Matthew 27:11-14

 ¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” ¹² And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. ¹³ Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” ¹⁴ But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.



Commentary
Matthew’s Gospel now moves the scene from the chief priests and the suicide of Judas Iscariot, to the governor’s residence where the Lord Jesus Christ has been taken by the chief priests and elders of the Jews for the execution of their death sentence against Him. Now in order to get this done by Pilate they have schemed to bring Jesus before him on the false charge of sedition against Rome, that is Jesus was claiming to be a king, and thus was undermining the Rule and Authority of Rome’s Emperor Caesar. Now they also laid many other false charges against Jesus, like He was telling people not to pay taxes to Rome (see Mark 12:13-17; Luke 23:2), but in Matthew it seems the one that they hoped would be grounds for Jesus’ Crucifixion death was His declaring Himself a King, something that would indicate to Rome that He was planning to lead the Jews into a rebellion against them, something that was not done, or going to happen by Him. Therefore, Pilate’s inquiry of Jesus here is simply to ask Him if He is a King, for to get Him to declare himself as much would be their grounds for His execution by Crucifixion. Jesus though knowing this does not directly do so, but simply replies to Pilate’s question “Are You the King of the Jews?” by saying, “It is as you say.” (vs. 11). Now with the Lord Jesus’ tactful answer the chief priests and elders begin to level all kinds of false accusations against Him, however Jesus answers both them, and Pilate nothing, which causes the governor to marvel greatly (vs. 12-14). Jesus then in no way will validate their trumped-up charges, or this process, or their perversion of justice, through which they seek to kill Him.


Scripture Quotations: 

The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson