In this video, Clint Loveall and Michael Gewecke continue their study of the Gospel of Luke, focusing on the trial of Jesus. They delve into the questions asked by the religious leaders and the irony surrounding Jesus’ responses. The discussion explores the courtroom narrative and the predetermined outcome of the trial. Clint and Michael highlight the resolve and strength of Jesus as he faces the accusations and ultimately fulfills God’s will. Join them tomorrow for the next part of the study. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more insightful Bible studies.
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Transcript
00:00:00:34 – 00:00:35:00
Clint Loveall
Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining us again as we continue through the gospel of Luke moving into a new chapter today. Chapter 23, Jesus has been captured. He’s been taken before the Jewish Council. They have accused him of blasphemy. And now, because they are not able to inflict punishment upon Jesus, not the punishment that they want a crucifixion or the death penalty, essentially they now need to involve the Roman government, the Roman authorities.
00:00:35:00 – 00:01:10:39
Clint Loveall
And in Luke, that is to Ford Pilot, who is a kind of regional governor and then Herod, who is oversees that entire territory. And so we have here kind of a twofold process. We begin with pilot. So chapter 23, verse one. Then the assembly rose his body and brought Jesus before pilot. They begin to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is a messiah.
00:01:10:44 – 00:01:35:01
Clint Loveall
A king Then pilot asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? He answered, You say so. Then pilot said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no basis for an accusation against this man. But they were insistent and said He stirs up people by teaching throughout all Judea from Galilee, where he began even to this place.
00:01:35:06 – 00:02:09:42
Clint Loveall
Now, a couple of things as we start to unpack this. The first thing here is and we missed this if you’re an English reader, modern reader, you miss this. But there is a kind of charge that the Gospels level against the religious people, and that is essentially cooperating with Rome. There is in this day strong anti Roman sentiment.
00:02:09:46 – 00:02:52:32
Clint Loveall
The Romans are pagans. The Romans are, you know, polytheistic many gods. The Jews are not fans of the Romans. And and yet when they bring this this person, when they bring Jesus to pilot, listen to what they say. We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor and saying that he is a king now in pretending to care about those things, the gospel is is really trying to show us something either of their misguided ness or perhaps even their their fallen.
00:02:52:32 – 00:03:20:54
Clint Loveall
This that they’re they are co-opt trading with Rome, which again we don’t see as a problem. But the readers of this text would have been very troubled by that. The idea that you put into the the words of a Jewish religious leader, our nation, in reference to Rome is a is a big problem. The idea that they’re saying, and he told us not to pay taxes, which by the way, is also untrue.
00:03:20:54 – 00:03:44:58
Clint Loveall
So not only are they co-opting Rome, they’re being dishonest about it. And there’s no I don’t think this is a surprise. But these stories are weighted pretty heavily in in opposite and or in accusation of the religious leaders. And I think, Michael, that’s a thing that can get missed if if you’re not aware of the nuances of their situation.
00:03:44:58 – 00:04:09:40
Michael Gewecke
And we definitely need to understand the context to understand the gravity of what’s happening here. I think we also need to pause and recognize that the reason that we know that this is a dishonest charge is because, look, previous in the telling of this, just mere paragraphs before has told us of Jesus teaching the temple being come to by these religious leaders and saying, should we pay taxes?
00:04:09:45 – 00:04:30:32
Michael Gewecke
And Jesus gave that answer. Give to Caesar’s what? Caesar’s and give to the Lord. What’s the Lord’s? And they were stumped. They were silenced there. So now look where they come that suddenly they have their words back. Well, it’s in from the pilot and it’s in this case where they’re trying to leverage those words in order to get what they want, which is Jesus out of the way.
00:04:30:32 – 00:05:02:58
Michael Gewecke
And not only is it important to understand why this action is so dishonorable, why them going to pilot and then essentially offering this is so disingenuous? It’s also important to recognize here that they are carefully constructing an argument based upon what would be most likely to make a pilot upset. Let’s take a look at that really quickly. This idea that, number one, perverting the nation at a time when the Jews are gathering in Jerusalem.
00:05:03:10 – 00:05:33:43
Michael Gewecke
And by the way, the reason why pilot is in Jerusalem is because of Passover. His his normal place of ruling is not in Jerusalem, but it was his practice to come during this time to help maintain order and peace. So the idea that he that Jesus is perverting the nation at the time of one of Jerusalem’s greatest sort of civil disturbances, that that the air is maybe the most thick and pregnant with sort of anti-Roma fervor at this time.
