Judea was one of the “hot spots” in the Roman Empire. The Jews had gained their independence from the Greek-Syrian rulers during the days of the Maccabbees, 167 B.C. Their long fight for religious and political independence was sacrificed 100 years later by the squabbling and intrigue of the royal family. One rival to the throne invited the Romans to aid him. The Romans were only too happy to “assist.” Pompey, on behalf of the Jewish king John Hyrcanus, attacked his rivals in Jerusalem and took the city in 63 B.C. Pompey, however, neither sacked the city nor plundered the Temple. This “velvet glove” approach was solidified some 25 years later when, under attack from eastern enemies and abandoned by Hyrcanus’ family, the outsider Herod was titled king of Judea to shore up the eastern Roman empire. From that point onward, his family ruled Palestine. Only when there was a breakdown in law and order, did the Romans step in. Such was the case in Judea from 6 A.D. onward.

So the myth of Jewish independence persisted, in the face of Roman domination. The Roman governors were temporary measures. The Jews were rightfully owed a king.

Some of this tension shows in Jesus’ parables.

Guess who the noble man is?

Herod!

And in the Jews’ reaction to Jesus’ words.

How could they be free if the Romans were in charge?

They weren't free--they only claimed to be free.  In reality they were Rome's subjects.

The tension also shows in relations between the Roman governors and Herod’s family.

Why would Herod and Pilate not be warm towards each other?

Herod is claiming (mostly behind the scenes) that his family should be ruling over Judea.  Pilate is given the charge not to let the Jews have an excuse to rule over Judea.

Where would Caiaphas fit into all this?

Caiaphas would be the power-broker, playing one side off against the other and gaining much for himself.

All this would be very interesting, had it not been for one little thing. The Romans believed it was their god-given duty to administer justice on the world, in the words of Vergil, Rome’s greatest imperial poet, around 20 B.C., to

spare the down-trodden and cast down the haughty.

Caiaphas, with very little political power, must bend the forces of Roman justice to meet his needs. And, because of the limitations put upon him by the factionalism of the Jews, he has very little time to do it. Within two hours he has his showdown with Rome and for the last time, a Jew would win!

John gives us the most details about the showdown between Caiaphas and Pilate.

What time of day was it?

early morning, maybe 6:30 am.

Where did the confrontation take place?

outside Pilate's palace, in the courtyard

What do the Jews charge Jesus with?

"a criminal"

What do they expect Pilate to do for them?

execute Jesus

Fill out the chart to show to whose advantage these events would be.

What does the crowd, led by the priests, shout at Pilate?

Jesus is a subversive, claiming to be a king and opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar

A private hearing of the priests takes place now.

What do the priests put before Pilate as the charges?

"many things"

Why can't Pilate investigate these charges?

Jesus remains silent

Where does Pilate go now?

inside the palace

Why?

he wants to question Jesus privately.  He probably thinks Jesus is silent because he fears Caiaphas.

Who has won the skirmish—Pilate or Caiaphas?

Caiaphas, because Pilate is forced to retreat from the public arena of the courtyard, thus showing weakness.

How does Pilate’s Roman sense of justice kick in?

Pilate proclaims Jesus innocent.  There is no basis for a charge against him.

How does Pilate try to get Jesus freed?

Pilate gives the Jews their customary choice of which prisoner for him to release at the time of the Passover.

What three reasons does Pilate have for getting Jesus freed?

1. It is customary to release a prisoner.  Pilate is making no judgment on whether Jesus was innocent or guilty, whether Caiaphas was right or wrong in bringing Jesus to him.  It should defuse the situation.

2. Pilate introduces Jesus as "the home-town boy," the King of the Jews.

3. Pilate gives them a most unappetizing choice--Barabbas, a rebel!

Who stops Pilate’s counter-attack cold and how?

The chief priests stop Pilate's counter-attack by getting the crowd to ask for Barabbas.

Pilate falters. He actually makes the mistake of asking the crowd what he should do with Jesus. They have an instant answer—what is it?

Crucify Jesus!

Pilate loses his grip even more. He questions them “Why? What crime has he committed?” Why did this question make perfect sense to Pilate and no sense to Caiaphas?

