“And the whole multitude of them arose and led him to Pilate.” Luke 23:1

What we see in this action is little compared with that Jesus saw in it and what He suffered on account of it.

The accounts of Jesus’ suffering are detailed. They are lengthy compared with many other accounts of His deeds. The purpose of the detail no doubt is to concentrate our attention on His suffering and His amazing love in coming to save us.

There are various phases of His suffering. One appears in His agony in Gethsemane. Another phase we find in His trial before Annas and Caiaphas. Here He enters another one, quite different from the others, as He is led to Pilate. Surely the trial by Pilate and the subsequent verdict is not just a “rubber–stamping” of what had taken place before.

But how is this different and why is this important?

First of all we must see who Pilate was. He was a Roman ruler over Judea. Even secular history tells us this. In this position he was also a representative of the Roman empire. All that is further done with our Lord is really done by the authorities of the Roman government. And when Israel, the favored nation of the Lord in history, leads its Messiah to this world power, it is asking the world to condemn Him to death.

He came unto His own, but His own received Him not. Worse than that, they brought Him to the world to have it condemn Him now and for all time.

He was the man of sorrows, acquainted with much grief especially in these events. He underwent it willingly, giving Himself to go the way of atonement. Out of love.

Rome was a world power. Strictly speaking, only one of the many that had already existed. Daniel speaks of several of them. He speaks of four beasts, the lion, the bear, the leopard and the fourth, a most terrible one. These are world powers, and mighty they were. We recall also the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, in which the different parts represent the different empires throughout the ages. Historically, they were Assyria, Babylon, and the Mede and Persian empire, Greece and Rome.

And what is the history of all these powers?

They take counsel against God and His Anointed One throughout the ages (Ps. 2). They are “pitted” against the church, the woman of Revelation 12.

Think of the power of Egypt, the land of bondage for more than 400 years. Egypt tried to destroy the church with the drowning of all the baby boys, thereby preventing the ultimate birth of the Christ child. That was the devil’s purpose in this Egyptian policy, but God by almighty grace and with miraculous power, delivered Israel. Think of the plagues and the deliverance through the Red Sea. Israel plainly owed all of its existence to the gracious faithfulness of its Lord. Constantly, as a result the Israelites had to hear, until it “rang in their ears,” I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, this horrible world power. It was almighty grace alone that saved helpless Israel.

In all this God shows them their blessed Savior, Christ to come. It was through Him that all this was done. Think of and see Christ in the Passover, instituted in Egypt, Christ in the deliverance with the Red Sea, and in the many miracles that followed in the desert, the manna, the pillar of cloud, the sacrifices, the water out of the rock. All pointed to what Christ was doing for them, God in His love, having delivered them from this dreadful world power of Egypt, continued that deliverance in their desert journey. Israel owed its existence to the mercies of God in Christ. And look what happens here . . . . Can you believe it? The Israelites lead Him back to the world, here the power of Rome, which basically is no different from Egypt. They are enroute to the old house of bondage, to take upon themselves again the former yoke and lose all their right of separate existence as the people of God. Christ’s “yoke is easy and His burden is light.” The greatest blessings that any mortal can ever receive is to bear this yoke, fearing the Lord in love and being filled with His Spirit, of love, peace and life. But this, Israel rejects, preferring to bend their necks under the cruel yoke of the devil.

One can look at the nations of the world also from another viewpoint. Daniel and the book of Revelation call them beasts. Notice, they are not called animals, but beasts, creatures that are fierce, that destroy mercilessly and ruthlessly.

And the whole multitude (not just a few of them) led Him to Pilate! Isn’t this one of the most outrageous deeds of all time?

Not once, but again and again godless world powers tried to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. But who prevented this and saved them? The Davids, the Hezekiahs, and many others? No, basically it was God’s mercy in Christ that saved them. Christ really saved them also then. God’s mercy was from everlasting to everlasting upon His people.

And they led Him to Pilate!

Wouldn’t we expect the earth to open up also here, as it did in the desert, and swallow them all up?

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me: but God meant it for good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive.” So Joseph spoke to his brothers long ago. Again and again this happened to and for Israel throughout the ages. This, of course, is always true for God’s people (Romans 8:28), but here it is true in a very special way. Through the present way Jesus will make payment for sins, the s ins of His people, all believers.

And it will be done “through” Pontius Pilate.

Don’t we confess again and again that He suffered under Pontius Pilate? Why is this mentioned? What does Pilate have to do with God’s plans?

There are at least two reasons.

First of all, the Savior of sinners must die the death of the cross, the death that is accursed of God. The Jews could “only” stone people in inflicting capital punishment. But Rome used the method of the awful, indescribable cross. Christ must become a curse for us. And so the Lord “meant it for good” that he be led to Pilate.

Is the death of Jesus to be carried out solely within the narrow confines of the house of Israel, this little nation, or is it to “include” all of the earth in its sweep, including the whole heathen world? Is the brazen serpent here to be raised only in the restricted and degraded area of t he malicious Jews, or is Jesus, as the counterpart of the brazen serpent, to be raised on the horizon of all nations and of all men?

The answer of Scripture is obvious. He must be lifted up before all men (John 12). All flesh must see the Son of Man in His death. He must have worldwide “publicity.” The records of the Sanhedrin are all altogether too small. He must have a “name” in the annals of the history of the world. The whole world must see and hear of this crucified One.

Rome was the world power of that day. What happened in Rome was made known throughout the world. God wanted all the “TV channels of Rome and the radio stations” to make this known to the whole world. Surely this would have happened literally if they would have had this kind of mass media in that day.

This universal “publicity” was one of the Divine purposes of Jesus being led to and being condemned by Pontius Pilate. If this hadn‘t happened, we as Gentiles, would never have heard of Him and learned to know Him as our Savior.

And so as the Savior who was lifted up before the entire world He can still say, and does say with a voice that is heard unto the ends of the world, “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

And they led Him to Pilate. In spite of and through their sins, God shows us His amazing love and wisdom. Thank you, Lord, always.