00:05:33:48 – 00:05:53:22
Michael Gewecke
Second, the idea that he’s forbidding the paying of taxes, which would have been one of the most important duties, those who are subjected to the empire. And then third, this idea, the Messiah. Well, that doesn’t mean a whole lot to pilot. I mean, he doesn’t have a historical Jewish reference to understand the Old Testament, all the things that go with that.
00:05:53:22 – 00:06:19:21
Michael Gewecke
So then they land on the killer, a king, and that’s carefully constructed. That’s not on accident. The charge of someone claiming to be king in the presence of one who represents the ruler, the the military governor of Rome in that region. And that’s that’s not on accident. That’s picking the argument that has the most likely outcome of getting the ear.
00:06:19:26 – 00:06:44:58
Michael Gewecke
And I think what’s striking, you know, not to keep on too long here, what’s striking is even with that best effort. No, this pilot says, I find no basis for accusation against this man. So not only do these religious leaders come and mount a bad faith argument, not only do they outright lie, but then when they get to the end, then we discover that pilot doesn’t even believe it.
00:06:45:00 – 00:07:10:46
Michael Gewecke
He doesn’t see the merit in the argument. And that, I think, is striking. It’s a detail that Luke gives us that it it certainly gives weight to the reality that the early church would have looked at that and said, look, even pilot the the Roman ruler saw the truth of who Jesus was in us in more clarity than the religious leaders did.
00:07:10:51 – 00:07:42:02
Clint Loveall
Yeah, pilot is an interesting character in the Gospels. Stories of of the crucifixion or maybe more, more clear the sentencing of Jesus to crucifixion. The Scriptures got no real love loss for pilot, but it it portrays him with as a person who’s trying to make an effort to at least maybe get Jesus off, get him out of this trouble, out of the out of this charge.
00:07:42:07 – 00:08:07:15
Clint Loveall
That’s less the gospel being pro pilot and more wanting to lay the blame for this squarely upon the Jewish people and the religious leaders specifically. But here pilot does he he says, I don’t see it. I found no, I find no basis for an action against this man. But they were insistent. And then they bring up the word Galilee.
00:08:07:15 – 00:08:37:25
Clint Loveall
And this is interesting in Luke, Pilot sees perhaps a way around this with the mention of Galilee. It occurs to pilot that maybe he can kick this down the road. And so the next section here that I’ll read is what happens next. When pilot heard this, he asked whether the man was Galilean, and when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at the time.
00:08:37:30 – 00:09:02:33
Clint Loveall
When Herod saw Jesus, he was glad for he’d been wanting to see him for a long time because he’d heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at some length, but. But Jesus gave him no answers. The chief priests and the scribes stood by vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers, treated him with contempt and mocked him.
00:09:02:38 – 00:09:32:33
Clint Loveall
Then he put an elegant robe on him and sent him back to pilot. That same day, Herod and pilot became friends with each other. Before this they had been enemies, so what this means Herod Galilee is under Herod’s jurisdiction. And so Pilot sees an opportunity when he hears that Jesus is Galilee, and he says, well, let’s let let’s let Herod figure it out.
00:09:32:38 – 00:10:06:49
Clint Loveall
Herod then wants to see Jesus because he thinks, Well, let’s see what all the fuss is about. I’ve been hearing about him, the crowds are talking about him, people are talking about him. Let’s see what happens. Jesus gives him no answers. The chief priests and scribes Herod and his soldiers treat Jesus with contempt, mock him. It’s not clear to the extent of what that means or entails, but certainly he he takes no action that would keep Jesus from a negative or a negative fate.
00:10:06:54 – 00:10:38:53
Clint Loveall
And so then he says, okay, I’m done with him, and sends him back to Pilar. And then Luke adds a very strange parenthetical here that Herod and pilot became friends with each other. That’s not something historically that that makes sense. But biblically it does that these two these two power brokers, these two politicians, these two men that not only command some authority, but also have to work the system to find common ground in Jesus.
00:10:38:58 – 00:11:04:37
Clint Loveall
And that gives them a chance to interact in a way that eases some previous tension between them. I don’t know what we make of that. I think that’s in Luke’s world. I think that’s more a verse for his people than our people, but it’s certainly in there and there it is. Then the main point is heresies. Jesus doesn’t change anything and like Pilot has done, he now sends him on to someone else.
00:11:04:37 – 00:11:05:02
Clint Loveall
Back to.
00:11:05:02 – 00:11:30:02
Michael Gewecke
Pilot. Just in the spirit of offering a little context here, I’m just going to throw up. I’ll take a look. Your Galilee is towards the top of your map here. And Jerusalem, you’re going to see smack dab in the middle of Judea, sort of closer to the bottom half of the map there and just gives you a little geographic sense of how far away Galilee is from Jerusalem, where the center of this action is happening.
