The Cry of the Crowd: And Their Voices Prevailed in Sin and Silence
Luke 23:13-16
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."
Truth, justice, and human failure in the face of divine innocence. The chief priests and rulers had accused Jesus of misleading the people and inciting a rebellion (Luke 23:2, 5), charges that carried the weight of sedition under Roman law. Pilate examines Jesus and determines that he is in fact innocent of those charges. But he feared the crowd uprising and so he figured he could satiate the crowd by chastising Jesus brutally and then he'd release him. Hoping to appease the crowd while avoiding a full-blown execution. Pilate prioritizes political expediency over truth.
And the voices of the mob prevailed.
Luke 23:18
But they all cried out together...
"Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas"
...a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder.
The crowd chose to save a man who was actually guilty of the things they said of Jesus. But Pilate continues to resist the mob's injustice.
Luke 23:20
Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!"
Luke 23:22
A third time he said to them, "Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him." But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.
Pilate is the Roman governor, he was responsible for keeping the peace. And he saw through the lies, neither he nor Herod found any guilt in Jesus. And yet the truth of Jesus’ innocence was drowned out by the crowd’s cry: "Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!" (Luke 23:18). The mob, swayed by the propaganda of the chief priests, chose a guilty man over the sinless Savior. In this moment, human failure triumphed, Pilate’s cowardice, the crowd’s passion, and the leaders’ envy sealed Jesus’ fate.
We, too, live in a world where truth is often shouted down by louder voices, propaganda, fear, anger, or convenience. Like Pilate, we compromise what’s right to avoid conflict that costs more than we are willing to give. Like the crowd, we may follow the noise instead of seeking God’s voice.
Have you ever experienced truth overshadowed by louder voices in your life?
I think one of the most heinous and disturbing sins committed by people is bearing false witness against innocent people. In fact, I place it above all other sin because it is in fact this very sin that is done when one denies the Word and works of God. When we give voice to ignorance or denial, like the crowds that cried out to murder Jesus on a cross, we are bearing a false witness against truth. In this case Jesus is literally the embodiment of truth. And from the pit of hell these voices cried out as Jesus was slowly dying on the cross...
Luke 23:35
And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!"
The Truth was condemned by the crowd of cowards.
Few sins cut as deeply as bearing false witness against the innocent. In Jesus’ trial, this sin took center stage. The chief priests accused Him of rebellion and deception (Luke 23:2, 5), charges Pilate and Herod found baseless (Luke 23:14-15). Jesus, the embodiment of truth, stood silent as lies swirled around Him. Yet Pilate, swayed by fear, offered to punish the innocent man to calm the crowd (Luke 23:16).
As Jesus hung on the cross, the rulers mocked Him. Their words denied His identity and God’s work, spitting lies at the One who bore their sin. To bear false witness against Jesus is to reject the truth of God Himself, a sin that echoes from the cross to our hearts today. It's also known as the unforgivable sin. And this is why I put so much weight on the sin of bearing false witness.
Often understood as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, (Mark 3:28-29), the unforgivable sin is essentially a rejection of truth, particularly when directed at Jesus, the Word made flesh (John 1:14). The trial and execution of Jesus was a cascade of lies. The sin of bearing false witness drove Jesus to the cross. Their words spat lies at God’s Chosen One, denying His identity and work. To bear false witness against Jesus is to reject God’s truth, a sin so grave it echoes the unforgivable rejection of His Spirit (Mark 3:29).
We, too, can deny truth; through words, silence, or doubting God’s work. The cross challenges us; will we speak lies or lift up the Truth who saves?
When have you struggled to speak or believe God’s truth?
Now I want to clarify one thing. This unforgivable false witness is the sin of bearing witness against Jesus Christ and the works of the Holy Spirit. Calling his works from Satan for instance. Slandering Christ as doing the work of demons. Accusing Jesus of being a false prophet. Mocking and chastising Jesus is not necessarily this unforgivable thing, (Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”). Denying knowing Him is not necessarily this unforgiveable thing, (e.g., Peter’s denial was forgiven, Luke 22:61-62).
But what I think we should learn from this is how this sin compounds on itself, attacking truth at every stage. False witness compounds like a spreading fire. Truth Incarnate, faced a growing tide of falsehoods. In Jesus’ trial, it began with lies: the chief priests branded Him a rebel and deceiver. Then, the cross they murdered him on mocked the truth, as does the deliberate malice of the rulers and their cohorts as they mocked him directly. Their denial of Jesus as "Christ" and "Chosen One" directly challenges God’s testimony. Spreading falsehoods, rejecting God’s Word, or silencing faith out of fear, none of these aspects of this sin has changed throughout all history. We still see it today, even in the churches.
The cross exposes our tendency to let lies prevail. Our silence is often the worst aspect of this sin. Though it is heinous to give a false witness, it is likewise having sinned to provide cover by default in silence if you had the opportunity to witness for the truth but chose to remain anonymous. The cross exposes our bent toward letting lies win, often through our anonymity. And this brings to my mind the words of Jesus, Matthew 10:33 "but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." This doesn't mean denying knowing him as Peter did but denying who Jesus truly is.
False witness grows like a shadow, obscuring the truth. Jesus, God’s Truth incarnate, faced mounting falsehoods. The crowd stood silent or merely wept as he passed by, their anonymity letting the lies prevail.
And Jesus had something to say about that:
Luke 23:28-31
But turning to them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
That's the rub, silence seems to be a salve in the moment. It's safe, and easy. And misery can be avoided if we just don't get involved. Their tears, like the crowds silence, lets the lie prevail. And Jesus really adds another layer to that dimension by asking, "For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
This question underscores the escalating tensions and consequences of our choices. How much worse will our judgement be when truth is no longer available even and eventually to us?
Pilate saw no guilt in Jesus, but he was weak. The crowd stood by silently watching because they were weak. The wicked thief mocked Jesus though he was cursed, dying on a cross himself, because he was weak. The soldiers gambled for Jesus' garments and jeered at him in their weakness. And the Antichrist ruling religious leaders spewed insults and violence at Jesus because they were weak and hated the truth.
They are all weak because they are not from God. They belong to the world that finds its power in Satan.
But...
1 John 5:19
"We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one."
We affirm the truth because we are the children of God. They rejected the truth because they are the children of the Devil. It's that simple.
All that is in the world incites to sin. Lust, greed, love of the world overcomes truth by inciting hatred of the truth. It's not consistent with being a follower of Jesus Christ. Have nothing to do with those sins. And especially beware of those who bear false witness.
Amen.