Luke chapter 23

vs 12

It's nice that there's a happy ending for these two. They become friends through mocking the son of God. Well done to them. I'm sure the rest of their lives will go past without anything bad happening.

vs 13

Ok, that's a pretty big gathering.

vs 14

And he announces that Jesus is not guilty. Again. And this time, he does it publicly. That's shrewd politics. The jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate early in the morning, obviously before too many people were around. Pilate now wants to see if they'll stick to their guns in front of all the people.

vs 15

Pilate also states an independent source - that Herod has found nothing against this man either.

vs 16

Like I said, Pilate doesn't want to get used by the jewish leaders, but he also wants to keep them stable and non-rebellious. He's not trying to protect Jesus - he's trying to protect himself. So he offers to flog Jesus a bit, rough him up. Surely that will make them happy.

(vs 17 apparently doesn't exist in the most trustworthy manuscripts)

vs 18

It would seem that the jewish leaders had been at work. Remember, they wanted to arrest Jesus by night, so that the people wouldn't see. In the space of one day, they have turned the people against him. Who knows how - Lies? I can tell you stories about how in Pakistan, one person tells a lie about another person regarding blasphemy, and that person gets beaten and sometimes even killed. People get really passionate about this sort of thing.

vs 19

How they convinced them to want Barabbas, I can't say. Unless of course, by murder, they mean he murdered a roman soldier or something. That kind of person would be a bit of a hero to some.

vs 20

Pilate is a little worried now. Having everyone shouting against his will is a bad thing. Luke says he wants to release Jesus. But that doesn't mean that he wants to for the sake of justice, or for the sake of Jesus. More likely, as I say, for the sake of being the one in power.

vs 21

Nasty. This sort of thing just doesn't happen anymore. We don't have protests where the entire population comes out, and they didn't have crowd control that didn't involve swords and spears. No one wants to order a massacre. It's not that Pilate would never do it (there are at least two recorded in Josephus, and even Jesus talks about one). But you don't want to if you don't have to.

vs 22

Pilate seeks to put his foot down here. He states bluntly that Jesus is not guilty of anything, and he does not suggest, he commands that he will have him punished and then released. But by now, I think even he knows that he's losing this battle.