И вот Пилат задал Иисусу вопрос: «Ты Царь Иудейский?». Этот вопрос неиудея, к тому же римского чиновника был задан в форме, понятной и привычной для него, римлянина. И форма эта содержала в себе большую опасность для Иисуса. Современный читатель этого, как правило, не замечает. Иудеи ожидали Мессию, и вопрос иудея был бы примерно следующим: «Ты Царь Израиля?», или «Ты Сын Давидов?» или еще что-нибудь подобное. Но иудей никогда не называл и не мог назвать ожидаемого Мессию «Царем иудейским». Это – официальный политический титул, принятый в Римской империи. Вот Ирод, например, был «царем иудейским». Итак, вопрос Пилата носил политический характер. Никаких самозваных политических царей римляне в своем государстве не могли бы потерпеть. Всякий местный царь должен был утверждаться Римом! Самозванца Пилат должен был осудить. Именно об этом говорит в своем Евангелии Иоанн: «Пилат искал отпустить Его. Иудеи же кричали: если отпустишь Его, ты не друг кесарю; всякий, делающий себя царем, противник кесарю» (Ин 19.12). На вызывающий тревогу вопрос Пилата Иисус не дает однозначного ответа. Все, что Он имел сказать, Он уже сказал перед Синедрионом: «Да, он – Царь Израилев». Но «Царь Иудейский»? – Конечно, нет. Никаких притязаний на политическую власть Иисус не имел. Поэтому он ответил Пилату: «Я Царь Иудейский? Это ты так говоришь», «это ты Меня так называешь», «это твои слова». Ответ Иисуса похож на пожатие плечами: Что Я буду тебе здесь объяснять? Ты, римлянин, все равно не поймешь. «Может быть, Я и Царь, но ты хорошо знаешь, что Я вкладывал в это вовсе не тот смысл, который Мои обвинители вкладывают в свое обвинение. Я не политический революционер. Мое Царство не мирское». Пилат отлично понимал это и потому продолжал допрашивать Иисуса. Иудеи продолжали нагромождать обвинения, а Иисус хранил полное молчание. Говорить, объяснять – бессмысленно. Вот поэтому Иисус и молчал. Он знал, что добиться взаимопонимания с иудейскими руководителями невозможно, и Он знал также, что и к Пилату обращаться совершенно бессмысленно. Он знал, что всякая связь с ними нарушена: ненависть иудеев представляла собой железный занавес, через который не могли пройти никакие слова. Между Ним и Пилатом тоже была пропасть, через которую не было никакого моста. Ситуация была абсолютно безнадежной.

В следующей беседе мы продолжим чтение об этих трагических событиях.

Беседа 41.

4. Процесс и приговор. Продолжение.

в) Иисус или Варавва?

15.6-15 — "At every feast he released to them one prisoner for whom they asked. Then there was a man named Barabbas in chains, with his accomplices, who committed murder during the rebellion. And the people began to shout and ask Pilate for what he had always done for them. He answered and said to them, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" For he knew that the chief priests had betrayed him out of jealousy. But the chief priests stirred up the people to ask that Barabbas be released to them instead. And Pilate answered and said to them again, What do you want me to do to him whom you call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Pilate said to them, "What evil has he done?" But they cried out even more loudly, "Crucify Him." Then Pilate, wishing to do what was pleasing to the people, released Barabbas to them, and having beaten Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified."

In the depiction of Jesus' trial, the Jewish high priests are presented as the energetic driving force behind the accusation: they "accused Him of many things," Pilate "knew that the chief priests had betrayed Him out of jealousy. But the chief priests stirred up the people to ask that Barabbas be released to them instead." At the same time, the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate himself is depicted sometimes in a kind of complacency, sometimes in confusion and helplessness.

That is, in the Gospel of Mark, Pilate, a man himself known for his cruelty, is presented in a positive image. And this, in addition to the historical authenticity of what is reported, is understandable for the Church of the 60s, that is, for the time of the writing of the Gospel, which was probably written soon after the monstrous persecution of Christians under the emperor Nero. In those years, it was important not to give the Romans a reason to accuse Christians of political unreliability. That is why the Gospel emphasizes that even the first Roman judicial-political instance could not establish any crime against the Founder of a new religious movement. Pilate is perplexed: "What evil has He done?"

Historians are not sure that there was such a custom - annually to release some criminal for every holiday. But we have no reason to doubt that on that occasion at Pascha it was exactly as it is told in our Gospel. That is, it was possible not only to acquit, but also to release Jesus, even if He was found guilty. But... unlike Barabbas, He did not find influential or even loud support. And so Pilate was forced to sentence Jesus to death as a political criminal.

About Barabbas we know only what is written in the Gospel: he was a robber who had accomplices. But he was not just a bandit, but a rebel, a murderer-terrorist. Such "robbers" were called sicarii, which means "daggers". The people respected the Sicarii as brave patriots.

There is usually something mysterious in the fact that the crowd that only a week ago had shouted to Jesus as they entered Jerusalem was now demanding His crucifixion. This infidelity of the people is constantly mentioned in sermons and in popular literature. A crowd, they say, is a crowd, and nothing more. In fact, if you carefully read the Gospel text, there is nothing "mysterious" in the behavior of the crowd. In analyzing the episode of the Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, we have already mentioned that it was not the crowd that greeted Him that shouted to Pilate, "Crucify Him." Then, a week ago, Jesus was greeted by Galilean pilgrims who had come with Him to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. They are called in the Gospel "those who preceded and followed" Jesus. It was they, full of joy and enthusiasm, who "exclaimed: Hosanna! blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" (11.9–11). Here, before Pilate, the crowd was quite different, hardly knowing Jesus well or sympathizing with Him. If the people knew that one prisoner would be released on the Passover, then those who wanted Barabbas to be released gathered for the rest. When they felt that Pilate could deliver Jesus rather than Barabbas, they lost their temper and began to cry out even more loudly about Jesus' crucifixion. One can imagine the satisfaction of the chief priests! Conclusion: it was not the mood of the crowd that changed, but the composition of the crowd. The people chose Barabbas, preferring a terrorist rebel to Jesus.

Previously, the legends for the crucifixion of Jesus were beaten. They beat me with a whip. Every crucifixion was accompanied by a preceding scourging. From Josephus' descriptions, we learn how terrible it was. A person was bent and tied so that his back was arched outward. The whip was a long leather belt on which sharpened pieces of lead and bone were attached. Sometimes such a whip plucked out a person's eye, often the condemned died of wounds. Many became violently insane, only a few retained their sanity. Jesus was subjected to such a punishment.