Luke 23:10 Commentary and Bible Study

What follows is that Herod and his military abuse Christ terribly; this is Herod’s revenge for not gratifying his unwholesome curiosity. How quickly a depraved heart moves from interest to vitriol! It was, of course, always there, but it was put out of sight while another goal was thought possible. The chief priests renew their attack, thinking to make use of Herod, in spite of their intense dislike of the man. They appear at this stage to have failed with Pilate, whom they have not managed to coerce into granting their request to condemn Christ. Although Pilate has squirmed awkwardly under their pressure, he has for the time being ducked out of responsibility for the case, and passed the baton to another. But Herod is also set to fail, and so now all he can do is exact revenge on this silent victim before him, and abuse the law by allowing all manner of unethical treatment of this prisoner. Satan managed to excite these Romans, and they did not hold back from inflicting their contempt on Christ. The way they treated him shows evidence that they too had heard the accusation against him that he claimed to the Christ, and so made himself a king. Why else would they mock him by arraying him in a gorgeous robe, which was obviously in contempt of this claim? We see here the unrestrained wickedness of men, especially when acting together in a group. There was no semblance of justice here, but only animal sport and cruelty on one who they believed was in their power.But the amazing truth is that Christ was not really in their power. He was voluntarily allowing all this to take place, and as he told his disciple, he could at a word have prayed to his Father and presently received more than twelve legions of angels. Here was the great misunderstanding of his enemies, who could not conceive of a motive that would enable anyone to face such suffering and shame willingly. They measured Christ by their own fallen and self-interested perspective on life, and it was completely beyond their imagination to conceive of the purposes of the Son of God. They did not understand the divine plan to the smallest extent, even though they were actors caught up in the critical events that led to his redeeming work. They played their part blindly, and he allowed them to play their part without attempting to tell them what was really going on. For that reason they were allowed to believe that they were in control of events and that he was in their power, and that wrong belief held them trapped in carrying out their role. Christ however knew at every stage what he was doing, and he saw the fulfilment of all that God had predestined to take place, and he was calm in the knowledge that the will of God must come to pass, and that his Father’s love for him, though hidden, was yet unchanging.So the soldiers with the full approval of Herod punch him and insult him; they subject him to mock worship and spit upon him. All that is the second time it has happened. The high priests indulged in that in their interrogation, their second hearing and now Herod’s people indulge in the same. In fact, it is going to happen a third time with the Roman guard a little later on.