Luke 23:1-16

The entire council stood at once and took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They accused him of false testimony, saying, “This man tells us not to pay our taxes to Caesar. And he proclaims himself to be Christ the King and Messiah. He’s a deceiver of our nation.” Pilate asked Jesus, “Is this true? Are you their king and Messiah?” Jesus answered, “It is true.” Pilate turned to the high priests and to the gathered crowd and said, “This man has committed no crime. I find nothing wrong with him.” But they yelled and demanded that Pilate do something, saying, “He has stirred up our nation, misleading people from the moment he began teaching in Galilee until he has come here to Jerusalem!” When Pilate heard the word Galilee, he asked if Jesus was a Galilean, and when they told him “yes,” Pilate saw a way out of his problem. He knew that Antipas, son of Herod, ruled over Galilee, and he happened to be in Jerusalem at that time, so Pilate sent Jesus to Antipas. When he saw Jesus, he was elated, for he had heard a great deal about his ministry and wanted Jesus to perform a miracle in front of him. Antipas questioned him at length, but Jesus wouldn’t even answer him. All the while the high priests and religious leaders stood by, accusing Jesus of wrongdoing, so that Antipas and his soldiers treated him with scorn and mocking. Antipas put an elegant purple robe on Jesus and sent him back to Pilate. That day, Antipas and Pilate healed their long-standing feud and they became good friends. Pilate gathered together the people, the high priests, and all the religious leaders of the nation. He told them, “You have presented this man to me and charged him with stirring a rebellion among the people. I have examined him here in your presence and have put him on trial. My verdict is that none of your charges against him are true. I find no fault in him. Then I sent him to Antipas, son of Herod, who questioned him and found him not guilty. Since he has done nothing deserving of death, I have decided to punish him with a severe flogging and release him.”