This particular part of the narrative is very difficult to harmonize across the Four Gospels. Parallel passages: Matthew 27:15-32; Mark 15:6-24 and Luke 23:6-25.
The Sanhedrin had ordered Jesus to be turned over to Pilate for trial. His residence was attached to the Roman garrison on the northern end of the Temple Plaza. It was regarded as the private home of a Gentile. Entering even his open courtyard would make a Jew ritually defiled, and there was no compelling reason to suffer that so close to the Passover. By long tradition, the Roman officials knew they would have to meet the Sanhedrin halfway, coming out onto the street to talk to them. It was a nuisance for Pilate to have to walk back and forth, but it was how things got done.
Besides, there had been some preliminary planning between Pilate’s staff and that of the Sanhedrin. When Jesus was brought to him, Pilate realized quickly that this prisoner was guilty only of embarrassing the Jewish leadership, but otherwise had done nothing of concern to Rome.
Luke alone tells us (Luke 23:6-12) that when Pilate caught the reference to Jesus as a Galilean, he arranged to send Him before the Jewish ruler of that province. Let’s remind ourselves that Herod’s Jewish kingdom had been divided between his sons when he died. The one over the Province of Judea had been removed, but the one over Galilee was still in power. Pilate was the Roman representative over the whole kingdom, but ruled Judea directly, as well, wearing two hats.
Jesus was technically under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas. The latter normally holed up in his own palaces, either in Caesarea or Machaerus Fortress in Perea. He was in town only to maintain the pretense of being Jewish, like his father did. The only proper residence for Antipas was the Herodian royal palace on the west side of Jerusalem.
So Pilate ordered Jesus marched across town to the royal palace to see what Antipas would make of Him. Antipas had never actually seen Him, and so was intrigued over His fame. The Jewish leaders made their case. The ruler asked a lot of questions, but Jesus never answered. After awhile, Antipas and his royal bodyguard began mocking Him. Based on the meaning of the term “Messiah” implying a king from the royal line of David, Herod had one of the fancy robes from the palace closets placed on Him. After a little more mockery, He was sent back to Pilate. While Antipas had nothing to add to the Sanhedrin’s case, this whole exchange did provoke Antipas to reconcile with Pilate, removing previous tensions between them.
Jesus was once more standing in the paved courtyard of the Roman residence. Pilate went out to the Jewish leaders again. He resisted their demands, but they kept pressing him. So he went back inside and interviewed Jesus again. He learned that this Jesus had no intention of hindering Roman rule, and that He really had no plans to get involved in politics at all. He was a mystic whose alleged kingdom was not of this world.
There was a bit of philosophical discussion, but it only convinced Pilate further that nothing about Jesus fell under his purview. Worse, at some point during this whole business, his wife warned him not to get involved based on some portents in a dream, and it was clear Pilate was moved by this. Going back out to the street entrance to his residence, he tried again to get the Jewish leaders to have Jesus punished within the limits of their own laws. They started getting noisy about this.
Pilate decided it was time to gauge the sentiments of the growing crowd of onlookers. Had Jesus managed to gain traction with the common folks? Pilate addressed the issue of another custom, in which the Roman government released some prisoner back to the people as a sign of good will. He mentioned another Jesus, son of Abbaiah (“bar-Abbas”), a real thug who had made serious trouble for the Jewish government. But the Sanhedrin had planted provocateurs in the crowd, and as soon as Pilate suggested releasing this very real threat back to them, the crowd chanted in favor of him over Jesus of Nazareth.
At this point, Pilate tried one more ploy. He went back into his residence and ordered the guards to remove the royal robe and to flog Jesus using Roman methods. This involved a cat-o-nine-tails, and the beating stopped just before the victim was dead. He was barely able to stand when they threw the fancy robe over His bleeding body. They mocked Him, as if announcing Him as “King of the Jews” while their salutes were made so close to Him that their hands “accidentally” slapped Him. Instead of the laurel wreath that heroes wore, they strung together some local thorn vines and placed it as His crown.
Then Pilate announced he was finished with this business and had Jesus brought out. He pointed to Him, hoping this pitiful sight would shame them just a little. The uproar from the crowd was instantaneous. The Jewish leaders began chanting to have Him crucified, and the crowd began to echo it on cue. One of the Sanhedrin leaned close enough to Pilate to be heard over the crowd, saying that the real issue was that Jesus said He was the Son of their God, and that for this He simply must die.
At this Pilate felt sick. So, he had Jesus brought back inside the gate and asked Him where He was from. Jesus didn’t answer, and Pilate warned Him that His life was at stake here. Jesus quietly responded that Pilate had been appointed for this task as an unwitting agent. He was not to blame for this awful mess, but the guilt fell on the Jewish leaders. Once more, Pilate went outside the gate and tried to get the Sanhedrin to back down, but they began chanting again. The representative warned Pilate that if he didn’t carry through with the deal they made and order Jesus executed, they would send a petition to Caesar that Pilate was not serving him well.
Feeling wholly trapped, Pilate had his servants set things up outside his residence. There was an elevated bit of pavement with some open space Roman officials used for this occasion, though we have no idea today where it stood. The official Roman throne of authority was placed and Pilate took a seat. Before the Jewish leaders, he washed his hands, an ancient ritual that constituted an oath that he had nothing to do with this sentence, that it was only at the behest of the Jewish leaders. The leadership responded by claiming they would gladly take the blame — “His blood be upon us and our children!”
Then he ordered the other Jesus released, and had this one condemned to crucifixion.
