What does it mean if Jesus Was Really Innocent? 
(Matthew 27: 11-26)

In our judicial system when a person is accused of a crime that individual is considered innocent until proven guilty, however if somebody’s accused of a crime we usually expect there to be some evidence or there wouldn’t have been a charge. If there’s just an accusation there’s probably some basis for that accusation, that’s the way people think generally, so when it comes to the person of Jesus, we know that he was tried, so perhaps in the back of our minds we think well there had to be something to charge him with. I’m well aware that theologically we believe that Jesus was the sinless son of God, I accept that, I understand that, and before the foundation of the world he was destined to die, but be all that as it may how do you explain on a human level that Jesus Christ was tried convicted and actually suffered the punishment for what he was accused of doing. I’ve had people that were not believers say similar things to me so how do you explain if Jesus Christ were totally innocent how was it that he was condemned and is there anything in all of that that we can learn from this. Is that of any significance to us personally, well for those answers to that I’d like to invite your attention to Matthew chapter 27 Matthew.

As you know we have been going through the Gospel of Matthew and we are fast coming up toward the end and we have arrived at Jesus trial before Pontius Pilate. This is a rather long passage of script and can be divided into two parts it begins with pilot interrogating Jesus after all this is a trial and then there is this interesting fact that they released one prisoner in place of another. The passage begins with an interesting interrogation to say the least and then it moves into an incredible at least from my point of view proposal. So, let’s begin by looking at the interrogation in verse 11.

11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. 12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.  (Matthew 27: 11-14)

Now just a bit of background might help you understand the context of what’s happening here. As you heard me say in previous studies there were six trials of Jesus, the first three were Jewish, and the last three were Roman, he was arrested in the middle of the night he was then taken to Annias who was an ex high priest, then secondly he was taken to Caiaphas the current high priest and he was tried in that Jewish court, but at night when it should have been the daytime therefore that trial was illegal. So as soon as dawn came, they had to have a trial in daylight for it to be legal and that was the third Jewish trial, this time  before the whole Sanhedrin, then they bounce him over to Pilate.  Pilate didn’t want to have to do with this and knowing that he was Galilean he sent him to Herod Antipas now this is  the one who had beheaded John the Baptist and had threatened to kill Jesus as well. But when Jesus stood before Herod Antipas, he didn’t open his mouth, so he sent him packing back to the Pilate.

This is trial six, the sixth time Jesus has stood before an accuser and so Pilate begins interrogating him by simply saying is it true that you are king of the Jews. If you’ve been following along in the Gospel of Matthew you know that in chapter 26 at one of those Jewish trials they accused him of blasphemy and that was a capital offense among the Jews but that accusation had no significance among the Romans, so they had to trump up another charge they accused him of pretending to be a king.  Now from a Roman point of view that was worthy of death for that was treason, so what’s happening here is there are several charges and accusations against Jesus and Pilate is picking up the one that is significant to Rome, and he asks are you really claiming to be the king of the Jews. In Matthew account Jesus simply says, it is as you say.

There are people who claim that Jesus is not the Messiah and one of the reasons they say he’s not, is that according to them never claimed to be the Messiah. If anybody ever says that to you then please take them to this verse. Are you king of the Jews, and Jesus says yes. You just said, it I am king of the Jews which is a Messianic title.

That’s all-Matthew records but John fills in some details in John chapter 18 because John records that Jesus said my Kingdom is not of this world and then John goes on to say that Pilate then asked him, “Are you a king”? Jesus answered you says your right that I am a king, and I was born and for this cause, I came into the world that I might bear witness to the truth everyone and who is of the truth hears my voice. In John’s account Jesus gives a more elaborate answer, not just the succinct answer recorded by Matthew. The point of the detail in John was to show that Pilate was satisfied that the kingship Jesus was claiming was not politically dangerous to Rome. He was convinced that Jesus was not a revolutionary or that he was a dangerous usurper of Roman power and that he wasn’t a political revolutionary and once he had established that that was not the case he was satisfied. That is why Pilate’s interrogation begins with just flat out asking him are you a king and Jesus says yes, but not the kind of king you’re thinking about my Kingdom is not of this world. So, Pilate had nothing to worry about.

However, when it came to the chief priest and elders there were other accusations but there not recorded either in Matthew, you will find them in Luke’s account. In Luke chapter 23 says there were several other accusations one of which was he would not pay taxes to Caesar, but Jesus said the exact opposite of that. Remember he said pay unto to Caesar what is Caesar’s. They were accusing him of not being willing to pay taxes to Caesar, but when cross examined by Pilate, he is convinced that no crime that’s been committed, certainly not worthy of death and yet here are the religious leaders clamouring and saying, but there are other accusations.

