First Trial before Pilate

The Jewish leaders led Christ to Pilate to be tried. Luke lists three of the charges preferred against Jesus by the Jewish authorities. Here, they charge Him with being a revolutionary agitator. Throughout His ministry Jesus had taken great care to avoid providing any valid basis for such a charge as the one now brought against Him (see on Matt. 14:22 16:20 Mark 1:45 6:42 John 6:15).

This fabricated charge was directly related to the false Messianic concepts entertained by the Jewish leaders (see on Luke 4:19). Three days before this the Pharisees had done their best to lure Jesus into making the statement they here claim that He did make, but their attempt met with inglorious defeat (see on Matt. 22:15—22). Second, Jesus was charged with saying that He was against paying tribute to Caesar. The third charge was that Christ claimed to be king. Jesus had never made such a claim directly. They were no doubt thinking of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem but five days before this, an event that all members of the Jewish nation took as equivalent to a declaration by Jesus that He was assuming the throne of David (see on Matt. 21:5, 9).

The mob was fierce and urgent in their demands. They persistently insisted that Pilate accede to their demands. They claimed Jesus stirred up the people. This charge was, of course, all too true, though not in the sense that the leaders would have Pilate believe. During recent weeks, particularly since the resurrection of Lazarus, popular opinion was increasingly favorable to Jesus. Previously, the priests and rulers themselves had ruefully admitted to one another that "the world is gone after him" (John 12:19).

Jewry. Literally, Judea here probably used inclusively of all Israelite Palestine (see on chs. 1:5 7:17). To be sure, Luke also uses the term in reference to Judea proper (see Luke 2:4 Acts 1:8 8:1). However, Luke seems to be the only New Testamentwriter to use the term in the broader sense.