00:11:30:07 – 00:12:02:39
Michael Gewecke
And I think that that’s relevant because when you say that pilot sees an opportunity to kick this away, the gap in region is enough, that that makes it really easy to just wipe that one away. And also just to make this clear, the gap there is far enough that while Jerusalem may be the center, an urban kind of environment full of people certainly right now bursting at the seams due to the Passover celebrations, Galilee is way farther up north and its economy is far more rural.
00:12:02:43 – 00:12:28:28
Michael Gewecke
People are far more likely to be working with their hands, live in small communities. And and even today, we have some of those distinctions in our society. Well, at this time, the idea that Jesus is coming from Galilee would even further add to the argument that he’s not a threat. The idea that he doesn’t come with a large pedigree, he doesn’t come from a region where he can get a lot of people behind him.
00:12:28:39 – 00:12:53:42
Michael Gewecke
Sending him to Herod is in some ways just getting rid of the problem because Jesus isn’t a threat. And what’s really interesting here, I think, Clint, is that as Jesus stands before Herod, here we have he gives no answer. The chief priests have followed along because they’re vehemently accusing him. It’s with contempt and mocking that Herod treats Jesus.
00:12:53:42 – 00:13:22:54
Michael Gewecke
And I think what’s fascinating is both both responses here. On one hand, Jesus is in a position where he feels no threat. He does not respond with begging or with some kind of plea to get him out of the spot. Rather, he remains quiet. He has no question that he needs to answer from his perspective as it relates to Herod and his earthly rule.
00:13:22:58 – 00:13:52:37
Michael Gewecke
The next an interesting thing is how Luke by including this language about Herod and pilot becoming friends of Luke, almost leads us to believe, Clint, that they’re they’re in some ways almost playing with Jesus. They’re almost kicking him back and forth, having a good time with him. They don’t perceive Jesus, in other words, to be a threat. This isn’t how you treat someone who you think might be able to pull the crowds against you and start a massive revolution here.
00:13:52:42 – 00:14:19:30
Michael Gewecke
Jesus’s silence and Jesus’s submission seems to square with the idea that these men feel completely in charge. And that only adds to Luke’s irony that these men who are. Yeah, you know, they’re putting a robe on him. They’re they’re kicking him back and forth. These men are staying in the face of the Son of God, and they’re pretending to be the ones in charge that’s more explicit in other gospels, like the Gospel of John.
00:14:19:44 – 00:14:23:12
Michael Gewecke
But I think there’s still images of it here in the Gospel of Luke.
00:14:23:16 – 00:15:07:43
Clint Loveall
I think it would be interesting to talk to a biblical historian or maybe a biblical scholar. It it seems to me that if there is a bias that the Scripture is a little easier on pilot, then Herod Herod is not loved by the Jewish world. Herod the Great. This is probably into Antipas, but Herod has done some things for Judea, but by and large, Herod, who considered himself a Jew, but other Jews didn’t really give him that same leeway.
00:15:07:48 – 00:15:32:40
Clint Loveall
Inherit is not a beloved figure, and so he’s often cast with a little a little more negativity than his pilot. When we get to the next text that we’ll look at on Thursday, we we see this gospel trend in the story. There is a moment in most of the gospels where a pilot tries to get out of this.
00:15:32:45 – 00:16:02:45
Clint Loveall
Now, ultimately, though, pilot is going to have to give in to the crowd because there there’s the potential of revolt and there’s he has to play the sides. And unfortunately, Jesus is the one who has no power in that. So but but the gospel, it seems to me, treats pilot with a lighter touch than it does Herod, certainly than it does the high priest and the religious leaders.
00:16:02:45 – 00:16:20:27
Clint Loveall
And so I think that’s kind of reflective of the the political tensions of the area era. And that’s, again, not a thing that you pick up on as a modern reader unless unless you do a little work, ask some questions and maybe avail yourself of some resources.
00:16:20:31 – 00:16:54:52
Michael Gewecke
But I think we’ve got to be careful with this. But by and large, Luke is most horrid in all of the storytelling of this gospel on the people who were the recipients of the law, who practiced the Jewish faith most regularly. Jesus has the sharpest words for them. Jesus is most quick to denounce their hypocrisies. You know, in Luke, we’ve had several women, several foreigners, several poor and outcast who have been highlighted as being the ones who are quickest to get it and understand it.
00:16:54:52 – 00:17:18:43
Michael Gewecke
And I don’t believe that pilot here is is presented in that same light. But he I agree. I think he is treated with a lighter touch. And I think Luke’s emphasis upon the foreigner in the gentile eye has to play into that on some level that that the people who should have known better are here in verse ten, the Heavenly, accusing Jesus as the chief priest and the scribes.
