Introduction: A Mystery to Solve
Who likes a mystery novel? I was recently talking to my kids about Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and authors like Agatha Christie. In recent years, the true crime genre has taken off—people listen to podcasts about murders and grim stories. It’s probably a little dark, and maybe I shouldn’t have listened to so many myself. But it strikes us when we think: Who is to blame? By the way, it’s always the husband—when the wife disappears, it’s always the husband, sorry!
Today, we’re going to try our hand at the detective genre and unwind the story of who is responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Let’s introduce the suspects.
The Suspects
We have suspect number one: Pontius Pilate. He’s a Roman, and Jesus died on a Roman cross. Secondly, we have the chief priests, the religious leaders who plotted against Jesus. Thirdly—well, let’s throw in the 1975 Philadelphia Flyers, the Broad Street Bullies, who tripled the NHL rulebook with their actions. Fourth, we have the rulers of the people, likely including the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin. Fifth, we have the people themselves, who shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” And perhaps we’ll even throw in a mystery suspect near the end.
With that, let us pray:
Lord God, we pray that You would lead us by Your power. Teach us to understand Your Word rightly, that we would see You and the purpose for which You came to Earth. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Suspect 1: Pontius Pilate
Was it Pilate? After all, Jesus died on a Roman cross. Jewish executions were by stoning, but the soldiers guarding Jesus and the tomb were Roman. If I were in court, I’d ask, “Who signed the execution notice?” The name would be Pontius Pilate.
In this text (Luke 23:13-25), we see Pilate presiding over the Roman trial, which has seven stages:
- The Arrest: “You brought me this man.” Jesus was arrested and brought into custody.
- The Charge: The charge against Jesus was that He was misleading the people—literally changing customs, being different or odd, which in the ancient world was enough to get you arrested.
- The Examination: Pilate says, “I examined Him before you” (referring to the first 12 verses of Luke 23), weighing the evidence.
- The Verdict: “I do not find this man Jesus guilty of any of their charges against Him.” If we’re going to pin this on Pilate, it’s hard when he keeps saying Jesus is innocent.
- The Appeal: “Neither did Herod find Him guilty, for he sent Him back to us”—a supporting verdict.
- The Acquittal: “Look, nothing deserving death has been done by Him.” Jesus is innocent, as we discussed last week.
- The Judicial Warning: Pilate says, “I will punish and release Him.” The Romans wouldn’t just pat you on the back and let you go—they’d beat you for the trouble you caused. “Punish” here means a beating, possibly with rods, which was painful but not bone-breaking. Pilate says, “We’ll just beat Him and let Him go.”
Pilate kept declaring Jesus’ innocence. In verse 20, he addressed the crowd again, desiring to release Jesus, but they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” The third time, he said, “Why? What evil has He done? I have found in Him no guilt deserving death. Therefore, I will punish and release Him.” Like the mama in the Merle Haggard song, Pilate tried—he really tried. But in the end, he gave way to the crowd: “They were urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided their demand should be granted.”
Pilate tried to release Jesus. If I were defending him, I’d say his hands were tied—he even washed his hands of it. But before we blame Pilate too quickly, let’s look at our other suspects.
Suspect 2: The Chief Priests
Now, the chief priests weren’t just accusing Jesus—they had been plotting for a while. In Luke 22, it says, “The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put Him to death, for they feared the people.” If they were on the stand, you’d ask, “Were you plotting to kill Jesus?” They’d have to admit, “Well, yeah, we were.” That seems awfully suspicious. Pilate may have signed the form, but they conspired against Him. And who stirred up the mob that shouted? The chief priests: “They stirred up the crowd to have them release Barabbas instead.”
Chief priests, were you not satisfied with shedding the blood of bulls and goats? Did you have to shed the blood of this innocent man?
Suspect 3: The 1975 Philadelphia Flyers
Maybe it was the 1975 Philadelphia Flyers. They were bad—oh, they were good hockey players, sort of, depending on how you define hockey. They need Jesus! But unfortunately, there’s no evidence they were around during Jesus’ trial.
Suspect 4: The Rulers
The rulers were likely made up of Pharisees, members of the council, and important people in Jerusalem. Follow the money, follow the power. Did they have a motive to kill Jesus? In John 11, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” They didn’t want this Galilean teacher distracting the people from their power or calling their authority into question. They had the most to gain from Jesus being out of the way.
