Mark 15:1  And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
2  And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.
3  And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.
4  And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.
5  But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.

Counsel is important. The Bible warns of choosing wise counsel. The most important counsel is the Word of God. The chief priests and elders and scribes took counsel among themselves. They had rejected the Word of God. They had a plan and they were going to work their plan. They did not know that they were being used by God to bring about His eternal plan of redemption. They were not submissive to His will, but He would be glorified through their rebellion against Him. It is never wise to work against God. His will is going to be fulfilled. He created man. His design was for man to glorify Him. If man chooses to defy Him, He will still be glorified and man will be the loser.
God is the Almighty God. He can use man for good or for evil. He would rather guide man in that which is good. Those who reject Him will find that their end is not like anything they imagined. Jesus came to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary for our sins. He shed His blood to make it possible for man to be forgiven and saved. Those who choose to defy Him will be shocked to discover just how naked and unprepared they are to meet the Lord Jesus Christ as their Judge.
These wicked men bound Jesus to bring Him before Pilate. They were bound in their sins and did not realize it. The love of God cannot be bound. They bound Jesus but He had the power to snap those bindings quicker than Samson did in the Old Testament. Jesus did not lose His power as Samson did. Jesus submitted to the will of His Father and accepted these futile efforts of man.
They did not need to bind Jesus. Nothing would have kept Jesus from this next step. His love drew Him to that cross. On the way He needed to meet with Pilate and show Him that He was not guilty of anything. Pilate needed to know that his only hope was in knowing the true Saviour of mankind. In meeting with Pilate, Jesus would again show God’s superiority over human rulers. Human rulers are subject to God. They are given certain parameters within which they can work. They can choose right or wrong. Most are too full of themselves to consider right. They try to determine what will make them the most popular among people. They want to build a legacy. Pilate certainly built a legacy. He is certainly not proud of that legacy now and he has all of eternity to dwell on this.
In verse 2 Pilate took his roll as governor seriously, from a humanistic perspective. He liked the power that his position afforded him. He too did not realize that he would have no power if God had not put him in that position. He too had chosen to harden himself against the truth.
Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews. Pilate was not seeking truth. He was trying to play around with Jesus. He was the governor and he had this man, Jesus, who had been declared King of the Jews by the wise men years earlier, before him. Jesus had accomplished more in His short three plus years of public ministry, than any earthly leader could do in a lifetime. Yet Pilate was going to try to play games with the One before Whom he would stand in judgment one day.
Jesus did not need to defend Himself. He acknowledged that Pilate had made that statement. It is good to give lost people the opportunity to speak the Truth, even when they have no intention of doing so.
The chief priests continued with their lies. They accused Jesus of many things, but none of their lies would stick to Him. Jesus did not need to answer these false accusations. His time to go to the cross had come. He had spoken openly for three plus years. It was no secret as to Who He was.
Pilate had never seen anyone behave like Jesus did. Usually a person wants to defend himself. When he is faced with the possibility of being killed he will fight harder to clear his name. Jesus did not do that. He knew Who He was. Nothing those liars could do would change Who He was. He knew that. He also knew why He came to this earth. He needed to submit to the will of His Father according to the plan in place before the foundation of the world.
Pilate could not believe that Jesus would remain quiet against these many accusations. Pilate tried to prod Jesus into answering the accusations made against Him. Jesus remained quiet. Jesus’ demeanour caused Pilate to marvel at this “man”.
Pilate would have heard things about Jesus. He knew that Jesus was unlike any other man. He did not accept Him as God, but he knew Jesus was different. Pilate saw this whole matter of somewhat of a game. His pride boiled over as he assumed his superiority over the Creator of heaven and earth. He wanted to see who would win this contest. He did not realize that Jesus had already won. He would further demonstrate His superiority by going to the cross and then rising again three days later.
Pilate would be one of the many losers here. He chose to ignore the facts. He had every opportunity needed to repent and be saved. Matthew records that Pilate’s wife had more sense than he did. She knew that Pilate was in over his head in presiding over this unjust kangaroo court. However, Pilate’s pride would not allow him to listen to wise counsel.
We need to be careful in our attitude toward the Lord. Is He truly the King in your life today? If He is, then you will desire to follow His leadership. You will not concern yourself with trying to keep up with the patterns of the world. You will want to help others around you to know the joy of serving a holy and loving God.
Pilate left this world empty handed. How are you living your life and how will you leave this world?
Pastor Bartel