It makes sense to Pilate because as a Roman he is interested in administering justice.  It makes no sense to Caiaphas because he simply wants a rival eliminate by any means.

Who has won the skirmish—Pilate or Caiaphas?

Caiaphas, for Pilate has been reduced to asking impotent questions.

Pilate is both a stubborn and an ingenious man. What does he do next to try to free Jesus?

Pilate orders Jesus to be beaten bloody that he might arouse pity.  He also plays up the ludicrousness of the Jewish charges by having Jesus arrayed in a glad rag royal robe and a crown made of thorns.

What verdict does Pilate publicly render upon Jesus?

Not guilty, no basis for a charge against him.

Describe Jesus’ probable wounds at this point.

contusions of the head, blood flowing down his face and matting his hair, a bruised face with black eyes likely and nose bleeding, lacerations on his back from the scourging with evidence of welts on upper shoulders and neck as the scourge whipped around to the front of his body.  And he looked exhausted.  It has been almost 24 hours since he has slept and he probably hasn't eaten or drank anything since 9 pm the night before.  He's running on empty.

What is Pilate hoping the Jews will do with the bloodied Jesus?

Pilate hopes the Jews feel pity for Jesus when they see what the hated Romans have done to one of their Jewish boys and ask for his release.  Jesus has received a beating that, if it hasn't permanently broken his body, would like break the spirit of a normal man.

Who leads the crowd in shouting down Pilate?

the chief priests

What is Pilate threatening to do with the whole “Jesus case?”

throw it out.  When Pilate tells the Jews to take Jesus and crucify him, this is an impossibility.  The Romans reserved capital punishment for themselves to administer.

How do the Jews almost lose their whole case and why would they be so stupid?

The do the worst thing a liar can do--they tell the truth!  They say Jesus should die because he claims to be the Son of God.  They slip up here because they panic that Pilate will simply walk back into the palace, thus releasing Jesus.

How off-balance is Pilate at this point—what should he have ruled? (See Acts 18.12-17)

Their remarks about Jesus being the Son of God arouses Pilate's superstition and shakes him.  Instead of doing what Gallio did in Corinth--throw out the Jews' religious charges against the Apostle Paul, Pilate investigates even further, getting further entangled in the case.

Who has won the skirmish—Pilate or Caiaphas?

Caiaphas.  Pilate has again retreated from the public arena and is now engaged in a tangential line of questioning with Jesus.

What was Pilate trying to do for Jesus and why?

Pilate is trying to set Jesus free, because Jesus is innocent and the Romans are not barbarians--they believe in the fair administration of justice.

What charge do the Jews revert back to?

Jesus is a rebel king who poses a threat to Caesar.

What twist do they put upon this charge?

If Pilate lets Jesus go, he is not helping Caesar.  The implied threat is that the Jews will file malpractice charges with Caesar against Pilate.

Why would this frighten Pilate?

Pilate rules at Caesar's pleasure.  Malpractice charges would show weakness on Pilate's part and cast doubts about his judgment.  There were more than enough young up and coming Romans to quickly replace Pilate, thus ending his political climb.

How does Pilate buckle to the will of Caiaphas?

He immediately brings Jesus out to render the official sentencing.

Can you cite something that would show it reasonable that the priestly party in Jerusalem would lodge a complaint in Rome about its governor?

They are Pilate's subordinates in the governing of Judea.  If you had a bad supervisor at work, the normal thing would be to go over their head.  The Jews had certainly done this when Herod had gone to Rome to be titled king.

Who has won the battle—Pilate or Caiaphas?

Caiaphas--totally!

Why does Pilate bring Jesus out before the crowd one more time?

Pilate brings Jesus out for sentencing, a public event.

How does Pilate rub salt in Caiaphas’ wounds?

He mocks Jesus as "your king."

Prove that Caiaphas badly wants Jesus crucified.

Caiaphas claims the Jews have no king but Caesar.

What is Caiaphas admitting about the last 60 years of Jewish history?

The Jew's claim that they have been independent allies of Rome is a lie.  They are subjects of Caesar.

Prove that Pilate’s final insult to Caiaphas galled him.

