Lk 23, 1-7 I find this man not guilty

Luke 23

(Lk 23, 1-7) I find this man not guilty

[1] Then the whole assembly of them arose and brought him before Pilate. [2] They brought charges against him, saying, "We found this man misleading our people; he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar and maintains that he is the Messiah, a king." [3] Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He said to him in reply, "You say so." [4] Pilate then addressed the chief priests and the crowds, "I find this man not guilty." [5] But they were adamant and said, "He is inciting the people with his teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to here." [6] On hearing this Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean; [7] and upon learning that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who was in Jerusalem at that time.

(CCC 596) The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take towards Jesus (Cf. Jn 9:16; 10:19). The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his followers (Cf. Jn 9:22). To those who feared that "everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation", the high priest Caiaphas replied by prophesying: "It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish" (Jn 11:48-50). The Sanhedrin, having declared Jesus deserving of death as a blasphemer but having lost the right to put anyone to death, hands him over to the Romans, accusing him of political revolt, a charge that puts him in the same category as Barabbas who had been accused of sedition (Cf. Mt 26:66; Jn 18:31; Lk 23:2, 19). The chief priests also threatened Pilate politically so that he would condemn Jesus to death (Cf. Jn 19:12, 15, 21). (CCC 1901) If authority belongs to the order established by God, "the choice of the political regime and the appointment of rulers are left to the free decision of the citizens" (GS 74 § 3). The diversity of political regimes is morally acceptable, provided they serve the legitimate good of the communities that adopt them. Regimes whose nature is contrary to the natural law, to the public order, and to the fundamental rights of persons cannot achieve the common good of the nations on which they have been imposed. (CCC 1904) "It is preferable that each power be balanced by other powers and by other spheres of responsibility which keep it within proper bounds. This is the principle of the 'rule of law,' in which the law is sovereign and not the arbitrary will of men" (CA 44). (CCC 1905) In keeping with the social nature of man, the good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which in turn can be defined only in reference to the human person: Do not live entirely isolated, having retreated into yourselves, as if you were already justified, but gather instead to seek the common good together (Ep. Barnabae, 4,10: PG 2, 734).