Luke 23:8–16 (ESV)
When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.
Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “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. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.”
Jesus presents even less of a defense to Herod than He did to Pilate. Yet Herod acquits Him too. Herod and Pilate agree, and this turns enmity into friendship.
What?! How can this even happen, and how can it be important enough to include in scripture? How can Herod recognizing Jesus’s innocence heal this relationship with Pilate?
Obviously, their little tiff must have been job-related; if it was personal, a wise judicial ruling wouldn’t matter. Little is known about their enmity—it’s only mentioned in Luke—but the way it ends indicates it was a matter of respect.
Pilate was very senior to Herod. He was a full blown prefect, while Herod (Herod Antipas) was a mere tetrarch (quarter-king) who inherited only part of the kingdom of his father, Herod the Great—who was subordinate to Rome anyway. This Herod didn’t even earn his position; he inherited it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_Antipas
Pilate may have assumed that Herod was out of his depth; that certainly fits what happened. Still, we don’t know the whole back-story to this enmity. We only know that Herod’s acquittal of Jesus caused Pilate to end it. That speaks volumes about the legal case against Jesus. Not only was He acquitted twice, but the junior judge’s decision to acquit changed the senior judge’s opinion of him.
That adds weight to his ruling. Pilate viewed Herod’s judgement of Jesus as a litmus test.
What a simple but beautiful point—Jesus was innocent. Here’s another simple point—we’re not. The innocent suffered for our guilt. “And can it be, that I should gain, an interest in the savior’s blood?”
We don’t appreciate this enough, even though we’ve memorized the words. We should regularly pray to see the magnitude of the contradiction. It’s ridiculous that we need to ask for help in this—but we do.
Ask God to open your heart so that you can appropriately appreciate what He did.
