So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified (John 18:33-19:16).

Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to please everyone that we end up backed into a corner–and pleasing no one. This was the experience of Pilate, the governor of Judea during the time of Jesus. During this last of Jesus’ conversations before the crucifixion, we’ll see the Pilate was weak, vacillating, acting more like a negotiator than a ruler, not realizing that the very Truth stood before him.

Context

Jesus has now been arrested. The Gospels tell us that He was tried twice before the Jewish leaders–once in secret (at night) and once openly (to confirm the earlier decision). The leaders have now brought Him before Pilate, since the Jews cannot execute anyone without the consent of Rome–and executing Jesus is exactly what they want to do.

We are told that the Jewish leadership “did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover.” The striking thing here is that they cared more about ritual defilement than true justice–which Jesus has condemned them for many times. Pilate, in an act of both submission and condescension comes outside to them. His initial question, “What charges are you bringing against this man,” was the normal one under Roman law. The answer, obviously, should have been a statement of crimes that Roman law recognized. However, the answer of the high priest was elusive: “If this man were not a criminal, we would not be handing him over to you.” The implication of the statement is that the Jewish leadership knew that Jesus was not guilty of any crime under Roman law.

Pilate therefore replies that if they had no charges to bring against Jesus under the law of Rome, they should try Jesus according to their own law. This they Jewish leaders had already done (in a manner of speaking). Yet, they had now right to enforce the death sentence already pronounced against Jesus, so they had to transfer the case to Rome.

The First Round

Pilate withdraws inside and summons Jesus. He asks Jesus outright, “Are you the King of the Jews?” The tone may be one of surprise, with Pilate being unable to reconcile the calm demeanor of Jesus (who certainly did not look the part of a pretender to the vacant Jewish throne) with the charges brought against Him. This private audience may show that Pilate did not trust the priests; we are told in Matthew’s account that Pilate knew that Jesus had been handed over because of envy (Matt. 27:18).

Jesus’ reply may seem a bit disrespectful; however, the tone is simply one that is inquiring about Pilate’s stance: Was he making inquiry about Jesus because he really wished to know, or was the questioning simply part of a legal procedure? This question by Jesus seems to have irritated Pilate. No doubt the governor was used to having his questions answered rather than being challenged. His answer to Jesus implies that his questioning was not because of any personal interest. Rather, he wanted to know what Jesus had done to arouse the hatred of the Jews.

Jesus then acknowledges that He is a king. But, He notes quickly that His kingdom is “not of this world.” For if His had been a worldly kingdom, His servants would have fought to prevent Jesus’ arrest (of course Peter did try, but Jesus rebuked him, further emphasizing the point). Rather than get into the finer points of Jesus’ statement, Pilate focuses on the central question, that of Jesus’ kingship. “So you are a king then?”

Jesus’ reply, “You say that I am a king,” is actually an affirmative statement. Then He goes back to His mission: to bear witness to the truth. These statements link back throughout John’s gospel to Jesus’ identification of His mission. It is clear He knew His destiny from the beginning. Since “everyone who is of the truth heeds [His] words,” the implication is that Pilate should also listen to Jesus’ words if he truly wants to seek truth. The tone of Pilate’s question seems to be one of frustrated irritation (picture him throwing his hands up). He simply could not understand Jesus.

The Verdict of Not Guilty

Pilate returns outside to the Jews and pronounces: “I find no guilt in Him.” It was a legal pronouncement, and at that point, Jesus should have been released. Pilate, however, seeks to release Jesus not on the basis of his own inquiry but on the basis of a Passover custom. He proposes to release Jesus to them, hoping that would satisfy the people. (He probably knew that the crowd often was at odds with the Jewish leadership.)

However, Pilate’s plan doesn’t work, and further puts him into a corner. The priests and other leaders encourage the crowd to ask for the release of another, Barabbas, a criminal destined for execution–John notes that he is a “robber.” So, Pilate takes Jesus and has Him scourged. This punishment was done by a heavy rawhide strap called a flagellum, which was loaded with bits of zinc, iron and bone. The punishment was often used as a prelude to crucifixion, but also as a means of extracting information non-Roman citizens (which is why Paul objected when he was going to be flogged in Acts 22:24-25). The flogging plus the humiliation at the hands of the Roman soldiers (vv. 2-3) may have been Pilate’s attempt to punish Jesus to the satisfaction of the Jews–and perhaps to deride the idea that any man would save Israel from Rome.

