place in the city because of this. Though he knew the truth, he finally surrendered Jesus to their will and sentenced him to crucifixion.

Overall, Jesus was tried before Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate. Basically, the charge against him was blasphemy. If Jesus were not the Son of God, their charge of blasphemy against Jesus would be valid. But Jesus is the Son of God. And the religious leaders condemned Jesus out of envy. They even changed the charges before Pilate. But as Pilate said three times, Jesus was found not guilty. Why then was Jesus condemned to crucifixion? Why should the Son of God be judged by the evil? It was an unfair and unjust condemnation. It was because he must be condemned in our place.

Nothing is more stressful and dreadful than being condemned. Recently, President Park in Korea was impeached for her scandal. Then she was arrested last week. She did all she could do to save herself. She denied all the charges against herself and even was confident of her victory though there were sufficient evidences for her charges. But when she was finally sent to the prison, she broke down with fear. She was so overwhelmed that she even showed some kind of mental trauma. How much more dreadful it will be if we are condemned by God and sent to hell? The Bible says that everyone will and must stand before the judgment of God. 2 Cor 5:10 says,

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

We all must stand before the judgment of God because he is just and does not overlook our sins. But who is innocent before God? Who is righteous enough to avoid his judgment? We are all doomed to be condemned to eternal death. That is fair condemnation. But amazingly Jesus our Lord was condemned in our place so we believers can be exempted from God’s condemnation. Ironically, Barabbas the insurrectionist and murderer was released whereas Jesus the Son of God was condemned. They were switched. It was unfair. But it was what God did for us. God condemned Jesus to save us from eternal condemnation!  

The condemnation for Jesus was so horrible. He was mocked and insulted though he is the Son of God. He was treated as below human. But he was silent. He did not defend himself. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. (Isa 53:7) He took all the pain, suffering, and fear upon his own body in our place. Isaiah 53:3-4 say,

“3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.”

Jesus was despised, humiliated, rejected, and condemned in our place.  So we believers will not be judged for eternal punishment. His condemnation should be ours. But his unfair condemnation saves us. So we can live out God’s justice and his wrath through Jesus. Rom 8:1 says,

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

What an amazing grace of God! There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. We may be blamed and criticized in the world but we won’t be condemned by God for our sins because of Jesus.

Let’s give thanks to Jesus who was unjustly condemned for our sins. When you feel that you are unfairly blamed, criticized, or condemned in the world, accept that as Jesus did. When he was condemned unjustly, no one spoke up for him or helped defend him. Actually, we were among the evil who condemned him to death. How? We ignored him; we rejected him; and we blamed him. We did the same to him. We were the ones who blasphemed him and judged him though he is the Son of God. Yet he bore all our unfair condemnation against him. He understands your situation. He speaks to God for you and wants to defend you. He is with us at work, at home, and in school. He loves us so much. Let’s forgive the one who blames, criticizes, or condemns you, as Jesus did. Remember that Jesus was condemned unjustly and unfairly for you. Peace of God may be with you in our Lord Jesus.

By David Yun