It is still early in the morning when Jesus is taken to the governor’s palace. But the Jews who have accompanied him refuse to enter because they believe that such intimacy with Gentiles will defile them. So to accommodate them, Pilate comes out. “What accusation do you bring against this man?” he asks.

“If this man were not a wrongdoer, we would not have delivered him up to you,” they answer.

Desiring to avoid involvement, Pilate responds: “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”

Revealing their murderous intent, the Jews claim: “It is not lawful for us to kill anyone.” Indeed, if they killed Jesus during the Passover Festival, it would likely cause a public uproar, since many hold Jesus in high regard. But if they can get the Romans to execute him on a political charge, this will tend to absolve them of responsibility before the people.

So the religious leaders, not mentioning their earlier trial during which they condemned Jesus for blasphemy, now trump up different charges. They make the three-part accusation: “This man we found [1] subverting our nation and [2] forbidding the paying of taxes to Caesar and [3] saying he himself is Christ a king.”

It is the charge that Jesus claims to be a king that concerns Pilate. He, therefore, enters the palace again, calls Jesus to him, and asks: “Are you the king of the Jews?” In other words, have you broken the law by declaring yourself to be a king in opposition to Caesar?

Jesus wants to know how much Pilate already has heard about him, so he asks: “Is it of your own originality that you say this, or did others tell you about me?”

Pilate professes ignorance about him and a desire to learn the facts. “I am not a Jew, am I?” he responds. “Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you up to me. What did you do?”

Jesus in no way attempts to dodge the issue, which is that of kingship. The answer that Jesus now gives no doubt surprises Pilate.

From Pilate to Herod and Back Again

ALTHOUGH Jesus makes no attempt to conceal from Pilate that he is a king, he explains that his Kingdom is no threat to Rome. “My kingdom is no part of this world,” Jesus says. “If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from this source.” Jesus thus acknowledges three times that he has a Kingdom, although it is not of an earthly source.

Yet, Pilate presses him further: “Well, then, are you a king?” That is, are you a king even though your Kingdom is no part of this world?

Jesus lets Pilate know that he has drawn the right conclusion, answering: “You yourself are saying that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is on the side of the truth listens to my voice.”

Yes, the very purpose of Jesus’ existence on earth is to bear witness to “the truth,” specifically the truth about his Kingdom. Jesus is prepared to be faithful to that truth even if it costs him his life. Although Pilate asks: “What is truth?” he does not wait for further explanation. He has heard enough to render judgment.

Pilate returns to the crowd waiting outside the palace. Evidently with Jesus at his side, he tells the chief priests and those with them: “I find no crime in this man.”

Angered by the decision, the crowds begin to insist: “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, even starting out from Galilee to here.”

The unreasoning fanaticism of the Jews must amaze Pilate. So, as the chief priests and older men continue shouting, Pilate turns to Jesus and asks: “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” Yet, Jesus makes no attempt to answer. His calm in the face of the wild accusations causes Pilate to marvel.

Learning that Jesus is a Galilean, Pilate sees a way out of responsibility for him. The ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas (son of Herod the Great), is in Jerusalem for the Passover, so Pilate sends Jesus to him.

When Jesus returns, Pilate calls the chief priests, the Jewish rulers, and the people together and says: “You brought this man to me as one inciting the people to revolt, and, look! I examined him in front of you but found in this man no ground for the charges you are bringing against him. In fact, neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us; and, look! nothing deserving of death has been committed by him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.”

Thus Pilate has twice declared Jesus innocent. He is eager to free him, for he realizes that it is only because of envy that the priests have handed him over. As Pilate continues to try to release Jesus, he receives even stronger motivation to do so. While he is on his judgment seat, his wife sends a message, urging him: “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I suffered a lot today in a dream [evidently of divine origin] because of him.”

Yet, how can Pilate release this innocent man, as he knows he should?

“Look! The Man!”

IMPRESSED by Jesus’ demeanor and recognizing his innocence, Pilate pursues another way to release him. “You have a custom,” he tells the crowds, “that I should release a man to you at the passover.”

Barabbas, a notorious murderer, is also being held as prisoner, so Pilate asks: “Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus the so-called Christ?”

Persuaded by the chief priests who have stirred them up, the people ask for Barabbas to be released but for Jesus to be killed. Not giving up, Pilate responds, asking again: “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

“Barabbas,” they shout.

“What, then, shall I do with Jesus the so-called Christ?” Pilate asks in dismay.

With one deafening roar, they answer: “Let him be impaled!” “Impale! Impale him!”

