1 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands. 4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” 6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” 11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.” 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 But 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!” 16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
Commentary
Vs. 1 “So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.”
When the Jews rejected Pilates offer to release to them Jesus Christ and instead choose for themselves Barabbas, Pilate did so, he released to them Barabbas, and then took the Lord Jesus Christ and scourged Him, which was a brutal form of punishment, that involved whipping with a wooden handled whip to which two or more leather straps were attached and that were often weighted with metal barbs on the ends to make the flesh cutting of the whip more effective and painful. Pilates scourging of the Jesus Christ was a fulfillment of prophecy about Him, that Jesus would suffer these things for us all (Isaiah 53:5).
Vs. 2-3 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
Now not only was Jesus physically scourged, but He was also “scourged” of His Persons Holy Dignity when the solders after His scourging twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, having done so they then began to mock Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And then they began strike Him with their hands, abusing Him then both physically and emotionally.
Vs. 4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
When Pilate received word that Jesus’ scourging was complete, he went out and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
Vs. 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
Pilate now presents the Lord Jesus Christ as their humiliated King beaten and bloodied before them, acknowledging neither Lord Jesus Christ’s Person or Position or Title, but declaring Him only as “the Man!”
Vs. 6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”
If Pilate thought that violently scourging and publicly humiliating the Lord Jesus Christ would be enough to appease the Jews so that he could release Him, he was mistaken. For when the chief priests and officers who seized Jesus saw Him bloodied and beaten and humiliated, they all began to cry out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate then whose conscience was likely still bothering him from his private interview with Jesus, when he heard them say that immediately retorted back, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” It is clear then at this point Pilate is simply trying to find a way of this, and so he tries to pass the buck (or responsibility) for Jesus’ outcome back onto the Jews.
Vs. 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”
Pilate may have found no fault in Jesus, but the Jews now make it clear that they according to their law have, saying to Pilate, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” Now the principal in the Law they are referring to must be that of blasphemy, however this would only apply if what Jesus said was not true. Therefore, Jesus Christ being the Son of God as declared by God at Jesus’ baptism then leaves no doubt as to whom Jesus’ Person is, The Son of God!
Vs. 8-9 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
When Pilate heard the Jews say that Jesus called Himself the Son of God, he became even more afraid, because even the worst of unbelievers until their hearts are fully harden retain the ability to perceive the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, when Pilate heard them say that he being even more afraid now returns to Jesus in the Praetorium asking Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. For Pilates opportunity to repent and believe came when he privately interviewed Jesus, but when Pilate rejected the truth and light of revelation that Jesus gave him, when he said, “what is truth”, no more truth or revelation or light of Jesus Christ’s Person would be given him by Him.
Vs. 10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
Pilate now becomes agitated that the Lord Jesus Christ will not now testify of His Person to him, and so he threatens Jesus, saying to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
Vs. 11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
Jesus now responds but not to Pilates request, but only to tell him that he has no power at all against Him unless it had been given him from above. In essence Jesus is saying to Pilate what you are doing is not of your making or power, but it has given you from above so that you may be an agent in fulfilling the Word of God about Me. “Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” Because Jesus’ upcoming Crucifixion death began with their desire to do so, not Pilates, therefore they bear a greater sin. Pilate though still bears his own sin in choosing to use his God given position and power to appease them, and thus to agree to Crucify Jesus Christ for them.
Vs. 12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”
In some ways Pilate though not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God still felt an affinity for Him, for wanting to release Him, for as Pilate said earlier, he found no fault in Jesus, so why should he crucify Him. Therefore, Pilate sought to release Jesus because he felt no animosity towards Him. However, the Jews would not have it, and continued to insist that he crucify Jesus, now saying to Pilate, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”
Vs. 13 “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.”
And that was the turning point for Pilate, who when seeing his own political standing with Rome threatened if he let Jesus go, now surrenders to their will to Crucify Jesus. And so he now has Jesus brought out to them, and sitting down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha, Pilate will render a Crucifixion death penalty verdict against the Lord Jesus Christ.
Vs. 14-16 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 But 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!” 16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
And so now Jesus is brought out to the Jews beaten and bloodied. Pilate then presents Jesus to them by saying to them, “Behold your King!” Which only incites the raucous mob to reply back, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate though not content with that will once again seek to belittle the Jews, and so he now says to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” However, this time it is the chief priests whose voices are heard, who orchestrated this day, who will now hypocritically feign loyalty to Rome by saying to Pilate, “We have no king but Caesar!” And with that Pilate delivers Jesus to them to be crucified. They then took Jesus and led him away.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (182):Thomas Nelson.
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