Luke’s account begins with a typical focus on the interaction between Pilate and the crowd and moves quickly along to the point at which Pilate decides on a possible escape from this situation and transfers Jesus over to Herod. Note that Luke is the only gospel that includes Herod in the midst of the encounter between Jesus and Pilate.

Herod desires to align with Jesus and have Jesus entertain him. Note that in verse 23:9B Jesus increases the dissonance but refrains from adding any love to this encounter. This pattern of dissonance without love is described in Mark 15:5, Matthew 27:12B, Matthew 27:14, John 19: 9B and now in Luke 23:9B. I believe that the encounter with Herod shows that Jesus chose not to seek alignment when the alignment was offered on the wrong basis. Jesus has no interest in performing tricks to entertain Herod. He increases the dissonance, but he displays no affection for Herod.

Herod then changes his attitude toward Jesus and wanders into chaos. Compare the control that Pilate exerted in Luke 23:1-7 and throughout to other gospel accounts to the sloppy handling displayed by Herod. No matter where the other encounters wandered, Pilate always strove to bring the situation back to tranquility. Herod first takes this to a high level of dissonance in anticipation of having Jesus either align with his wishes or transform into a court entertainer. Then he aims at conflict with apparent disregard for the risk inherent in crossing over chaos to get there. It was when I compared Pilate to Herod in Luke’s Gospel that I realized the talent that Pilate had as a negotiator. Before we turn Pilate into a hero, however, Luke demonstrates that there is another side of Pilate that we have not seen before.

Book	Ch	Vs	Actor	Vert	Horz	Dissonance	Love
Luke	23	*	Start	0	0	Assumed start place
Luke	23	1	Crowd	0	1		Captive
Luke	23	2	Crowd	1	2	Accused	Accused
Luke	23	3A	Pilate	1	1		Inquire
Luke	23	3B	Jesus	2	0	"You say so"	"You say so"
Luke	23	4	Pilate	1	-1	Deny	Inquire
Luke	23	5	Crowd	2	0	Conspire	Conspire
Luke	23	6	Pilate	2	-1		Inquire
Luke	23	7	Pilate	3	0	Conspire	Conspire
Luke	23	*	Pilate	3	0	Pilate made a decision
Luke	23	8	Herod	4	-1	Explanation	Gift
Luke	23	9A	Herod	5	-1	Discussion
Luke	23	9B	Jesus	6	-1	No response
Luke	23	*	Jesus	6	-1	Jesus does not align with Herod
Luke	23	10	Crowd	7	0	Accused	Accused
Luke	23	*	Herod	7	0	Herod changes behavior
Luke	23	11A	Herod	6	1	Contempt	Contempt
Luke	23	11B	Soldiers	5	2	Contempt	Contempt
Luke	23	11C	Herod	4	3	Contempt	Contempt
Luke	23	*	Herod	4	3	Herod on the edge of chaos

In verses 13 through 16 Pilate enters conflict with both the crowd and Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, Pilate sends Jesus off to be flogged on his way to the crucifixion. In John, Pilate appears to try flogging as a compromise to give the crowd some blood without resorting to crucifixion. In Luke the flogging occurs in the midst of the encounter and is linked to conflict between Pilate and the crowd. Pilate in verses 14 and 15 challenges the crowd and denies the relevance of their accusations. Then he has Jesus flogged. Perhaps there is intent missing in the text and Pilate was actually striving for a compromise. That speculation, however, reads into the text thoughts that cannot be substantiated by the description.

Pilate then brings the encounter to a close by returning to Tranquility at 0,0. I do not believe there is alignment demonstrated here. Consider the pattern of affirming repetitions in Mark 15:11-15 and Matthew 27:24-26 where the crowd affirms Pilate’s decision. Consider the transformation described in John before Pilate decides to fulfill his role as judge and align his will with his role. We have none of that here. Instead, Pilate returns from conflict to resignation and orders the execution.

Book	Ch	Vs	Actor	Vert	Horz	Dissonance	Love
Luke	23	12	Herod	3	2	Agreement	Agreement
Luke	23	13	Pilate	4	1	Conspire	Conspire
Luke	23	14	Pilate	3	2	Refuse	Refuse
Luke	23	15A	Pilate	2	3	Refuse	Refuse
Luke	23	15B	Pilate	1	4	Refuse	Refuse
Luke	23	16	Pilate	0	3	Concede	Concede
Luke	23	*	Pilate	0	3	Pilate chooses conflict with all
Luke	23	17	Narrator	0	3	Modern translations omit verse 17
Luke	23	18A	Crowd	-1	4	Contempt	Contempt
Luke	23	18B	Crowd	0	3	Redeem	Redeem
Luke	23	19	Narrator	1	3	Explanation
Luke	23	20	Pilate	1	2		Release
Luke	23	21	Crowd	2	3	Conspire	Conspire
Luke	23	22A	Pilate	1	2	Ignorance	Ignorance
Luke	23	22B	Pilate	1	3		Suffer
Luke	23	22C	Pilate	1	2		Release
Luke	23	23	Crowd	2	3	Conspire	Conspire
Luke	23	24	Pilate	1	2	Concede	Concede
Luke	23	25A	Pilate	0	1	Concede	Concede
Luke	23	25B	Pilate	0	0		Gift
Luke	23	*	Pilate	0	0	Pilate is not aligned with this action

Compare the overall flows of the four versions of this encounter.

I highlighted the encounter between Judas and the religious authorities in Matthew in green so that you can visually remove it. Notice how tight the patterns are in Mark, Matthew (excluding Judas) and John. The combined efforts of Jesus with Pilate kept those encounters under tight control and guided each to alignment. Now contrast that with the description provided by Luke. The description that Mark, Matthew and John provide of Pilate is that of a negotiator and administrator who kept things under control. The description that Luke gives us of Herod—highlighted in red—is one of erratic behavior that takes the entire episode off to a dangerous encounter with chaos.

Luke also provides a description of Pilate as a man who was adept at conflict. John’s gospel makes it clear that conflict was present. Conflict was a way of life for the Romans. The difference between John’s account and Luke’s account regarding conflict is the level of dissonance that was present at the time. Conflict in John’s account was deliberate and calculated. In Luke’s account conflict is an outcome from the chaos that preceded it.

Can you see that the actions shown in these encounters reveal intent? Pilate intended to keep order in Mark, Matthew and John through smoothing. Pilate intended to keep order in Luke through conflict. The crowd intended compromise, threaten chaos, but knew not to push the Romans too far. Jesus intends to transform where he can and strives to facilitate alignment. Judas came into his encounter with intent—Judas intended to rectify his error. And Herod had intent. What Herod and Judas share is that both failed to negotiate the outcome they desired and both wandered into chaos.