When Jesus finished these prayers, the soldiers came to arrest Him. For many hours Jesus was put on trial (Matthew 26-27). He was tried first by the Jewish high priest, Caiaphas. Then He was handed over to the Roman governor Pilate, who did not want this. He tried to pass it on to the visiting king of Galilee, Herod. That cruel king used this chance to hurt and laugh at Jesus (Luke 23). Then he returned Jesus to Pilate. After more questions, Pilate said to the Jews,
You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him (Luke 23:14).
ERV: You brought this Man to me. You said that He was making trouble among the people. But I judged Him before you all. I found no wrong that He had done. Jesus is not guilty of the things you say.
Pilate offered a choice to the Jews. He would release one prisoner. It could either be Jesus or a well-known murderer and rebel named Barabbas (Mark 15:7). The leaders helped the crowd demand that Barabbas be freed.
“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify Him!” (Matthew 27:22).
The people became even more angry when Pilate still refused. The leaders threatened to claim Pilate was helping an enemy king (Jesus) work against the Roman king, Caesar (John 19:12). So Pilate finally sentenced Jesus to die on a cross. But first Pilate washed his hands before them all, showing how he disliked killing a good man (Matthew 27:24).
When the soldiers took Jesus they whipped and beat Him badly. They dressed Him in a royal robe, pushed a crown of thorns onto His head, spit on Him, and made fun of such a ‘king’ (Matthew 27:27-30). Then they made Jesus carry His cross toward the killing ground outside Jerusalem. Along the way they found another man, Simon from the African town of Cyrene. They forced him to carry the cross the rest of the way (Mark 15:21).