Jesus Questioned By Pilate & The Sentence of Death (Mt. 27: 1-2, 11-31)

When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.  

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” 12 And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” 14 But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed. 15 Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. 16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called [Jesus] Barabbas. 17 So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release to you, [Jesus] Barabbas, or Jesus called Messiah?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over. 19 While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.” 20 The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. 21 The governor said to them in reply, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They answered, “Barabbas!” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Messiah?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Let him be crucified!” 24 When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” 25 And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. 28 They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. 29 Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.

The morning after Jesus’ arrest, the religious leaders bound Jesus and handed him over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea.  The matter now escalated from a religious dispute to a civil political matter under Roman jurisdiction.  The Jews did not have the authority to put anyone to death (Jn. 18:31) so Pilate’s role was necessary to ‘execute’ the Religious leader’s plan and to fulfill the OT prophecy.  

Pilate asked Jesus if he was the “King of the Jews.”  A response was important to Pilate because the Roman authorities were concerned about potential insurrection or rebellion by some of the Jewish population.  Jesus’ response was noncommittal and open to Pilate’s interpretation.  The Jewish authorities made many accusations against him, but Jesus said nothing (Is. 53:7).  Pilate persisted in questioning Jesus, but he remained silent, which perplexed Pilate.

During the Passover feast, Pilate had a custom of releasing a prisoner to appease the Jews.  Pilate gave the crowd a choice between Jesus Barabbas, a notorious prisoner, or Jesus the Messiah.  Matthew referred to Barabbas as ‘Jesus’ Barabbas but most manuscripts refer to him simply as Barabbas.  Pilate was aware that the religious leaders envied Jesus whom the crowd acknowledged as the Messiah.  Based on a dream, Pilate’s wife sent as warning to him to have nothing to do with that righteous man, Jesus.  

The religious leaders used their influence to encourage the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas.  When Pilate asked what should be done with Jesus, the crowd said he should be crucified.  When Pilate asked them what evil Jesus had done, the crowd shouted, “Let him be crucified!”  In a symbolic gesture, Pilate washed his hands in an effort to absolve himself of any responsibility for Jesus’ death.  The crowd then accepted responsibility for the death of Jesus.  They did not understand the gravity of their rejection of Jesus. They were rejecting the opportunity for salvation, they remained in their spiritual blindness and hardness of heart, and they were collectively culpable for the greatest injustice in human history.  However, their rejection of Jesus resulted in the redemption and salvation of all who truly accepted Jesus.

Pilate released Barabbas and had Jesus scourged which usually involved tying the victim to a post or pillar and using a whip with multiple tails, often embedded with sharp pieces of metal, bone, or glass, to inflict maximum pain and damage to the victim's body.  The Roman soldiers mocked him, crowned him with thorns, struck him, spat upon him, and ridiculed him.  Then they led him off to be crucified.  

Almighty God, grant us the courage to stand firm in our faith even in the midst of unjust accusations and cruel mockery.  Help us to be silent in adversity and to find strength in the suffering of Christ knowing that he has earned for us victory over death.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.