Daily Devotions
John
John 18:28-40 "BEFORE PONTIUS PILATE"
Day 284 – John 18
BEFORE PONTIUS PILATE
Two hurried trials – both conducted hurriedly because it was already late in the night. Both trials saw Jesus being beaten and humiliated by His captors.
Silently and with great dignity Jesus bore the insults. He had taken the cup from His Father, and He determined that He would drink till He had emptied the cup, no matter how bitter the cup.
What could have been in Jesus’ mind as He bore the pain and the indignity of being beaten up? Perhaps, Isaiah’s prophecy came to mind.
“The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.”
Isaiah 50:5-7
Jesus must have focused on His Father and His Lordship and thus drew strength to cope with the suffering that He was to endure. More suffering was in sight!
Caiaphas sent Jesus to Pontius Pilate to be tried under Roman Law. The death penalty could only be pronounced by the Roman governor, and not by the Sanhedrin Council.
“Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the
Praetorium, and it was early morning.
But they themselves did not go into the
Praetorium, lest they should be defiled,
but that they might eat the Passover.”
John 18:28
WHAT IS THE PRAETORIUM?
This is a Latin loan word. It may be used to refer to a tent of the commanding officer in the battlefield. It may also be used to refer to the headquarters of the military governor such as Pontius Pilate.
In normal circumstances, Pilate’s official residence was at Caesarea. However, on occasions like the Passover, where Jerusalem could have as many as half a million visitors, the governor would take up residence in the city.
The Tower Antonia, a mighty fortress built north-west of the Temple was a Roman stronghold. In honour of the emperor Mark Anthony, Herod the Great built this magnificent military stronghold. The Tower Antonia had very high, virtually impregnable walls. It had a commanding view of the city.
The Praetorium was simply the residence of the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate. If there were any trial to be conducted, he would do it at the Praetorium.
EARLY MORNING TRIAL
The Romans began their day early in the morning. The official time the Romans began their day was 6.00am! Imagine Jesus being kept up the whole night by Annas and Caiaphas, and then marched to see Pilate in the “early morning”.
CEREMONIAL RITUALS METICULOUSLY OBSERVED
The Jews had no qualms about beating up Jesus and humiliating Him. However, they had reservations about entering into the Praetorium, the headquarters of Pontius Pilate! To enter into the Praetorium would mean that they had stepped into the home of a Gentile! That would mean that they would be ceremonially unclean. That would also mean that they could not celebrate the Passover, because they would be ritually unclean!
We are surely reminded of the word in Isaiah where God declared that He was weary of the ritualistic worship that Israel kept offering to Him.
“To what purpose is the multitude of your
sacrifices to me?
Says the Lord.
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling
of assemblies –
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.”
Isaiah 1:11-15
Several centuries ago, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed this message and taught the people that God did not delight in mere ritualistic worship! If their lives were wicked, the mere observance of religious requirements would not be acceptable to God!
The Jews who made up the highest religious council of Israel had just humiliated Jesus by beating Him up! They had made sport of Him! They thought nothing of that, but were fastidious in their hypocritical keeping of their man-made laws; they were determined that they would not defile themselves by entering into the Praetorium of Pontius Pilate! He would have to come out to them to conduct the trial of Jesus.