Jesus was now led off to Pilate. What really offended the religious leaders was Jesus' claim to be the Son of God, this was not what they presented to Pilate. They coloured things in such a way as to make it look like Jesus was threatening rebellion against Rome. They also told an outright lie in saying He opposed paying taxes to Caesar, which was in fact the opposite of what Jesus had said, as reported earlier in Luke.
Pilate questioned Jesus but, not surprisingly, could find nothing wrong with Him. However, rather than facing up to the matter and dealing with it, Pilate sought to avoid the issue by finding an excuse to send Him to Herod. There are many Heord's in the New Testament, none of them good.
Herod was delighted to meet Jesus and hoped to see a miracle or two. Though Herod asked Jesus many questions, Jesus refused to answer any of them. The religious leaders carried on accusing Jesus and Herod mocked Him. Eventually He was sent back to Pilate, and Herod and Pilate became friends.
Pilate still refused to properly address the matter and sought a further way out. He offered to release Jesus, but the crowds shouted back that they wanted Barabbas to be released. They preferred to release a terrorist than the Messiah. Then they demanded that Jesus be crucified
It is quite amazing how the attitude of the crowd has turned round since Palm Sunday.
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