The King Before the Kings Text: Luke 23:1-7
Introduction: The Collision of Governments
We have now come to the point where the kingdom of God is formally put on trial by the kingdoms of men. And we must be very clear about what is happening here. This is not simply a legal proceeding; it is a clash of governments, a collision of two entirely different claims to authority. On the one hand, you have the Sanhedrin, the religious government of the Jews, and on the other, you have Pontius Pilate, the representative of the civil government of Rome. Both of them are exercising a delegated, temporary, and ultimately flimsy authority. And standing before them is the One to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given.
The modern world, and particularly the modern church, wants to separate religion and politics into two hermetically sealed containers. We are told that faith is a private matter, something for the quiet of your own heart, and that it must not be allowed to bleed over into the public square. But this passage, like the rest of Scripture, spits on that idea. The charges brought against Jesus are intensely political because the claims of Jesus are intensely political. He is not a king of pious sentiments; He is the King of the Jews, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. His Lordship extends over every square inch of creation, including the governor's mansion in Caesarea and the Temple courts in Jerusalem. The men judging Him think they are the ones in charge, but in reality, they are the ones on trial. And their verdict on Jesus will reveal God's verdict on them.
This is a courtroom drama where the prisoner in the dock is actually the judge on the bench. Every word, every accusation, every cowardly evasion is being recorded. The Sanhedrin, in their hatred, and Pilate, in his cynical pragmatism, are both playing their assigned parts in a divine script they cannot read. They believe they are exercising power, when in fact they are simply fulfilling prophecy and sealing their own doom.
The Text
Then their whole assembly rose up and brought Him before Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King." So Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him and said, "You yourself say it." Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no guilt in this man." But they kept on insisting, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place." Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem in those days.
(Luke 23:1-7 LSB)
The Unholy Alliance (v. 1)
The first verse sets the stage for this political confrontation.
"Then their whole assembly rose up and brought Him before Pilate." (Luke 23:1 LSB)
Notice the phrase "their whole assembly." This is the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel. The Sadducees, who were the liberal, collaborating elite, and the Pharisees, who were the conservative, separatist legalists, were perpetually at each other's throats. They disagreed on the resurrection, on angels, on the authority of tradition. But here, they are in perfect, harmonious unity. What could possibly bring these bitter rivals together? A shared hatred for the Son of God.
This is a fundamental principle of rebellion against God. The world is fractured and divided, full of tribalisms and enmities, but it will always find common cause in its opposition to Christ. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and to the fallen world, Jesus Christ is the ultimate enemy. They had their own illegal, nocturnal trial, and now, having condemned Him for blasphemy, they march Him to the Roman governor. Why? Because under Roman occupation, they did not have the authority to carry out a death sentence. They need the state's sword to do their dirty work. This is what happens when the church seeks power through the arm of the state instead of the power of the gospel. It becomes a murderous accomplice.
The Calculated Slander (v. 2)
Having brought Jesus to Pilate, they must now change the charge sheet. Pilate couldn't care less about Jewish blasphemy laws. That's a religious squabble. To get Pilate's attention, they need to frame Jesus as a political threat to Rome.
"And they began to accuse Him, saying, 'We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.'" (Luke 23:2 LSB)
Look at the cunning malice in these three charges. First, "misleading our nation." This is gloriously ironic. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the professional religious leaders, the guardians of the truth, accuse Him of deception. What they mean is that He was leading the nation away from their authority, away from their corrupt and man-made system.
Second, "forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar." This is a flat-out, demonstrable lie. It is weapons-grade hypocrisy. These are the same men who tried to trap Jesus with this very issue. When they asked Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, He famously replied, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Luke 20:25). They knew He had said this. So, in order to kill their Messiah, these fiercely nationalistic Jews are now pretending to be zealous watchdogs for the Roman IRS. They are feigning loyalty to the pagan empire they despise in order to murder the King they should adore.
Third, "saying that He Himself is Christ, a King." This is the one charge that is actually true, but they present it in a way that is calculated to be misunderstood. They are translating a theological claim into a political one. They are telling Pilate, "This man is a revolutionary, a zealot, a rival to Caesar." They are accusing Jesus of wanting to be the kind of king they themselves secretly wanted, a political strongman who would throw off the Roman yoke. They project their own carnal ambitions onto Him and then condemn Him for it.
