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Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He answered and said to him, "It is as you say." And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.
- Mark 15:1-11
Yesterday, we read that as Peter was below in the courtyard outside the house of the high priest, on the night when Jesus was being questioned by the Council inside, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth." But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying." And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, "This is one of them." But he denied it again. And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it." Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom you speak!" A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And when he thought about it, he wept.
Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. The Council has proclaimed Jesus guilty of blasphemy, claiming to be one with God (see Monday's reading). The penalty for blasphemy is death under the religious law (Leviticus 24:16), but under Roman occupation it was prohibited that they carry out an execution. The sentence must be pronounced by Pilate, the Roman governor.
Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" The charge against Jesus is political: He's declaring Himself a king, and therefore usurping the power of Rome. Pilate would not carry out an execution over religious matters, but a political crime like this would guarantee a death penalty. If Jesus has declared Himself a worldly king, it would merit a charge of treason against Caesar.
He answered and said to him, "It is as you say." And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. My study bible says that Jesus' answering nothing fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7, which portrays the Messiah being silent as He is led "as sheep to the slaughter."
Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. Barabbas is a nationalist, a political "liberator," one who works through insurrection (rebellion) against the Romans. This earlier of the Gospels tells us that Pilate is aware that the charges against Jesus are trumped up. The meek Jesus who won't proclaim Himself to Pilate isn't the power-hungry man the leadership has portrayed Him to be. The reason is given here: envy. Pilate can see that for himself.
It's interesting to observe the level of political machinations going on here. Some things must always be with us, a part of human nature. Pilate, the Roman governor, knows what politics are. This is what he's used to, home ground. He can understand the motivations of the Council -- the chief priests and the leadership are envious of Jesus and His pull with the people, His appeal, His popularity. It's something they can't manufacture for themselves. Like John the Baptist before Him, He's popular with the common people. There's something genuine about Him, respected as Teacher and Prophet, as a holy man. They bring Him to Pilate on phony charges that Pilate sees right through. He knows what men of power are like. He knows what political manipulation is, and he knows what ambitious men are like. Jesus is certainly like none of them. He won't even reply to the charges made against Him. The chief priests fail to convince Pilate, and Pilate finds an answer. He'll go to the people, the crowds gathered before an execution, now at Passover week, and offer Jesus the clemency he's able to do. But there's more politics going on, and these crowds are stirred up, and probably deliberately gathered in order to represent the wishes of the leaders. Such is politics and political manipulation: same today as it was back then. Pilate the Roman governor knows what it is, and the behavior of political crowds and manipulations really hasn't changed much. Perhaps only our technology and ways to deliver a persuasive message, collect data, analyze demographics, and and create consensus has given more tools. But the political psyche on a personal and crowd level remains pretty much the same. Envy and greed and ambition remain what they were. That's why this story is so clear to us. We can relate to it. We can understand it. And we've probably experienced many of the factors in it for ourselves, one way and another. We know what it is to stir up a hand picked or manipulated crowd, to get the right faces in there. We understand what envy is, we know when competition and ambition replace genuine leadership. We know enough to wonder, even when we benefit from well-thought out systems of representative government, that perhaps truth is missing somewhere, that "you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time" (to quote Abraham Lincoln). But we also get the truth, a truth that doesn't just depend on facts and data, but the deeper reality of the heart and the spiritual life. Who's righteous here? Who counts righteousness supreme? What is motivating each one? These are the questions we consider, and they reveal the truth that we rely on. Who is being crucified and who is being let go? Appearances don't necessarily make for good judgment, and circumstances don't really determine who we are. Truth and justice remain interwoven for us, and problematically miscarried even in the best of systems. All this we can understand and know. But stop and wonder: what is it that Jesus really has for the others in the leadership to envy? What is it the common people respond to? What is it that money can't buy when we've got it inside of ourselves? We have to think about truth, and about righteousness, the stuff that makes for "treasure in heaven," as Jesus might put it. Do we know it when we hear it? How badly do we want that for ourselves, and how do we really go about getting it?
