Pilate
decreed that what they asked for should be done. He released him who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus up to their will.
Luke 23:24-25
Luke 23 [20.] Then Pilate spoke to them again, wanting to release Jesus, but they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!”
Luke 23 [22.] He said to them the third time, “Why? What evil has this man done? I have found no capital crime in him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.” But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. Their voices and the voices of the chief priests prevailed. Pilate decreed that what they asked for should be done. He released him who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus up to their will.
Luke 23 [26.] When they led him away, they grabbed one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it after Jesus. A great multitude of the people followed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?”
Meaning:
These two verses record the end of the Roman trial. Three times Pilate had declared Jesus innocent, and three times the crowd shouted him down. Now the governor gives way. Luke’s account is short and restrained, but every phrase carries weight. The parallel accounts are in Mark 15:15, Matthew 27:24 and Matthew 27:26.
- “Pilate decreed that what they asked for should be done”
The word “decreed” is the language of an official sentence. Pilate had the authority to free Jesus, and he had said more than once that Jesus had done nothing deserving death. Yet he gave the judgment the crowd demanded. Mark explains his motive: “Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them” (Mark 15:15). Matthew adds that Pilate washed his hands before the people, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it” (Matthew 27:24). But washing his hands could not remove his responsibility. A judge who condemns a man he knows to be innocent shares in the guilt.
- “He released him who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder”
Luke repeats the description of Barabbas from Luke 23:19 to underline the contrast. The man who had actually led a revolt and killed someone was set free. The one who had healed the sick, forgiven sinners and taught people to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s was handed over to die. Human justice could hardly have failed more completely.
- “But he delivered Jesus up to their will”
Luke does not describe the flogging here. He simply says that Pilate handed Jesus over to what the crowd wanted. Jesus had predicted this moment: the Son of Man would be delivered up to the Gentiles, mocked and killed, and on the third day rise again (Luke 18:31-33). The phrase “delivered up” runs through the New Testament. Peter used it at Pentecost, saying that Jesus was “delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God” and taken “by the hand of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). Pilate surrendered Jesus to the will of the crowd, yet behind the human decision stood the will of God. Isaiah had said of the servant, “Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
The Significance of Luke 23:24-25
- Responsibility cannot be handed on
Pilate tried to pass the decision to Herod, to the crowd and to the priests, and Matthew shows him trying to wash it away. Yet for centuries Christians have confessed in their creeds that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. Each person is accountable for what they do with Jesus. Silence, compromise and giving in to pressure are also decisions.
- God’s purpose in human injustice
The handing over of Jesus was the greatest injustice in history, and at the same time the fulfilment of God’s plan to save. This does not excuse the wrong, but it shows that no evil is beyond God’s power to turn to good. Believers who suffer unfairly can trust that God is still at work.
Cross-References:
Mark 15:15: “Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them.” Mark names Pilate’s motive.
Matthew 27:24: “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it.” Pilate tries to wash his hands of the decision.
Acts 2:23: “delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God.” God’s purpose behind the handing over.
Isaiah 53:6: “Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The servant bears the sins of others.
Conclusion: In Luke 23:24-25 Pilate gives in to the crowd, releases the rebel and murderer Barabbas, and hands Jesus over to their will. The passage exposes the failure of human justice and the guilt of a judge who knew the truth. At the same time it shows God’s purpose being fulfilled, as the innocent Son is delivered up for the sins of the world.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible