From the court case before Pilato, how Christ was accused and finally condemned.
Matth. 27, 11-31.
And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest so. And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how sore they accuse thee? And he answered him not a word, so that even the governor marvelled greatly. At the feast, the governor was in the habit of releasing a prisoner to the people, as they wished. At that time he had one prisoner in particular, whose name was Barabbas. And when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them: Which one do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus, who is said to be the Christ? For he knew well that they had delivered him up out of envy. And when he sat upon the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with this righteous man: for I have suffered much this day in a dream on his account. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the people that they should ask for Barabbas and kill JEsum. Then the governor answered and said unto them: Which of these two do you want me to release to you? They said: Barabbam. Pilate said unto them: What then shall I do with JEsu, who is said to be Christ? They all said, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, What evil hath he done? But they cried out still more, saying: Let him be crucified. But when Pilate saw that he did nothing, but that there was a great tumult, he took water, and washed his hands before the people, and said: I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; you see. Then all the people answered and said, His blood be upon us, and upon our children. Then he released Barabbam to them, but he scourged Jesus and delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took JEsum into the judgment house, and gathered the whole company together against him. And they went
And they stripped him, and put a purple robe upon him, and wove a crown of thorns, and put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand, and bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews. And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote his head therewith. *) And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of his robe, and put on his garments, and led him away to crucify him.
In the next sermon, your beloved heard the trial that was held with our Lord Christ before the high priest. Now follows, after they brought it before Pilate, what happened there. But because the evangelists are somewhat unequal in this piece and do not remember all the pieces in order, but one indicates one thing and the other another; it is necessary to draw the whole story together from all four, and to tell how it all happened, one after the other.
(2) Then John the evangelist first says, When they brought Jesus from Caiphas' house very early to the judgment house, they would not go in, lest they should be defiled, but should eat at Easter. Because they were considered unclean and had to separate themselves from others who were about to enter a house where someone had died, they were afraid that the blood would harm them, because it was judged in that house. And did not think, the blind people, that this would be a far greater sin, shedding innocent blood.
We also find such holiness in our papists, who consider it a much lesser sin to persecute and strangle poor Christians for the sake of the gospel than to eat meat on Friday or eggs during the week of martyrdom. The latter they do lightly, as if nothing much mattered. But here, since it is not a sin at all, but only a human commandment, they have a heavy conscience about it.
Since the holy people do not want to enter, Pilate must go out to them and ask them what accusation they bring against the Lord Jesus. They answer boldly and proudly: "If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him to you. Just as if they were so conscientious and
*Marginal gloss: "Notice how the little word Christ is always used to testify to the Jews about them.
pious that one should not presume to them that they are doing something wrong.
005 But Pilate met them very delicately, saying, Take him, and judge him according to your law. As if he wanted to say, "We Romans do not have such a custom that we strangle someone without prior knowledge. If it is right with you Jews, you may kill him; I will not do it. So you can see how the Jews, after they have discussed everything according to necessity, still do not trust themselves; they are afraid that the accusation will not hold the sting.
006 Nevertheless the Jews will not leave this unsaid, for it grieveth them greatly: therefore they answer, We may not kill any man. As if to say, If we had the power, it should not have reached you; but this office is taken from us, and given to you; therefore think, and come after it.
(7) John adds, "With this word is fulfilled the word of Jesus, which he said when he foretold the death he would die. For he had foretold them how he would be delivered to the Gentiles, Matth. 20, Luc. 18.
(9) As the pope, bishops, monks and priests are doing today with the holy gospel, they all blame it for being a rebellious doctrine; if one watches and does not resist, secular authorities will come into contempt and no one will give anything to them. Do not be sorry for this; thank God that you know that they, as the peelers, are lying, and that the gospel has to do with other and higher things, namely: that it teaches how you are to be freed from sins and come to eternal life, only through faith in the Son of God. This is what the gospel teaches you; it does not want to have anything to do with worldly things, it leaves them as God has arranged them through worldly authority.
(10) Now when Pilate hears the accusation, he does not immediately burst upon it, but, as John says, he goes into the judgment house, and having brought Jesus before him, asks him, saying, "Art thou then king of the Jews?" Jesus answers, "Do you say this of yourself, or did others say it to you about me?" As if to say, Ah, if it were without mine enemies, thou wouldst soon have excused me. For this I know, thou regardest me ever for no king, nor for such a one as would stir up sedition. Pilate answers, "Am I a Jew? Your people and the chief priests have delivered you up to me. What have you done?" Jesus answers, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight to keep me from being delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from hence." Then Pilate said again, "So you are still a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king; I was born for this purpose and came into the world to testify to the truth. He that is of the truth heareth my voice." Pilate says, "What is truth?"
(11) As if to say: If you are only a king who should testify to the truth, one should not worry about you, you will do little harm to the emperor; one cares little for the truth, it goes begging. He who can lie, deceive, steal, comes to something.
012 Pilate, when he had sufficiently interrogated the Lord, went forth again to the
Jews, and said, "I find no fault in him, I find no cause in this man." But the Jews, as Lucas reports, continued, saying: He has stirred up the people by teaching to and fro throughout all the land of Judaea, beginning in Galilee and ending here." Pilate therefore, hearing of Galilee, asked, Whether he were of Galilee? And when he heard that he belonged to Herod's authority, he sent him to Herod, who was also at Jerusalem in those days. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he would have liked to see him long ago, for he had heard much about him and hoped to see a sign from him. But he answered him nothing. The chief priests and the scribes stopped him and accused him severely. But Herod with his court despised and mocked him, put a white robe on him, and sent him to Pilate again. And Pilate and Herod became friends with one another that day, for before they were enemies.
