§ 286. Jesus sent to Herod.

Pilate now looked upon Jesus simply as a religious enthusiast, innocent of all political crimes, and told the deputies that he “could find no fault in him at all.” They then replied (Luke, xxiii., 5) that his teaching had stirred up the people every where, from Galilee to Jerusalem. As soon as Pilate heard that Jesus was of Galilee, it occurred to him to lay the case before Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Judea, who had just then come to the feast at Jerusalem.

Herod had for long wished to see Jesus.⁷⁷⁶⁷⁷⁶   Cf. p. 323. The fame of the miracles inspired him with curiosity to see what Christ could do. But it was no part of the Saviour’s calling to satisfy an idle curiosity. To describe his doctrine fully to a man so utterly worldly, would have been, in his own language, to “cast pearls before swine.”⁷⁷⁷⁷⁷⁷   Cf. p. 277. He, therefore, answered none of Herod’s questions. The disappointed king, having arrayed the Saviour, in mockery, in a gorgeous purple robe, and exposed him to the cruel sport and derision of the soldiers, sent him back to the procurator. Doubtless the latter was confirmed in his own views by the word which Herod sent him.