seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified
This is from the easy English site.
For the first time, the Jewish leaders told Pilate that Jesus had claimed to be God’s Son. (To claim means to say that something is true.) This made Pilate afraid. There are two possible reasons for Pilate’s reaction. Perhaps he was afraid that Jesus really was God’s son. And therefore, Jesus could use his special powers against Pilate if Pilate condemned him. But there is another possible reason for Pilate’s reaction. The Emperor called himself a son of a god. So it was a serious crime for anybody else to claim to be the son of a god. Perhaps Pilate thought that this was Jesus’ crime. So Pilate needed to ask Jesus more questions. Pilate wanted to know if this was true.
Pilate thought that he had complete control over the situation. This was because he could order his soldiers to crucify Jesus. Or Pilate could let Jesus go free. But, in fact, God was in control of everything that was happening. Jesus knew this. He knew that God had allowed his arrest and his trial to happen. He also knew that he had to die. He had to die so that he could save us. This was God’s plan. Pilate only had the authority to order Jesus’ death because God had given this authority to him.
Pilate had to make a decision about what would happen to Jesus. He believed that Jesus was innocent. But the Jewish leaders and the crowd persuaded Pilate to crucify Jesus. The Jewish leaders hated Jesus so much that they plotted to kill him. Jesus said that this was an even greater sin than Pilate’s sin. However, Pilate could have refused to do what the Jewish leaders wanted. But he gave in to their demands. So he, too, was responsible for Jesus’ death.
Pilate governed Judea province on behalf of the Emperor. The Emperor wanted Pilate to keep peace there. The Emperor could not afford to have large armies in every province that he ruled. So if anybody opposed Roman rule, the ruler of that province had to stop that person immediately. And usually the ruler did this by force. So it was Pilate’s job to keep peace in Judea. The Emperor wanted him to do this.
The Jewish leaders told Pilate that Jesus had opposed the Emperor. This was because of what Jesus had said. Jesus had said that he was a king. So if Pilate let Jesus go free, he (Pilate) was not loyal to the Emperor.
Their words frightened Pilate. He was afraid that he might lose his job. The Emperor might even kill him as punishment.
There's a timing discrepancy here but the bible-studys.org site has a pretty good explanation.The preparation was on Friday before the Sabbath, so that no work would have to be done on the Sabbath.
“Preparation”: Since this refers to the day before the Passover when preparation for the Passover was done, John presents Jesus as being sent to execution about the time Passover lambs were being slaughtered.
“Sixth hour”: John is here reckoning time by the Roman method of the day beginning at midnight.
Notice here, this does not say it was the sixth hour, it says about, which could have been even an hour earlier. Jesus was the Passover Lamb.
“Behold your King”: That was Pilate’s mockery, that such a brutalized and helpless man was a fitting king for them. This mockery continued in the placard on the cross. Pilate tells them once more; this is your King.
So... it was the sixth hour after midnight.... 6AM not noon..... and the priests were already busy sacrificing all the lambs for the big Passover events. My NIV calls it noon.... but there is a whole day of excitement ahead.... Jesus is going to be bound over by a Roman Court.... and He will be hung on a Roman Cross.... so I'm going to agree with the commentary, and correct the NIV.... calling the time as 6AM.... Six hours past midnight.
Maybe another reason they said it was six hours into the day... and called it noon.... maybe another translation would say... they had been up all night and they were exhausted.... and they still had to prepare for Passover as well as the Sabbath.... so they needed Jesus gone sooner rather than later. Maybe that's what the NIV translation would suggest.
Now Pilate was in charge of crowd control in Judea. According to the commentaries... the Emperor would have balked at sending more troops to Judea.... Pilate would have lost his job if he let an uprising happen. Those descendants of Jacob [Israel] were pushing him to crucify an innocent man. On top of that... they say this innocent man claims to be the "son of God". AND.... large crowds were already gathering in Jerusalem for Passover. The descendants of Jacob [Israel] were required to come to the Temple for Passover. So Pilate and the Temple leaders had to keep a lid on the simmering crowd control problems.
We've seen the godly leaders before.... Pharaoh thought he was a god. He thought he had everything under control too. Pharaoh thought he could keep the descendants of Jacob [Israel] as slave labor as long as he so desired. God taught Pharaoh who was really in charge.
Now Pilate is facing a human who is accused of saying he is the son of God.... and only the Emperor claims that stature in Rome. If Pilate let Jesus go... and word got back to the Emperor that Pilate let a man who claimed to be as powerful as the Emperor walk away.... Pilate might as well pack his bags and file for unemployment [which didn't exist back then].
Pilate tried to find a way out of it. He had Jesus beaten. He had Jesus insulted.... but now that Pilate knew that Jesus claimed to be something on the equal to the Roman Emperor.... well Pilate had to hold Jesus over for the Cross....to keep the peace.
I need to remember here... Jesus was already a rock star..... There were 5,000 men along with all their women and slaves at one of His dinner parties. When Jesus spoke... the paralyzed would get up and walk, the blind eye would see, and the dead would walk out of tombs. To the average joe [or Jacob] Jesus was was clearly the Son of God.... but the Jewish leaders were jealous of Him. If God was going to send the Messiah... He would have sent them an engraved announcement. They were in charge of the Temple... not some idol [coin] hating miracle worker.
So to keep the peace... Pilate had Jesus sent to the Cross. In the movie "King of Kings" Pilate makes a big deal out of "washing his hands" of the whole mess. John doesn't say that. In the end... Pilate was just like the preachers who are preaching to the paycheck and the free housing. God knew that was what Pilate would do.... it was part of the plan.
Pilate didn't want to send Jesus to the cross.... but in the end... Pilate wanted to keep his job.
At least Pilate was reluctant....