(13) Someone might wonder why the Lord speaks to Pilate in this way and gives good news, but will not answer a word to Herod, who was king in Galilee. But it really happened because Herod was such a wicked man, and yet a great hypocrite. For he had St. John the Baptist strangled the other day, and lived in public scandal because he had his brother Philip's wife with him, and yet pretended to be very pious. That is why the Lord calls him a fox in the Gospel, because there is nothing good but fur, a wicked and yet very cunning animal. Such people are not worth dealing with; they are not serious. They are scoffers who consider the gospel to be a jugglery and Christians to be great fools who, for the sake of faith, burden themselves with great lords and set their own in motion. Therefore let everyone be content with such people, and give them neither speech nor answer, as Christ does to Herod here.
14 But just as Pilate and Herod became friends over Christ the Lord, who were enemies before, so it is still seen today.
day. Everything is put together against the gospel, which otherwise cannot stand together. No bishop can get along with the other, no order is friendly to the other. The princes cannot be satisfied with each other. Each one wants to be the best, to have the advantage, and to oppress and dampen others. But when Christ comes between them, and wants to bring forth his gospel, then they all become one, and are the best of friends, putting goods and blood together, as David prophesied long before in the other psalm. When the Lord of Herod was led to Pilate again, Pilate, says Lucas, called the chief priests and the rulers of the people together again and said: "You have brought this man to me as the one who turns away the people. And behold, I have questioned him before you, and find none in the man of the things of which ye accuse him; neither Herod. For I sent you to him, and, behold, nothing worthy of death has been brought upon him. Therefore will I chasten him, and let him go." For he had to release one to them according to the custom of the feast.
15 And at that time in Frohnfesten there was a confessed murderer and rebel, Barabbas. Pilate placed him next to Christ and gave the Jews the choice, hoping that no one would ask for Barabbas, as he would have been responsible for his death. But Matthew says: "The chief priests and elders persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas. Because of this, the whole crowd cried out and said, "Take this man away and let us have Barabbam," who had been thrown into prison because of a riot that had taken place in the city and because of a murder. Pilate called to them again and wanted to release Jesus. But they cried out, saying, Crucify him. And he said unto them the third time, What evil hath this man done? I find no cause of death in him; therefore will I chasten him, and let him go." But they lay before him with a great cry, and demanded that he should be crucified.
016 Now when Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, Matthew says that his wife sent to him and told him: He should not do anything with
She had suffered much on his account in the dream. This was also an excellent warning, no doubt from a good angel, who in the dream of Pilate's wife showed what misfortune and misery Pilate would bring upon himself and his own, where he would hang the Jew and strangle the innocent man on her arrest. But as the warning to Judah was in vain and in vain, so it did not help Pilate in the end. However, he saves himself for a while. And since it did not work out to leave him alone (everyone would allow the murderer his life, but they wanted Christ, the innocent man, dead), Pilate tried again and took Jesus and called him to be scourged. Then Pilate's soldiers gathered the whole crowd, took Jesus into the judgment house, stripped him and scourged him. Then they put a purple robe on him, wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand instead of a scepter, bowed their knees to him, mocked him and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!"They spat in his face, struck him on the head with the reed, and gave him cheek strokes; in sum, the wicked countrymen did all they could against the pious Lord Jesus, no doubt to the service of the Jews, who had thus instigated it.
(17) Now it was the custom of the Romans, before they put away the evildoers, to behead them first; for which reason Pilate also had Christ scourged. And yet he still has hope, and tries whether he could set him free. He therefore brings Jesus out with him, as the soldiers had beheaded him and dressed him in purple and with a crown of thorns, and says, "Behold, I bring him out again, that you may know that I find no fault in him. Behold what manner of man this is!" As if he wanted to speak: You shall be satisfied with such punishment, because your accusation is so utterly void and his innocence so pure. But this did not help. The chief priests and their servants, as soon as they saw Jesus, and perceived that Pilate was still handling how to set him free, cried out:
"Crucify, crucify!" Pilatum was distressed by such great injustice. For, as Matthew says, he knew well that they had delivered him up out of envy. Therefore he answered them again bluntly, "Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by the law he shall die; for he hath made himself the Son of God." When Pilate hears the word, he is still more afraid, and enters again into the judgment house, and says to JEsu, "From whence art thou?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not speak to me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and to set thee free?" Then Jesus answered and said, "Thou wouldest have no power over me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."
This is also a strong warning. For Pilate is deeply challenged here, and for the sake of his power he lets himself think (as worldly authorities sin a lot with such hopefulness) that the deal is in his hands, he may do or not do what he wants. No, says Christ, Pilate, you do too much for him; be moderate. If thou hast power, thou hast it not from thyself; it cometh down from above. Therefore, if you know how to answer it, you must answer it. Pilate accepts this warning willingly and continues to try to free him.
But the Jews would not, saying, "Let him go, and you are no friend of Caesar. But the Jews would not at all, and cried out, saying, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: for he that maketh himself king is against Caesar."
019 When Pilate heard the word, he brought Jesus forth, and sat him down in the judgment seat, in the place which is called the high place, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation day in the paschal days, about the sixth hour, that is, about noon. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, this is your king"; as if to say, You still remain on the charge, as if he had made himself king. O God! He does not have such a reputation! You do him wrong before God. What is there in him that resembles a king or a rebel? But it was in vain. They shouted: "Away, away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate says to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answer, "We have no king but Caesar." When Pilate therefore saw that he did nothing, but that there was much tumult, he took water, and washed his hands before the people, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye!" Then all the people answered and said, "Let his blood be upon us, and upon our children"; that is, if wrong be done to him, let it be upon us, and upon our children. Then he delivered up to them that he might be crucified. So much was done with the Lord Christ before Pilato.