Knowing that they are demanding the death of an innocent man, Pilate pleads: “Why, what bad thing did this man do? I found nothing deserving of death in him; I will therefore chastise and release him.”

Despite his attempts, the enraged crowd, egged on by their religious leaders, keep yelling: “Let him be impaled!” Worked into a frenzy by the priests, the crowd wants blood. And to think, only five days before, some of them were probably among those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as King! All the while, Jesus’ disciples, if they are present, remain silent and inconspicuous.

Pilate, seeing his appeals are doing no good but, rather, that an uproar is arising, takes water and washes his hands before the crowd, and says: “I am innocent of the blood of this man. You yourselves must see to it.” At that, the people answer: “His blood come upon us and upon our children.”

So, in accord with their demands​—and wishing to satisfy the crowd more than to do what he knows is right—​Pilate releases Barabbas to them. He takes Jesus and has him stripped and then scourged. This was no ordinary whipping. The Journal of the American Medical Association describes the Roman practice of scourging:

“The usual instrument was a short whip (flagrum or flagellum) with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals. . . . As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim’s back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh.”

After this torturous beating, Jesus is taken into the governor’s palace, and the whole body of troops is called together. There the soldiers heap further abuse on him by braiding a crown of thorns and pushing it down on his head. They put a reed in his right hand, and they clothe him with a purple garment, the type that is worn by royalty. Then they say to him mockingly: “Good day, you King of the Jews!” Also, they spit on him and slap him in the face. Taking the sturdy reed from his hand, they use it to hit him on the head, driving even further into his scalp the sharp thorns of his humiliating “crown.”

Jesus’ remarkable dignity and strength in the face of this mistreatment so impresses Pilate that he is moved to make another attempt to redeem him. “See! I bring him outside to you in order for you to know I find no fault in him,” he tells the crowds. Possibly he imagines that the sight of Jesus’ tortured condition will soften their hearts. As Jesus stands before the heartless mob, wearing the thorny crown and the purple outer garment and with his bleeding face etched with pain, Pilate proclaims: “Look! The man!”

Though bruised and battered, here stands the most outstanding figure of all history, truly the greatest man who ever lived! Yes, Jesus shows a quiet dignity and calm that bespeak a greatness that even Pilate must acknowledge, for his words are apparently a mingling of both respect and pity.

Handed Over and Led Away

WHEN Pilate, moved by the quiet dignity of the tortured Jesus, again tries to release him, the chief priests become even angrier. They are determined to let nothing interfere with their wicked purpose. So they renew their shouting: “Impale him! Impale him!”

“Take him yourselves and impale him,” Pilate responds. (Contrary to their earlier claims, the Jews may have authority to execute criminals for religious offenses that are of sufficient gravity.) Then, for at least the fifth time, Pilate declares Jesus innocent, saying: “I do not find any fault in him.”

The Jews, seeing that their political charges have failed to produce results, fall back on the religious charge of blasphemy used hours earlier at Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin. “We have a law,” they say, “and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself God’s son.”

This charge is new to Pilate, and it causes him to become more fearful. By now he realizes that Jesus is no ordinary man, even as his wife’s dream and Jesus’ remarkable strength of personality indicate. But “God’s son”? Pilate knows that Jesus is from Galilee. Yet, could he possibly have lived before? Taking him back into the palace again, Pilate asks: “Where are you from?”

Jesus remains silent. Earlier he had told Pilate that he is a king but that his Kingdom is no part of this world. No further explanation now would serve a useful purpose. However, Pilate’s pride is hurt by the refusal to answer, and he flares up at Jesus with the words: “Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know I have authority to release you and I have authority to impale you?”

“You would have no authority at all against me unless it had been granted to you from above,” Jesus responds respectfully. He is referring to the grant by God of authority to human rulers to administer earthly affairs. Jesus adds: “This is why the man that handed me over to you has greater sin.” Indeed, the high priest Caiaphas and his accomplices and Judas Iscariot all bear heavier responsibility than Pilate for the unjust treatment of Jesus.

Impressed even more by Jesus and fearful that Jesus may have a divine origin, Pilate renews his efforts to release him. The Jews, however, rebuff Pilate. They repeat their political charge, craftily threatening: “If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Every man making himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

Despite the dire implications, Pilate brings Jesus outside once more. “See! Your king!” he appeals yet again.

“Take him away! Take him away! Impale him!”

“Shall I impale your king?” Pilate asks in desperation.

The Jews have chafed under the rule of the Romans. Indeed, they despise Rome’s domination! Yet, hypocritically, the chief priests say: “We have no king but Caesar.”

Fearing for his political position and reputation, Pilate finally caves in under the Jews’ relentless demands. He hands Jesus over.