The Verdict Affirmed

Thus, Pilate brings Jesus out to the crowd and again pronounces that he has found no guilt in Jesus. When Jesus appears, Pilate says, “Behold the man!” The tone suggests either derision or an attempt to stir up compassion from the crowd (as in, “Does this man really look like a revolutionary?”) The plan again backfires, for when the leaders see Jesus, they are enraged (the sight of Jesus dressed in a mock royal outfit may have had something to do with the rage). They “cried out” that He should be crucified. By this time, Pilate seems to be thoroughly disgusted with the whole affair–with Jesus as well as the Jewish leaders. His statement to the leaders, that they should crucify Jesus themselves shows traces of sarcasm, since he has pronounced Jesus guiltless at least twice now.

The Jews, however, switch tactics: “According to our law, He must die because He made Himself the Son of God.” Pilate would have understood the implications of such a charge. To him, however, was not the Jewish God, but rather the possibility that Jesus might indeed be divine, in the manner of the Roman gods. Indeed, such a man might easily supplant him or even Caesar, so therefore Pilate was “even more afraid” (v. 8). Because of His fear, He goes back to question Jesus more.

The question that Pilate placed before Jesus, “Where are you from” (v. 9) indicate that Pilate sought to know if Jesus really was some divine being. If indeed Jesus were, Pilate would not want to harm Him, for fear of divine judgment. Jesus remains silent to the questioning, since He has already made His claims clear. Pilate, having refused to listen, was thus denied any new revelation.

Because of his own fear, Pilate determined from that moment on to release Jesus. He had already tried in two different ways–the “custom of the feast” and the flogging. The Jewish leaders would have none of it: “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar” (v. 12). There are two clear implications here. First, the Jews accused Jesus being a “king,” a rival to Caesar, which under Roman law carried the death penalty. Second, the Jews implied that Pilate could be charged as Jesus’ accomplice, by perhaps making an alliance with Him. The “Caesar” at the time (Caesar had become a title for Emperor) was Tiberius, notoriously suspicious of anyone who might be a rival.

Backed into a Corner

Pilate is now in a most difficult position. Either choice will likely mean the end of his political career–and perhaps his life. If he exonerates Jesus, he will only exacerbate the tensions with the Jewish leadership–and perhaps face a charge of treason. If he condemns Jesus, he will be making a travesty of strict Roman justice–and could perhaps face a charge of malfeasance of office. In any event, his decision could no longer be postponed. He went out to the crowd and sat on the bench used for official judgments and brought Jesus out.

Pilate’s words to the Jews, “Here is your king,” show a total lack of understanding for the Jewish mindset, and a terrible miscalculation on his part. The Jewish leaders respond as they had earlier, with a cry to crucify Jesus. Pilate asks, “Do you want me to crucify your king?” His words show bitterness at having been placed into this position, and the reply of the Jewish leaders is equally ironic: “We have no king but Caesar.” The leadership of the Jews, hating the Romans and longing for independence, preferred Caesar as king over the One sent by God as their Savior. Giving in finally to the Jews, Pilate orders that Jesus be crucified.

Takeaways from this Passage

Pilate is seen as a weak leader who sought to try to please everyone. Whatever his religious beliefs–most Roman men had loyalty to the divine emperor–he failed to respond to the light that was offered by Jesus. Because of his refusal to do so, He was denied any further light. His rejection of Jesus as the Truth parallels his intellectual battle with the truth. Because of His inability to embrace the truth, he is left with an impossible choice, and would continue to spiral downward until recalled to Rome in disgrace.

1 John reminds us to walk in the light (1 John 1:5-10). As we are given light, we respond to it, and we are given more When we reject the light, the only alternative is more and continued darkness.