The Question and the Answer (v. 3)
Pilate, a seasoned Roman politician, cuts right to the heart of the matter. He ignores the fluff and focuses on the one charge that matters to him: sedition.
"So Pilate asked Him, saying, 'Are You the King of the Jews?' And He answered him and said, 'You yourself say it.'" (Luke 23:3 LSB)
Pilate's question is dripping with Roman scorn. "You? This beaten, bound peasant from Galilee? You are the King of the Jews?" He is looking for a simple yes or no that will allow him to classify Jesus as either a harmless crank or a dangerous revolutionary.
Jesus's answer is masterful. "You yourself say it." This is not an evasion. It is a qualified affirmation. He is saying, "The words you have spoken are true, but you have no idea what they actually mean." He is a King, yes, but not in the way a Roman governor could ever understand. John's gospel gives us the expanded version: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). His kingdom is not established by swords and legions, but by truth and grace. With this answer, Jesus affirms His identity without playing by the rules of their political game. He forces the title of "King" to stand, compelling Pilate to deal with the truth of it, however he understands it.
The Pagan's Verdict and the Priests' Persistence (v. 4-5)
Pilate, for all his faults, is not an idiot. He can smell a trumped-up charge when he sees one. He has dealt with real insurrectionists, and Jesus does not fit the profile.
"Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, 'I find no guilt in this man.' But they kept on insisting, saying, 'He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place.'" (Luke 23:4-5 LSB)
Here we have the official verdict of the Roman Empire: Not Guilty. A pagan ruler, a man of the world, examines the evidence and declares Jesus innocent. This is a staggering indictment of the religious leaders. The world's justice, as corrupt as it is, can see the truth that the spiritual leaders, blinded by envy and hatred, cannot. This verdict of innocence was crucial in God's plan, for the sacrifice for sin had to be a spotless lamb, without blemish.
But the assembly will not be deterred by a minor inconvenience like the truth. Their response to the verdict is not to offer new evidence, but simply to increase the volume. "They kept on insisting." Their case is not based on facts, but on ferocious desire. "He stirs up the people." And of course, He did. The gospel always "stirs up" a world that is fast asleep in its sin. The truth is never neutral; it is a sword that divides. They trace His path of "stirring up" from Galilee all the way to Jerusalem, and in doing so, they unwittingly hand Pilate the political escape hatch he was looking for.
The Coward's Exit (v. 6-7)
Pilate hears the word "Galilee" and his ears perk up. This is his chance to get this messy, inconvenient case off his desk.
"Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem in those days." (Luke 23:6-7 LSB)
This is the act of a man who knows what is right but is unwilling to do it. Pilate has already declared Jesus innocent. The just and courageous course of action would be to release Him and tell the Sanhedrin to go pound sand. But that would be politically costly. It would anger the local leadership and might cause a riot during Passover, which would look bad on his report to Tiberius.
So, he passes the buck. He abdicates his responsibility under the guise of following jurisdictional protocol. Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, was in town for the feast. Let him handle his own subject. This is political cowardice dressed up as administrative procedure. Pilate is not seeking justice; he is seeking an exit. He wants to wash his hands of the whole affair. But what he fails to realize is that you cannot be neutral about Jesus Christ. To refuse to acquit an innocent man is to participate in his condemnation. Pilate's attempt to avoid a verdict is, in itself, a verdict on his own character.
Conclusion: The Unshakable Kingdom
In this sordid little scene, we see the kingdoms of this world in all their pathetic glory. We see the kingdom of corrupt religion, which uses lies and feigned piety to murder the truth. We see the kingdom of secular politics, which is cynical, cowardly, and concerned only with preserving its own power and stability. Both of them, the religious and the secular, stand united in their opposition to the true King.
They thought they were cornering Jesus, but they were actually cornering themselves. They thought they were putting Him on trial, but He was putting them on trial. And the great joke, the divine irony, is that their very actions, their lies, their political maneuvering, their cowardice, were the very means by which God was establishing His kingdom. They handed Jesus over to be crucified, thinking it was their victory. But the cross was not a Roman execution stake; it was the throne of the King of the universe. It was from that cross that He would disarm the principalities and powers, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by it (Colossians 2:15).
The government of this world rests on the shoulders of men like the chief priests and Pilate. But the government of the new world, the unshakable kingdom, rests on the shoulders of the One they condemned. And of the increase of His government and of peace, there will be no end.