Luke 23:6-17--Jesus Before Herod

Luke 23:6-16
English Standard Version

Jesus Before Herod
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

​13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16 I will therefore punish and release him.”

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As we mentioned last time, Pilate did not find any guilt with Jesus, and even believed Jesus might be a king, but what is a king with no kingdom, no army, and no subjects?  Certain even if Jesus claimed to be king, He was nothing for the Romans to fear, and it didn't make sense why the Jews would fear Him.  Now Rome had split their territories up that there were different governors/kings in charge of different areas (all were subject to the emperor though).  Pilate oversaw the areas we know as Judea and Samaria, but the area of Galilee where Jesus lived and did most of His ministry was under the authority of the son of Herod the Great (Herod the Great was the one that put an addition onto the Temple and why they called this Temple "Herod's Temple" even though it was built by Zerubbabel during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.  Herod the Great was also the one who gave the order to kill all the male babies two years old and younger after the wise men came looking for the one born King of the Jews in Matthew 2).  Now Herod the Great's Son, Herod Antipas, isn't much better, for it is this Herod who had an affair with his brother's wife and allowed for the situation that led to John the Baptist's beheading in Matthew 14.

Now, Herod Antipas was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover because he was a practicing Jew, even though his father was an Edomite put into power by the Romans and given the title of "King of the Jews" by the Romans who did not understand the Old Testament and how the Edomites were usually the enemies of the Jewish people and that God had cursed the Edomites.  Now God is going to use one of the last descendants of the Edomites as part of His plan to have Jesus, His firstborn Son, go through the same kinds of persecutions that Israel (also called God's "firstborn son" in the Old Testament) went through as Jesus was tested in every way like Israel was (and like all of us are), yet without any sin.  He too would be betrayed not just by the nations of the world, but by His own people and even His own family--for His "brothers" and "sisters" (the children of Joseph and Mary) did not believe that He was the Christ until after the resurrection and they may have even been among those in Jerusalem calling for His crucifixion.

We see a mixed bag from Herod Antipas as he for the most part as left Jesus alone, yet in Luke 13 the Pharisees let Jesus know of a plan by Herod and his followers, the Herodians to kill Jesus.  Jesus doesn't seem scared by Herod and says that He knows His time is short when He says, "Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.  Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem." (Luke 13:32-33).  Jesus knows it is all part of God's plan for Herod to be involved in what will lead to His death, but Jesus knows this will end in His resurrection on the third day, and that this is the miracle that Herod needs to be watching for, since Herod was so involved with Jesus' miracles and signs.  In fact, we see that infatuation in today's text where Herod was happy to see Jesus at first as Herod wanted Jesus to perform some sign or miracle for him for his entertainment, but Jesus did not do magic tricks for people to be entertained.  The miracles that Jesus did were to glorify the Father and to help proclaim the gospel.  Since this would do neither of these things, Jesus refused, and that made Herod became quite angry.

Herod decided to question Jesus himself at some length and listened to the vehement accusations of the Sanhedrin during this hearing, yet Jesus did not open His mouth once to answer any of Herod's questions of any of the Sanhedrin's accusations against Him.  This was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7:


Isaiah 53:7
English Standard Version
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
So, Herod was unable to find any fault with Jesus as the Jews brought no real testimony or evidence against Him, and Jesus did not open His mouth to incriminate Himself.  However, Herod was upset that Jesus seemed to not recognize his authority and would not so what Herod had asked, so Herod along with  his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and mocked Him.  They arrayed Jesus in "splendid clothing" like that which would be worn by a king, and sent Him back to Pilate with the message that Herod found to fault with Him.  This agreement with Pilate's decision and the way in which Herod decided to humiliate Jesus but not kill Him sparked a new friendship between Herod Antipas and Pilate where before they had been enemies of each other.

Pilate then calls the accusers of Jesus here called "the chief priests, the rulers, and the people."  Luke is making it clear the chief priests are the ones who are behind all of this as they are at the top of the list of the accusers, and Pilate knows it too.  He tells them that after thorough examination by both himself and Herod, that neither he nor Herod found Jesus to be guilty of any charges that this group had brought against Him.  Pilate specifically says that He had done nothing deserving of death and that Pilate's intent is simply to "punish" Jesus (beat Him within an inch of His life without killing Him probably) in order to satisfy the people, and then release Him.

We'll see next time that this will not satisfy the people and the chief priests and rulers will stir the people up to cry all the louder for Jesus to be crucified.  Pilate is going to give into them for fear of a riot (for the Jews have rioted before in the past, and they are known to get stirred up around the time of Passover which is their celebration of freedom and independence).  The chief priests and Sanhedrin will use political extortion  when their other legal avenues have been exhausted and they will threaten to tell Caesar that Pilate let someone live who was an insurrectionist and they would riot and make sure that Pilate would get deposed and most likely recalled to be made to disappear in a political prison or be executed (and the ends would be the same as the Roman governors would rather commit suicide in honor than to be shamed by being found unfit and either thrown in prison or executed).