Suspect 5: The People
But the rulers and chief priests were a small group. Who shouted down Pilate as he sat on his judgment seat? Who was so loud? The crowd—the mob, or as the text calls them, “the people.” It says, “Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people.” This was a cross-section of Jerusalem. It might not be the exact same crowd that welcomed Jesus with “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” as He rode in on the donkey, but there’s significant overlap. Some hailed Jesus as the Messiah, but as soon as the tide turned, they were willing to shout, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
They shouted for the horrific mutilation of a human being. We have a cross up here, and we’re used to it—we wear it as jewelry—but we don’t feel its weight as we should. The cross isn’t just an execution device; it’s a torture device that happens to kill you. It’s designed to torment someone for hours or days until they die. The cross was so awful that Roman citizens couldn’t be crucified. For a while, it was reserved for slaves—like during the great slave revolt before Christ’s time, when 2,000 people, including Spartacus, were crucified. The Romans didn’t value human dignity or know that people were created in God’s image, as we learn in Sunday school.
It’s hard to imagine wishing maximum pain on someone, but this is what the people did: “Crucify him! Torture him until he dies!” They shouted for blood. Ultimately, Pilate “released the man who’d been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.” Even Peter, preaching later in Acts, doesn’t primarily blame Pilate. He says to the crowd, “You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.”
They denied Jesus, who is holy and righteous, and asked for a murderer instead. They’d rather have someone who ends life than the One who gives His life for others. Poetically, they killed the Author of life, the One who gave breath to their lungs, sending the Way, the Truth, and the Life to a terrible death.
Suspect 6: Barabbas
To make our investigation complete, let’s round up one more usual suspect: Barabbas. He was “a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.” It was a Passover tradition to release a prisoner, a Roman custom during festivals. They didn’t want Jesus—they asked for Barabbas. His name might be significant: “Bar” means “son” in Hebrew, and “Abbas” means “father”—literally “son of the father.” They chose this “son of the father” over the true Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, God with us.
We don’t know much about Barabbas, but we can guess a few things. He was a rebel who led a rebellion against Rome. He was a bad rebel—not in the sense of being particularly evil, but laughably ineffective. If he were a serious threat, the Romans would have killed him already. And since he’s guilty of murder but still alive, it’s likely he didn’t kill Romans—otherwise, he’d be on a cross. He probably killed his own countrymen.
Pilate puts it to them: “You don’t really want this Barabbas, the guy nobody likes, who led a rebellion and failed miserably.” But they asked for him. When they let Barabbas go and sent Jesus to the cross, it was as if they said, “Jesus, you are lower than the worst rebel we can think of.” Barabbas walks free, while Jesus walks to the cross. Those three crosses were ready—one was likely meant for Barabbas. Instead, Jesus bore it to the hill.
Conclusion: Who Killed Jesus?
So, who killed Jesus? You can make a case for everyone—everyone’s to blame in some way. But I don’t want to let us off the hook. The Bible says again and again that Jesus died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures. Jesus died for my sins. Every time I’ve rebelled against God’s rules, ignored what He wanted me to do, or chosen sin over Him—that’s a reason Jesus died. I can’t point fingers at all these people when the reason Jesus went to the cross is just as much my sin, what I did.
Jesus didn’t ultimately die because of Pilate’s judicial incompetence, the scheming of the priests and rulers, or the shouts of “Crucify him!” As He says in John 10, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down for my people.” Who killed Jesus? Nobody killed Jesus—and I killed Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus died because of my sin.
But here’s the wonderful treasure: just like Barabbas, guilty of rebellion with a cross waiting for him, I had that cross—you had that cross. If you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in His name, Jesus will take that cross for you, so you need not suffer. He’s already suffered. Peter, preaching to the very crowd that shouted “Crucify him!” said, “Repent therefore… that your sins may be blotted out.” Turn away from sin, grieve over it, and turn to accept God’s gift in Jesus Christ, so you can be right with God and live for Him.
For every person: if we don’t know Jesus, there’s a cross of death waiting for us, and we need to trust Him to take it. And if we do know Him, glorify His name! Feel the emotion of Barabbas, waiting for his cross, and at the last second, Jesus takes it while you walk away free—more than free, reconciled with God forever.
Closing Prayer
Oh Lord God, we pray that we would see Your work on the cross—that no one killed You, but You went in our place, paying the penalty for our sin so we could have eternal life. I pray, Lord, that we would glorify Your name and live out the joy of salvation, driving us to be more like You every day. We thank You for how faithful You are, Lord Jesus, faithful even to the end. We glorify Your name and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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