What I want you to notice is this Matthew says he didn’t so much as open his mouth, in this situation where they had no proof Jesus felt there wasn’t any need for him to say anything. In Johns account it tells us that Pilate said, “I find no fault in this man”. The first part of this passage is an interrogation and the end of the of the interrogation the conclusion of the judge, so to speak, is that he’s innocent of the charges presented. I find particularly interesting that twice Matthew points out he didn’t open his mouth, he didn’t say a word. If you’re accused of something, would you say something, well Jesus didn’t when false accusations were made against him, and he only spoke up when he was asked a direct question like, are you king. Then he spoke up and he said yes, I’m king, but not the kind of thing you think. Let me make a couple of observations at this point. In the first place this is what Isaiah said about the Messiah in Isaiah 53. “He was opposed, and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and his sheep before his shears silent so he opened not his mouth”.

I think there is a spiritual principle here that we should pause and take note of namely as Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes there’s a time to be silent and a time to speak, I wish I had learned that a long time ago, there have been times that I’ve spoken, and I wish I could have taken my words back. That is an underused and applied bit of biblical wisdom. To know when to speak and when to shut up. In this case Jesus had said all he needed to say, there was no need for him to say anything. Remember what James said in his pastoral letter, James says, “be slow to speak”. Also, in first Peter chapter 3 Peter says to a wife who has an unsaved husband if you give him the gospel and he doesn’t or even if you have just witnessed to somebody and they’ve rebuffed you and rejected Jesus don’t irritate them, be silent and just live a godly life before them. As someone said, if you yourself can’t pick the fruit, then don't bruise with harsh words, just let it ripen so that it might fall from the tree naturally. American theologian, Haddon Robinson once wrote, “There are times when it is wise not to speak when it is better to let your life say something before your words to let the people hear the music before you sing the lyric”. The passage then continues in verse 15.

15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him. 19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. 22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.  (Matthew 27: 15-26)

Now the feast mentioned is the feast of Passover, of course and the 1celebrate the event. What’s going on between the lines in the back room the crowd motivated by the religious leaders want Jesus crucified. Pilate, as the text will tell us later it’s been a bit of a dilemma for, he’s afraid there might be a riot, so he comes up with this creative alternative he says. OK, it’s customary to release a prisoner and he goes and finds a prisoner probably thinking because of the guy he has chosen that they will probably release Jesus. He chooses a notorious guy called Barabbas. The other gospels fill in some details about him not revealed here. For example, John says he was a robber, Mark says he was a murderer, and insurrectionist. So, Pilate comes up with this rather incredible proposition and says because it is customary for me to release one prisoner here’s Barabbas, who’s been convicted of robbery and murder and here’s Jesus, whom, by the way, I find no fault in, who are you going to choose. 

Further there’s some late breaking development, because in the next verse says in the meantime pilot’s wife has had a dream and she sends a note to him and saying don’t have anything to do with the harming of this innocent man. She realised that her husband was about to condemn an innocent man and that caused her some mental anguish, so she sends a note and says don’t have anything to do with him. Pilate himself is already interrogated Jesus and reached that conclusion but his wife dream just confirms it. The plot continues to thicken. The chief priest and the elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas to be spares and kill Jesus instead. What follows in this passage is just a most fascinating exchange. He agrees to free Barabbas, and he asks them then what should he do with Jesus and the crowd say, crucify him.

Pilate then says, but what evil has he done? Now let’s just stop for a second, if someone is on trial and the judge says, what evil has he done, what would you expect was an answer, maybe evidence. Some sort of proof that the accusation was accurate. Look at what happened,  but they just cried out all the more saying, “crucify him”.  They did not even attempt to answer his question or prove the accusation they just kept repeating crucify him, crucify him. By the way this is a common technique, when people don’t have an answer they often keep repeating the accusation. Ever had that happen to you, you get to an argument, and you tried to reason with the person and all they wanted to do was just keep repeating their point, and not deal with the issue. As a matter of fact verse 24 says Pilate that he wasn’t going to win this argument but rather than the uproar becoming a full blown riot he washed his hands before the multitude and said I am innocent of the blood of this person, it is you who want this and the people are seen to shout back , fine, his blood be on your hands. 

So, the Romans set free Barabbas and they whip Jesus and hand him over to be crucified. The idea of washing the hands is a highly symbolic gesture to say I have nothing to do with this, II have found him not to be guilty and I am therefore not guilty of his death. Then my question becomes, why didn’t you do something, and the answer is a reflection of Pilates character. One scholar I read said “Pilate was warned by his sense of injustice, he was warned by his conscience, he was warned by the dream of his wife but he could not stand against the mob and instead  made the futile gesture of washing his hands and a symbolic attempt to rid himself of the responsibility of what was about to happen. The picture of pilot this provokes in my mind is one of pity rather than loathing, for here is a man so enmeshed in his position that he was rendered helpless and felt unable to take the stand for what he clearly knew was right. In my mind Pilate is a figure of pity and tragedy, he knew Jesus was innocent, but still allowed him to be condemned to death because just because some religious leaders were bent on having him crucified.