00:17:18:54 – 00:17:43:30
Michael Gewecke
They’re the ones who possess the very writings that should convince them who Jesus is. And it’s pilot who says, You know, I don’t see anything in him, but we’re going to see the story progressed. There’s still there’s still advantage for Pilot in Jesus dying, and that’s ultimately going to win the day. But in this exchange, it’s not the Gentile or the foreigner who’s the one who’s out to kill Jesus.
00:17:43:42 – 00:17:46:22
Michael Gewecke
It’s those who should have known better from the start.
00:17:46:33 – 00:18:19:30
Clint Loveall
Yeah, and I think maybe that’s reflected in the idea, Michael, that this is essentially a family story that Jesus is a Jewish man. He’s his primarily his primary tension is primary. The dissatisfaction against him is from the Jewish people, the Jewish religious leaders specifically. And yes, it is the mechanism of Roman authority that will be used to bring about his death.
00:18:19:35 – 00:18:47:37
Clint Loveall
I think that the gospels remain completely committed to the idea that it is people in the family using those outsiders, and so are the outsiders worthy of blame? Yes, but who’s really to blame? Or the insiders who got the outsiders to do their bidding? And it’s it’s an interesting thing because you might think that the Gospels would blast Rome.
00:18:47:42 – 00:19:15:19
Clint Loveall
Right. Who ultimately is the authority that will hang Jesus on the cross? But that’s far less true than the kind of animosity and accusation it points at the Jewish people. And I think that’s just a reflection of this idea that it’s it’s a family story. It that the Bible is less concerned with what the Romans do because they’re not the people who should know better.
00:19:15:34 – 00:19:33:32
Clint Loveall
Of course, Rome acts like Rome, but these religious Jewish people should know better. They should see the truth of the Messiah and they don’t. And for that, they they bear ultimate responsibility, I think, in the eyes of the gospel.
00:19:33:39 – 00:20:03:39
Michael Gewecke
Yeah. You don’t need to read that at a high level. It’s I think very clearly in the text. The chief priests and scribes are the heavenly accusing him in our English translation. Herod, who’s not doing great work, is just treating him with contempt, contempt and mocking him, which, you know, not that we put those in comparison, but the Hammonds accusation is strong language, and I think we’re supposed to see in that the the inherent temptation of those closest to the faith.
00:20:03:39 – 00:20:30:01
Michael Gewecke
And I would point us towards at the end of this conversation, the reminder that this is part one, this gospel is part one of the story. Part two is acts. And of course, throughout the book of Acts, the Christian church is engaging all throughout the Roman Empire and in some cases, people in very high leadership ship. And and it’s actually the spirit of God at work throughout all of these contacts, bringing God’s will to bear.
00:20:30:01 – 00:21:04:30
Michael Gewecke
So there’s a sense in which Jesus is so divine, is so the son of God. He’s able to weather the accusation of these chief priests and these scribes who are from his people. He’s also able to utilize and and essentially bend to his will the power of Rome and the power of the under leaders of Rome and all of that he’s going to bring to fruition and his willing to take on the cross and then ultimately God’s power and sheer ability to do something beyond that.
00:21:04:35 – 00:21:23:08
Michael Gewecke
This story is building in a magnificent way that we might miss. If we don’t look at that larger picture, it it’s carefully told to remind us that while these individuals each feel that they’re exercising power over Jesus, there’s only one person with power in the story. And Luke is making that clear.
00:21:23:13 – 00:21:56:03
Clint Loveall
Yeah. And and that whatever happens to him, I think, is undeserved. It desperately matters. It is it is vitally important that the charges voiced against Jesus are our fabrication. He told us not to pay taxes. He’s, you know, he’s speaking against the empire. He’s bothering the nation that that those are falsehoods because it Luke clearly wants us to know that there’s no basis for what is going to happen to Jesus, what is happening and what will happen.
00:21:56:07 – 00:22:02:46
Clint Loveall
And the Gospels are insistent in protecting Jesus innocence.
00:22:02:51 – 00:22:17:31
Michael Gewecke
Friends, we hope that you will continue to join us for this study. First of all, it would help the channel greatly if you found this video helpful to give the like it will help others find it. If you would like to stay with us as we continue the study of Luke and other studies like it. Subscribe. Of course.
00:22:17:31 – 00:22:24:23
Michael Gewecke
We would love to see you when we continue the study and that will be Thursday. So will be off tomorrow. We look forward to seeing you all then.
00:22:24:36 – 00:22:25:24
Clint Loveall
Thanks, everybody.