NL 430: Jesus and Pilate

image: ""What is truth?" Christ and Pilate", Nicolai Ge, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

John 18:28-40

March 27, 2022

John 18:28-40

Initial Thoughts

  • Direct continuation of the Passion from last week - we move from Peter’s denial and the questioning of the Jewish leaders to Pilate

  • We are now firmly in Good Friday from now till Easter

  • Today’s reading contains the first 3 scenes of the 7 which encompass Jesus’ trial before Pilate, the other 4 scenes are next week’s reading

    • This week: John 18:28-32, 33-38a, 38b-40

    • Next week: John 19:1-3, 4-8, 8-11, 12-16

Bible Study

  • Who was Pilate?

    • “Pilate was of an uncompromising nature and a bully (cf. Josephus, War II, 169–177; Antiquities XVIII, 55–62; 85–89). The softer picture of him which John shares with the Synoptics may result from early Christian attempts to gain concessions from the empire.” Gerard Stephen Sloyan, John: Interpretation, p. 204.

  • Scene 1 - John 18:28-32 - conversation between Jewish leaders and Pilate

    • Ritual defilement - associating with Gentiles before the Passover

    • The Jewish leaders once again refuse to name the charge - they only state Jesus’ guilt

    • Perhaps this is because they are worried Rome will retaliate against all the Jewish people (cf John 11:47-53)

    • Unlike the synoptics - there is no blasphemy change brought against Jesus - he is not charged at all

    • Is it true that Jews were “not permitted to put anyone to death”? This is disputed by several scholars, but most agree the point is to show the collaboration of the Jewish leaders and Rome in Jesus’ execution

      • While Acts seems to indicate the Sanhedrin did have the power to carry out capital sentences - this is disputed

  • Scene 2 - John 18:33-38a

    • Another call back (like last week) to John 10:4 - the sheep know the shepherd’s voice. This are the only two places in the Gospel where voice and listen are paired together

    • King of the Jews- literally, the King of the Judeans. While there were Jewish Kings (like the puppet Jewish King, Herod Antipas in Galilee) there was no King of the Jews. The term King of Israel (cf. John 1:49) had no meaning to the Romans (Israel and Rome were separated by hundreds of years), but Pilate was governor over Judea (Luke 3:1) so Jesus being the King over the Judeans, was a political threat - and the one he would be executed for (John 19:19)

    • Whose voice is Pilate listening to? Whose voice are we listening to?

    • Pilate wants to have a political conversation, Jesus is interested in a theological conversation.

      • “The latter term (basileia) has been allowed as valid in 3:3, 5. Here it is given new meaning. It is the sphere of belief in him who came into the world to testify to the truth (v. 37). This belief is both a hearing and a heeding of Jesus’ voice. Proclaiming the truth, being the truth (cf. 14:6) is what makes him a king. His dwelling is not in some far off land of Platonic exemplars. He comes from, and brings a knowledge of, a world that is real with the reality of God.” Gerard Stephen Sloyan, John: Interpretation, p. 206.

    • “Listening to Jesus’ voice is representative of being in relationship with Jesus”, Karoline Lewis, John: Fortress Preaching Biblical Commentary, p.224

    • “Handed over to the Jews” - Jesus is NOT handed over to the Jews, but to the empire who crucify him

    • “What is truth?” exposes Pilate’s ignorance to who Jesus is, “that is the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

      • “The Fourth Evangelist portrays both ‘the Jews’ and Pilate as those who have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear. Jesus - the truth and the light- stands before them, and they are so caught up in their own political fog that they are unable to see God’s new thing in their midst.” (Barbara Essex, Feasting on the Gospels, John, volume 2,  p. 273)

  • Scene 3 - John 19:38b-40

    • The release of Barabbas would be humorous if no so tragic

    • There is no historical evidence that a prisoner was released at the Passover (outside of the biblical narrative).

    • Bar-abbas, lit. means “son of the father” - so Pilate asks “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews” (a title he gave to Jesus, not one that Jesus ever claimed) and the people shout, “Not this man! Give us the son of the father!” - the tragic irony is nearly overwhelming.

    • We often think this is a crowd shouting to crucify him - but no crowd is mentioned here. “John conceives of them as a small band of dedicated antagonists against all that Jesus stands for.” Gerard Stephen Sloyan, John: Interpretation. p. 207.

    • Barabbas is not lifted up by Pilate but by the Jewish authorities, and he is described here as a bandit, which, again, calls back to John 10.

      • This description of a bandit, may not be the highway robber kind of bandit, but a social revolutionary - potentially a man who was guilty of sedition. This is how the Jewish historian Josephus used the word “bandit”. See Adele Reinhartz, “John”, Jewish Annotated New Testament, p.213

      • “The Greek word “lestes” points more to a revolutionary than a thief. Bandits in first-century Palestine resisted Roman oppression and often resorted to violence and murder. For the masses, bandits were heroes, because they took decisive action to overthrow Roman dominance.” (Barbara Essex, Feasting on the Gospels, John, volume 2,  p. 273)

Thoughts and Questions

  • A good time to answer/discuss/explore the question - why did Jesus die? Who killed Jesus? And to directly expose and dismantle the anti-semitic messages of these passages.

  • Whose voice are we listening to? What truth are we believing in?

Year 4Eric FistlerJohnComment