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“I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it” – The Roman Empire's governor in occupied Israel, Pontius Pilate telling the Jewish spiritual leaders that he, himself, wanted nothing to do with crucifying Jesus Christ (Matthew 27:24).
Who was Pontius Pilate?
He was the governor of Judaea, a province in Israel during the earthly ministry of Jesus when the Hebrews lived in an occupied client state of the Roman Empire.
Pilate did not want to crucify Jesus because both Pilate and his wife seriously believed that He was an innocent man. In Pilate’s own words, “I find no fault in this man” (Luke 23:4; Matthew 27:18-19).
Nevertheless, Caiaphas the chief high priest, along with other leading members in the Jewish Sanhedrin religious council pleaded with Pilate to crucify Jesus, so much so that Pontius eventually relented.
Pilate giving permission to crucify Jesus was imminent though because Jesus born into the world, Almighty God manifested in flesh and blood, to shed His blood for the remission of sins committed by whosoever believes in Him.
His bloodshed came much by way of the scourging or whipping with leather tongs that Pilate ordered Jesus to suffer before being executed by crucifixion.
Jesus Himself foretold how he would die (Isaiah 50:6; 53:1-12; Psalms 22:1-18, 69:21, John 2:16-20; 3:14-15).
Jesus Convicted of Blasphemy: Punishable by Execution, Stoning to Death
Led by the chief priests Annas and Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin convicted Jesus of blasphemy against God and Moses in a sham trial including false witnesses. The Sanhedrin was like the Supreme Court in the Land of Israel and included spiritual leaders like rabbis, elders and chief priests - some of who were Pharisees or Sadducees.
After Jesus was convicted and beaten in Caiaphas’s palace, Caiphas led the Sanhedrin members in taking Jesus to face Pilate - for the first time - in the Praetorium or “judgement hall” at Pilate’s manor (Matthews 27:27; Mark 14:53-65; 15:16; John 18:28-33).
Note: Under Jewish religious law, Jesus should have been stoned to death, as a penalty for blasphemy, if the Sanhedrin truly followed the commandments of God given to Moses on how to deal with blasphemers (Leviticus 24:16).
But Caiaphas lied and told Pilate, “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death” (John 18: 28-32).
The Holy Bible’s book of Leviticus called for blasphemers to be put to death.
Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod Antipas
When Pontius Pilate found out that the Bethlehem-born Jesus was a resident of Nazareth in Galilee, Pilate sent Christ to face Herod Antipas who was the tetrarch of Galilee. Antipas was also a puppet of the Roman Empire just like Antipas’s father, puppet King Herod the Great.
It was Herod the Great who had ordered the “Slaughter of the Innocents” - over 30 years prior to Jesus’s meeting with Herod Antipas.
The term “Slaughter of the Innocents” identifies the massacre whereby King Herod ordered all Israelite children 2-years-old and under to be murdered. After questioning the Three Wise Men, Herod was trying to make sure baby Jesus would be killed (Matthew 2:1-18).
Antipas interrogated Jesus, but Christ was unresponsive. Herod’s guards then mocked Jesus by putting a royal robe on Him before sending Christ back to Pilate (Luke 23:6-12).
Jesus Faces Pilate for the Second Time: Barabbas or Jesus?
Pilate would release a Jewish prisoner at each annual Passover Feast (Matthew 27:15-26).
So, he asked the Jews who they wanted released – either Jesus or a prisoner named Barabbas. The chief priests persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas’s release.
He had been imprisoned for insurrection and murder (Luke 23:18-25).
Pilate Washes His Own Hands
Pilate washed his hands to show the Jews that he was innocent of the blood of Jesus, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it” (Matthew 27:24).
Nevertheless, Pilate had Jesus flogged, with a scourge-whip lash, before being led away to be crucified.
Conclusion
One of the 12 disciples, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Jesus to the chief priests and elders for 30 pieces of silver. It was the Sanhedrin, and especially Caiaphas, the chief high priest, who, agreeing to represent God on earth, had delivered up the Son of God to the Roman Empire, and had falsely declared that Jesus had committed the punishable by stoning to death sin of blasphemy.
Finding no reason to crucify Jesus, three times, the Israel-occupying Roman Empire’s governor Pontius Pilate interrogated the Jewish spiritual leaders about what Jesus did to deserve crucifixion.
Pilate even sent Jesus to Herod Antipas, so Herod could deal with Jesus’s court case instead of Pilate. But even the puppet Herod evidently wanted nothing to do with the case either. Antipas sent Jesus back to Pilate.
Pilate was set to let Jesus go.
But prevailing was the adamant shouting for Jesus to be crucified that came from the chief priests and the unbelieving Jews who the religious leaders had stirred up.
The crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was prophesied, in many verses in the Holy Bible, and all Biblical prophesies have been fulfilled in their due time. It was prophesied that Jesus would not be received by His own spiritual leaders, who were truly supposed to represent Him, Almighty God on earth.
So, Pilate washing his hands of Jesus’s court case points was apparently meant to prove the Jewish religious leaders as the main persecutors and crucifiers of Christ.
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