Matthew 27:11-26 recounts the scene where Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, for interrogation. This passage is a crucial prelude to Jesus' Passion and death.
⊙Matthew 27:11-26 : A Trial of Injustice and Silence
This passage recounts the trial of Jesus before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate asks Jesus if He is the king of the Jews, to which Jesus gives a subtle affirmation. Despite being accused by the chief priests and elders, Jesus remains silent, astonishing Pilate with His composure and refusal to defend Himself.
Pilate, realizing that Jesus was handed over out of envy, offers the crowd a choice as part of a festival custom: to release either Jesus Barabbas, a notorious criminal, or Jesus who is called the Messiah. Influenced by the religious leaders, the crowd chooses Barabbas and demands that Jesus be crucified.
Though Pilate finds no fault in Jesus and questions the reasoning for such a punishment, the crowd shouts all the louder for crucifixion. In an attempt to absolve himself of responsibility, Pilate washes his hands before the people, declaring himself innocent of Jesus’ blood. The crowd, in turn, accepts the responsibility, saying, “His blood is on us and on our children.”
Pilate then releases Barabbas and has Jesus flogged and handed over to be crucified. This passage illustrates themes of injustice, mob mentality, moral cowardice, and the fulfillment of Jesus’ path to sacrificial death.
Matthew 27:11–26 feels eerily similar to the current presidential impeachment situation in South Korea. President Yoon Suk-yeol has been impeached by a corrupt Constitutional Court, pro-China and pro–North Korea politicians, and their leftist sympathizers.
South Korea’s liberal democracy is now under serious threat from communist acolytes backed by the Chinese Communist Party and the North Korean regime. Many fear that the free world is on the verge of losing South Korea to the influence of China, North Korea, and the threat of dictatorship, a situation we must actively resist.
⊙Matthew 27:11-26 : Jesus Before Pilate
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.
13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”
14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.
16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas.
17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
