1 And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. 3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. 4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. 5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. (Luke 23:1-5 KJV)
Jesus Before Pilate
Our Lord Jesus was condemned as a blasphemer in the spiritual court, but it was driven by the worst kind of malice. When they had condemned him, they knew they couldn’t put him to death, so they took another route.
They accused him before Pilate. The whole crowd arose and led him to Pilate, even though it was not a court day. They demanded justice, not for blasphemy (which Pilate didn’t care about), but for being disloyal to the Roman government. Ironically, this was the very crime for which the Romans later destroyed them.
They presented their accusations (Luke 23:2), pretending to care about Caesar to gain favor with Pilate, but their motives were entirely malicious. They falsely claimed Jesus was stirring rebellion and forbidding tribute to Caesar. In truth, Jesus had taught that people should pay taxes to Caesar. They also accused him of claiming to be a king. Although Jesus had said he was the Christ, and therefore a king, he made it clear his kingdom was not a threat to Caesar. When the people tried to make him a king by force (John 6:15), he refused.
Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (Luke 23:3), and Jesus answered, “You say so,” meaning that he was indeed the Christ, the king of the Jews, but not in the political sense that would rival Caesar. Everyone who knew him understood he had never tried to set himself up as a political leader in opposition to Rome.
Pilate then declared, “I find no fault in this man” (Luke 23:4). He made it clear that whatever breaches of Jewish law Jesus might have committed were not his concern—he found no legal grounds to convict him.
Instead of calming down, the accusers became even more enraged (Luke 23:5). They had no specific facts or evidence but insisted loudly that Jesus was stirring people up all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem. Jesus did teach the people, but his teaching called them to righteousness, not rebellion.