As the political leader he had the authority to overturn this, but he didn’t have the will or the moral strength to do what he knew was right. In the wider extended narrative this passage sit within, we see three people, one after another fail. Judas, Peter and now Pilate. Judas succumbed to greed and the devil. Peter succumbed to the flesh and Pontius Pilate succumb to the world.  He’s too gave into the mob. I think it can all be summed up simply as Jesus was innocent but he was condemned because of the hatred of religious leaders and the weakness of a the political system to protect thos who were innocent. I’d like to conclude by making a couple of observations.

Number one is this, Jesus was obviously innocent. The text demonstrates that, even Judas said he was innocent after he betrayed him Pilate said I can find no fault in him, and even Pilates wife said he was not guilty. The number one betrayer and the judge who had the final authority in these matters both said that Jesus was innocent. 

The second observation I would make is that he was condemned ultimately because the religious and political leaders were jealous of him. They were jealous of his fame of his miraculous power, of his spiritual perception, of his loyal followers, and all this jealousy distilled into hatred leading them to conclude, we’ve got to get rid of this man because he’s a challenge to our position our power, even our prestige and our authority. The whole narrative of this story exists to demonstrate to us that Jesus was condemned not because he was guilty because it was a rigged trial. An innocent man was condemned and the guilty one set free. Don’t miss the big picture here, there was a man who was clearly guilty, a man who was condemned to death, but he was substituted and consequently went free and the one who was not guilty went to his death in his place. A guilty person who went free because of a substitute. Jesus was a substitute and as a substitute he paid for all of our sins, as Isaiah said 100s of years earlier, “He was wounded for our transgressions”. Jesus was an innocent man, and he died not because he was guilty but because we are guilty, this is one of the most significant and sacred spiritual truths in all of the text of scripture. He died in my place. Jesus took my , he bore the penalty of my sin so that I don’t have to pay, as a matter of fact it’s even greater than that, because I not only get to go free, but I am forgiven, and I get his righteousness in place of my own unrighteousness.

Paul writes elsewhere in the New Testament, “He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. This is one of the most precious truths in all of the Bible and our very eternal destiny hangs on this.  Jesus Christ paid, yes but there is more, he sacrificed,  no he was a substitute in my place to pay for my sin. Our eternal destiny hangs on this because when you understand that you are a Sinner and that Jesus died and arose from the dead and you place your trust in him and him alone that you were given the gift of eternal life and one of the most glorious illustrations is the fact that here Barabbas a rightly condemned guilty criminal goes free and Jesus dies in his place.

You are set free if you’ve trusted Jesus Christ. You are free, you are free from ever having to pay the penalty of sin and you are set free. This is a great story, think it’s one of the greatest illustrations in all the Bible of what us called, substitution, the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ for our sin. And it good to be reminded of this, so we can remember to be grateful for what he did. 

Let me ask you a question based on this, what are you going to do with the rest of your life. He has set you free, but free to do what? What shall we do with our freedom?

According to Paul in the book of Galatians, tells us the way to express your gratitude it’s that you love one another. Maybe you thought  it was going to be more complicated than that. 

That’s the note on which I wish to end that you just got love one another. If you’ve been set  free use your liberty as a licence to love and not as a license to sin. Let me close by telling you a quick story of how one might make this love of other people specific and practical.

A researcher asked a group of children between 4 to 8,what does love mean and here were the answers turned out to be simple yet  profound. Tom, aged 7 said, when my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails, so now my grandfather does it for all the time. He still does it now even when his hands got arthritis. Rebecca age 8 said, when somebody loves you the way they say your name is different, you know that your name is safe in their mouth. Kyle aged  5 said, love is when you go give somebody some of your dinner without making them give you any of theirs. Christy age 6, love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.

Terry age 8, if you want to learn to love better you should start with a friend whom you hate.  This came out of the mouth of a six year old, love is like a little old lady and a little old man who are still friends even after they’ve known each other so long they should not really be friend anymore. Love is when your puppy licks your face even after they have been left alone in the house all day. Jessica’s aged 8, you really shouldn’t say I love you unless you mean it, but if you mean it, you should say it a lot because people forget sometimes.

 I’m so grateful Jesus Christ died for me, and that because of him I have been set free and I’m going to tell everyone otherwise they might forget what he did for them that day on a cross on a hill called Calvary.