Jonah Albrecht

Midweek 4 March 26,27, 2025

John 18:28-38

On the Road to Easter: Jesus is Declared Innocent by Pilate

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world– to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

INI, whose innocence was proven beyond any doubt, but was delivered to be crucified for our sins, Dear Fellow Redeemed:

One of the most famous portrayals of human guilt ever written is the play “MacBeth,” by William Shakespeare. In the story, Lady MacBeth is guilty, with her husband, of murdering king Duncan. They got away clean with the murder, but Lady MacBeth’s conscience soon began to torment her. She constantly imagined that she saw blood on her hands. Even though she washed her hands over and over again, the imagined bloodstains remained to haunt her.

Shakespeare certainly understood the problem of human guilt. He once wrote, “Conscience does make cowards of us all.”  He meant that no matter who you are, and no matter how you appear on the outside, every person has to deal with the burden of a guilty conscience within.  Guilt brings a burden all its own.  You lose sleep, you feel depressed, you hate yourself for what you’ve done.

Perhaps you came here tonight with something weighing on your conscience.  What you did was plainly wrong.  You broke God’s commandments and violated His will.  The guilt is burdensome. The question is: How do you get out from under it?

Our text this evening has the answer.  In the public courtroom of Pontius Pilate, we hear an important verdict — “I find no fault in Him at all.”  On the Road to Easter… Jesus is pronounced Innocent.  Pilate meant this for Jesus – God meant it for every one of us.

Our text takes place in the early daylight hours of Good Friday morning. The previous night, Jesus was tried before the Jewish high council and was found guilty of blasphemy. If this were any other week besides the Passover, the Jews probably would have stoned Jesus themselves according to the Law of Moses. But since this was the most important festival of the year, and because of that, the Romans would be watching their every move, the Pharisees had to do things the “legal” way. This meant the sentence they desired – to put Jesus to death, had to be sanctioned by a high authority, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. And that’s also why our text begins, ” Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.”

The Praetorium was the place in Jerusalem where court was held. It was also the dwelling place of Pontius Pilate. The Pharisees refused to enter because their law prohibited entering a Gentile’s house during the high feast lest you be defiled.

The Romans were very proud of their system of justice.  It didn’t matter who you were, you were guaranteed the right of a fair and impartial trial. The courts were always held in public, they were open from early morning until dusk.  Roman judges were sworn to uphold the motto, “Fiat justitia ruat caelum,(fiat ustitia ruat cailum) “Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.”  Make a fair and just decision and let the chips fall where they will. That’s important to remember when we think about Jesus’ trial.  We know the end result, how justice was ultimately miscarried, but we may forget that He did receive a fair hearing before Pilate.  You’ll see that when you look carefully at our text.  “When the Jews brought Jesus to him, Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”  They answered and said to him, “If He were not an evil doer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.”  Then Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.”

In America, there are two types of trials: civil and criminal. Criminal trials are crimes committed against society or the state like murder and rape. A civil trial is a dispute between two parties. The same was true in the Roman law. That is why Pilate asks the Jews what charges they brought against Jesus. When they only responded that he is an evil-doer, Pilate viewed this as a personal spat between religious people – something that he did not need to waste his time with; so he tells them to judge Jesus according to their law. But that was not what the Jews wanted. They needed Pilate to condemn Jesus as an enemy of the state. So, just like the night before, they drummed up charges against Jesus.

Obviously, the Jews were ready for this moment and brought forth 3 charges against Jesus. 1. We found this Man perverting the nation 2. We found Him forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar. 3. We found Him saying the He Himself is the Christ, a King.  Those first two charges couldn’t be further from the truth. Just days prior, Jesus was asked by the Pharisees if they should or should not pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus answered, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). If He really had been inciting the people to revolt, Pilate would have known about it. The Romans were smart enough to watch for would-be messiahs – just as Americans watch for would-be terrorists.

But the third accusation, that was something Pilate could not just brush off. If Jesus truly set Himself up in opposition to Caesar, it had to be taken seriously. 33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” In the conversation that follows, Pilate considers the evidence against Jesus. Jesus’ answer was sufficient for Pilate – and it made sense. If Jesus were truly setting Himself up against Caesar, His followers did a pretty poor job protecting Him. Jesus was no threat to the government; the charges were unfounded. So, he stepped out and rendered his verdict, “I find no fault in Him at all.”

Now this decision is more significant than what meets the eye. It is a decision that will not be overturned. Once more Pilate would tell them, “Behold I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”  After sending Jesus to Herod, Pilate says again, “I find no fault in Him, neither did Herod.”  When the crowd wanted Barrabas — Pilate asked, “What evil has this Man, Jesus, done?”  Four times Jesus was declared Innocent of all charges by the ruling authority of the land. And later, when Pilate was ready to give in to their wishes, he washed his hands, saying: “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.”

In that way, the trial was fair. Pilate ruled correctly and declared Jesus completely innocent. If he truly abided by the motto, let justice be done, though the heavens fall, he would have simply released Jesus then and there and let the chips fall where they may. That was his duty as a Roman. But, in the case of Jesus, justice was meant to be miscarried. Pilate’s verdict was spoken of Jesus, but you see how God meant it for every one of us.

What no one realized that morning was that there was a Higher Judge overseeing the trial – the Heavenly Father. What did God think as He watched the trial before Pontius Pilate?  Why would God allow the slanderous arguments to stand?  Why didn’t He step in and defend the innocence of Jesus and overturn the actions of this Roman Governor?  There’s only one answer: God did not want to declare His Son innocent; God desired to charge Him a criminal worthy of death.

If you look in the Bible you find that God often defends those who are unjustly accused or punished for crimes they did not commit.  Daniel was sentenced to death because he prayed to God against the king’s orders; but God declared Daniel to be innocent, by stopping the mouths of the lions.  Three men were unjustly thrown into the fiery furnace — but God was there to prevent them from getting burned.  Paul was thrown into prison, shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, but every time, the Lord delivered Paul from his tormentors.

But why doesn’t God do anything here? Jesus is one who truly deserves it. In His death, we see how God causes creation to react – the earthquakes and the rocks splitting in two. But here, in Pilate’s court? Not a sound. Jesus’ absolute innocence was proven.  Pilate declared it; Herod declared it, but God was silent — because this verdict was meant, not for Jesus, but for you and me.

By His silence, God judged His Son guilty and worthy of death. And God’s verdict was not wrong. It was right and just according to God’s will for the world. Remember the passage we keep going back to this Lenten season, “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  It was God’s plan. Our sin and our guilt would be accounted to our Savior.

That’s why those few words, “I find no fault in Him,” are so important.  It was He for us – the sinless One for the sinful.  And that is the difference between words of Shakespeare, “Conscience makes cowards of us all” — and the words of the Gospel, “There is therefore, now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.”  When consciences are burdened with sins of the past, we need to memorize the words of this courtroom: “I find no fault in Him.”  By faith in Jesus, those words now apply to every one of us. God looks at you now, and God sees people who have never, ever sinned. No matter how much guilt lies in your past or in your future, the verdict has already been pronounced: I find no fault in him or her, at all.  Amen.