John 18:28–19:26a – “Jesus before Pilate”
(Josiah Hall)
John 18:28–19:16a 28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 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.” 37 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.” 38 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. 39 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?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 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.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 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.” 7 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.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 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?” 11 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.”
12 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.” 13 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. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 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 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
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Because Pilate seems to hesitate a bit in his decision to crucify Jesus, and because John indicates that Pilate sought to release Jesus (19:12), we can sometimes come to an overly optimistic opinion of Pilate, perhaps even considering him on the verge of conversion. But both the non-biblical historical witness to Pilate’s character and Pilate’s decision to crucify Jesus testify to the opposite. Due to his sense of superstition, the remark that Jesus made himself to be the Son of God (19:7) may have given Pilate pause, but Pilate likely lost no sleep over his decision to crucify Jesus.
John’s purpose in recording Jesus’s trial before Pilate in such detail is not to evoke sympathy for Pilate, but rather, as has been his task throughout the entire crucifixion narrative, to stress that Jesus, not the Roman government or Jewish authorities, remains in control of the events. Crucifixion was one of the preeminent weapons that Rome had at its disposal in its efforts to maintain peace. Execution by crucifixion gruesomely removed every sense of honor and agency from its victim by penetrating their body with nails, affixing them to a piece of wood, and leaving them exposed (sometimes for days) to the elements. Rome did not crucify every criminal but reserved this method of execution for the worst criminals—rebels, military deserters, rebellious slaves—and never used it on their own citizens. In this way, crucifixion was a sign of Roman power and domination.
Yet, John again clarifies that Rome’s military might was not the real reason why Jesus died. Glance back at the passage above and pay attention to the changes in setting. The episode begins in Pilate’s headquarters (18:28). Pilate then moves outside to talk to the Jews (18:29), back inside to talk to Jesus (18:33), back outside to the Jews (18:38), back inside (19:1), and finally back outside (19:4). Despite all of Pilate’s hurried movements, Jesus stayed in one place. John depicts the governor of the most powerful empire on earth shuttling back and forth, unable to figure Jesus out and capitulating to preserve his power (19:12), all while Jesus himself serenely waits, choosing when he will speak and when he will remain silent. The scene reaches its climax in v. 10, when Pilate chastises Jesus for his silence and threatens him with his power to kill, to which Jesus calmly tells Pilate that Pilate holds no absolute authority over him.
On its face, the crucifixion is the greatest tragedy the world has ever known. God’s Son, the true king, was rejected by his own people and executed as a criminal by the Romans. Yet, again, John reminds us that this interpretation misses the deeper reality. The cross is not the location of Jesus’s defeat but rather his triumph, his exaltation, and the moment when the glory of God is most clearly revealed.
Weekly Prayer Focus: Spiritual Renewal for our Congregation
Daily Prayer Request: “Humility.” When humans are humble, they open themselves up to connecting with God’s great power (James 4:6.) Let’s pray that, as a congregation, we would recognize our need for God’s help, and humbly ask him to renew us.