Caiaphas visits Pilate to have Pilate change the placard over the crucified Jesus.

Prove that Pilate, not being able to carry out justice, will at least try to get even with Caiaphas.

Pilate curtly replies that the inscription will stand.

Who has won the war—Pilate or Caiaphas?

Caiaphas.  Pilate is reduced to fighting with words.  Jesus is crucified and all Pilate can do is insult Caiaphas.  That's the role of the defeated.

What happens on the Sabbath, the day the Jews are to do no work?

Caiaphas is busy working on Pilate in a meeting.

Compare the location of this meeting with the location of Caiaphas’ first meeting with Pilate on early Friday morning.

Now Caiaphas wants a private meeting so he is inside the palace, though that would make him ceremonially unclean for Passover.

Who does Caiaphas need to consolidate his victory?

Caiaphas needs Pilate's soldiers to guard the tomb and make sure Jesus' body stays in there.

Prove that Pilate has been utterly defeated by Caiaphas.

Pilate simply turns the soldiers over to Caiaphas' control and tells him to do it however he wants.

Look briefly at Matthew 28.11-15 and show how true our assertion of Caiaphas’ utter triumph over Pilate is.

The soldiers break their military chain of command and report to Caiaphas, a civilian!

In Fiddler on the Roof, a man asks the rabbi if there is a fitting prayer for the Tsar. He wittily replies, “God bless and keep the Tsar…far away from us!” He just as well could have prayed that relations between church and state be kept far away from each other!

The founding fathers of the United States established a clear separation of church and state. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (Article I, Bill of Rights).”

Judging from history one could make a point that they wanted not only wanted to keep government out of the religion business, but also wanted religion’s hold over politics broken!

How is Caiaphas very much like the modern mullahs and imams of Iraq and Iran?

Caiaphas, like the Iraqi and Iranian religious leaders, did not want to BE the government as much as he wanted to control the government.  He saw the church as being above the government, with the government existing to serve the church.  Government was to enforce church laws.  As such, Caiaphas would rely on an uncompromising religious body of beliefs and arouse the mob to exert pressure on government officials.

How can religion destroy the framework of government ruled by law?

The strength of religion is its inability to compromise.  Its belief systems remains the same, generation after generation.  This is what has sustained it in the face of overt persecutions in the past.  Religion has suffered the most when its adherents compromise away their beliefs, often in the face of prosperity.  Everything is written in stone.

The strength of government is its ability to compromise.  Government must govern all and gain consent from the largest possible grouping of its governed.  It can immediately react and adjust to changing circumstances.  Nothing is written in stone.

Religion can destroy the framework of government ruled by law by insisting that the laws of the land be based, not upon reason, common sense and the acknowledged standards of justice, but upon divine revelation drawn from its holy books.  There is no room for compromise and no room for adaptation.  Compromise becomes sin and those outside the religious framework are disenfranchised.

Can you give instances in the 20^th century where religion subverted the powers of government for its own cause? Can anyone come up with some in the United States?

The division of British India into India and Pakistan comes quickly to mind.  Certainly Iran in the 1980s and the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s come to mind.  Maybe the establishment of Israel in 1947 could be put in this category.

In the United States, Prohibition is the single, most glaring example.

Would America be a better country if it were ruled solely by the church?

Whose church?  What probably would result is unwise politics, unenforceable laws, prisons overflowing with those who had committed "morality crimes" and a sullen, growing group of citizens thoroughly opposed to its government.

What should be the role of the church in a society ruled by a democratic government?

1. Church should encourage its members to be involved in the democratic process: vote, be informed, legally express your will to elected representatives.

2. When government is considering issues that have moral implications (sorry, the Bible is silent over a 33% or 28% capital gains tax rate!), the church has the responsibility to teach its members about the moral issues under discussion.  Abortion and euthanasia are two topics which readily come to mind.

3. In extreme cases, when government commands people to act in a way which directly is forbidden by God's Ten Commandments, the church must act as a veto power on government by its moral authority and participate in civil disobedience.  Thankfully, this has never yet happened in the United States.

Next week: Trumped by the Risen Christ

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