MAJORING ON THE MINOR

John 18:28-32
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?”

30 “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.

31 “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them.

“Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. 32 (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.)


It was the week of the Passover celebration and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For those of the Jewish faith, this was big. It was like Christmas or Easter is for Christians. No Jew would want to miss any portion of this tradition, established in Mosaic Law.

The Jewish leaders were concerned about being defiled. If they entered the residence of a Gentile – Pilate – they would be unable to participate in the remainder of the Passover celebration. They were careful not to break this law.

What about falsely accusing an innocent man, framing him and setting him up to be executed. If this were ‘Law and Order’, it would be called conspiracy to commit murder. Surely this is a major offense in the Law (see the Ten Commandments). If this didn’t defile the Jewish leaders, nothing would. They focused on a minor violation of the law, missing the atrocity of their primary actions.

Two points … first, sin is sin, no matter what the offense and second, this was God’s plan … a fulfillment of prophesy.