Taking Jesus to Pilate
18:28-32
John did not relate anything that happened before Caiaphas. He may not have witnessed it first hand and so, did not report it. Or, he may have felt he had established the responsibility of the Jews and was ready to move to the Gentiles, the Romans.
Both are held responsible for the death of Jesus in the New Testament. Acts 2:36 says “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
And Acts 4:26-28 says “The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Anointed - for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place…”
John does, however, record more details of Jesus’ trial before Pilate than the other gospel writers.
Pilate was the governor, so the Jews took Jesus to the governor’s headquarters. He had the penalty to conduct a trial and issue the death penalty. It was now early morning, so they have been at this all night already.
Pilate was appointed by the emperor Tiberius as governor, or procurator, in A.D. 26 and governed until A.D. 35 or so. He was not considered a good governor, even for a troubled province. He was not sympathetic to the Jews or their religion. He got into trouble at least three times for stirring up the Jews either with graven images or with raiding the temple treasury.
The best practice for a governor was “out of sight, out of mind” with the emperor. Having rebellions or riots, or having citizens come to Rome to complain to the emperor, were sure to lead to the loss of position or worse.
The purpose of taking Jesus to the governor was to get the death penalty. They could not do this on their own, as they acknowledge in verse 31. The Talmud says “Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, judgment in matters of life and death was taken away from Israel”.
The Jews, according to Old Covenant law, executed people by stoning. The Romans executed by crucifixion. So, in turning Jesus over to the Romans, they were actually doing what Jesus wanted and what he said would happen. He said he would be “lifted up”, meaning crucified. (John 12:32)
Ironically, the Jewish leaders would not enter the governor’s headquarters to avoid being ceremonially unclean during Passover week, while falsely accusing Jesus (Ex. 20:16) and being party to a murder (Ex. 20:13), making them guilty of sin and, therefore, unclean.
Pilate Engages Jesus
18:33-37
At the insistence of the Jews, Pilate opened a proceeding. However, he did not simply confirm the verdict of the Sanhedrin. He started a fresh proceeding, asking the Jews what charges they brought. They were upset by this and responded with petulance: “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you”. (30)
Since the Jews did not answer Pilate’s question, but responded with petulance, Pilate responded with petulance of his own, telling them to take Jesus and judge him by their laws. He could not proceed with a trial with no charges.
But, the Jews insisted that Pilate do it because only he could impose the death penalty. Pilate knew what they wanted, but made them work for it to show his authority.
So, Pilate questioned Jesus. The Jewish leaders would not be able to hear this encounter because they were outside and Pilate and Jesus inside. He asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews. John does not record this title being used before, but the Jews must have complained that Jesus claimed to be king, therefore committing the crime of insurrection, or rebellion, which could be punished by death.
Jesus asked Pilate if he asked this on his own accord, meaning had he heard Jesus claim this, or did someone else say it to him, making it hearsay. It may also have been Jesus’ way to telling Pilate he knew this was a “setup”.
Pilate seemed agitated by this, asking if he was a Jew. This was a rhetorical question meant to raise the fact that Pilate did not want to get involved in squabbles between Jews over religious issues. So, he asked Jesus what he had done to get himself brought before Pilate.
Jesus answered him by addressing the king issue. He said his kingdom was not of this world, which is why his servants were not fighting. (36) This is a denial of the accusation of insurrection. It was not a denial that Jesus was a king, and Pilate picked up on that. He said “so you are a king” (37)
Jesus responded that Pilate said it, not Jesus. But this is an affirmative statement. That is why the NIV words it to be a “yes”.
But, Jesus said he was sent into the world to bear witness to the truth. To bear witness to the truth here means Christ’s revealing God to the world and Jesus’ status as Son of God with the power to save.
Jesus also said that everyone who was of the truth would listen to him. (35) This is similar to what Jesus said to the Jews several times: if they were of the Father and loved the Father, they would believe Jesus’ words.
Pilate expressed his frustration to all of this saying “what is truth”. (38) He recognized his problem here: there likely was no way to discern the truth because this was all bound up in Jewish history and theology, which he did not understand (and did not want to). He also likely realized that Jesus was the victim of a plot by the Jewish leaders, which plot was dangerous to Pilate also.
So, Pilate told the Jews he found no guilt in Jesus. (38) This statement is important to the story, for it shows that Jesus is innocent of any crimes. He is not going to die for his sins, but ours.
That should have been the end of it. But, Pilate wanted to appease the Jews, so he offered to release Jesus as part of a custom to release one prisoner at Passover. The Jews, however, wanted Barabbas, a known criminal, released instead. (40) That would allow Jesus to go free, but not declare him innocent of his crimes.
At this point, John has established that Jesus was innocent of the accusations against him and was even declared innocent by the Romans. So, when he is put to death, it is obvious to the readers of the gospel that Jesus was killed for other reasons. One reason was the sinful nature of both the Jews and the Romans who participated in this process and refused to believe Jesus was who he said he was.
And the second reason is the sovereign authority of Jesus over all that happens.
The guilty man was released and the innocent man punished. It is a picture of the world’s thinking, upside down from the values of God.
And it shows us that sinless Jesus submitted himself to sinful humanity to bring salvation to sinners.
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