With Dale Ratzlaff
John 19:6-15
6 So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”
“Yourselves” and “I” are set in dynamic contrast. In essence, Pilate is saying, “I want nothing to do with this. Do it yourselves.” However, the Jews cannot do it themselves. Pilate seems to be grasping at straws, still trying to avoid making a decision, from the standpoint of Roman law he is speaking irrationally.
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”
This statement is true, but only if Jesus is not the Son of God.
Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death (Lev. 24:16).
Jesus had given the Jews evidence of His divine nature time and again.
For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God (Jn. 5:18).
Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (Jn. 8:53-58).
The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS ‘? “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God ‘? “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (Jn. 10:33-38).
Here we see the sin of the Jews. Jesus gave them evidence, clear evidence, yet they chose not to believe. We see the danger in rejecting the truth.
8 Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid;
In the Roman world it was not uncommon to hear of gods appearing to men. He knew that there was no guilt in Jesus. Now hearing that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God sent a bolt of fear through him. He must inquire further.
9 and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
We are not sure what Pilate was seeking by asking where Jesus was from. Was he asking for the place Jesus grew up, or did he think that maybe, perhaps, Jesus was from “heaven” whatever Pilate thought about heaven? We also do not know for sure why Jesus did not answer Pilate. Two reasons have been suggested: as was the custom of Jesus, Jesus wanted to draw questions from those He encountered. More likely, though, Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7:
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.
Some, if not many, of the facts surrounding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, were not understood until after Jesus rose from the dead. Believers could then read the Old Testament prophecies and find places which brought new understanding to these details.
10 So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”
Here Pilate is taking the full authority over the future of Jesus. This shows his hypocrisy in trying to push the decision to crucify Jesus onto the Jews. He knows Jesus is innocent. He knows what verdict he should give.
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
Several things stand out in this verse. First, we note the sovereignty of God over earthly rulers. We see this over and over again in Bible history. Jesus humbled the proud Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in Daniel 4. In Romans, Paul stated,
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God (Rom. 13:1).
Second, Jesus measures out degrees of guilt. Pilate, even if he orders Jesus to be crucified, is not as guilty as the one who “delivered Jesus to Pilate.” Who was that “one?” Sometimes we think of Judas, and he may be included in Jesus’ statement. However, Judas did not deliver Jesus to Pilate, but to the Jewish leaders. Therefore, we conclude that the guiltiest one would be Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jews.
The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!” (Mt. 26:62-66).
The fact that the “guiltiest” was Caiaphas, does not remove Pilate from his share of the guilt.
12 As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release Him.
Again, we see the fickleness of Pilate. He does not have the strength of character or the leadership qualities to hold the office of Prefect of the Roman Province. His judgment is like a wobbling wheel going this way and then that way.
The Jewish leaders knew the power in political influence, so they manufactured a dilemma.
But the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”
This was a false dilemma. Pilate knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was not an insurrectionist. Jesus had told him that His kingdom was not of this world. He had supported this statement with good evidence: Jesus’ disciples were not fighting for any earthly outcome. Pilate could have done the right thing and declare Jesus innocent based upon the facts of his investigation. If questioned by Caesar, he could easily have supported his decision.
Yet, the wobbling Pilate reacted to this dilemma as if it were true.
The real dilemma that Pilate faced was this: was he going to be to treat Jesus justly, or was he going to allow the Jews to control him to the extent that he rejected Jesus?
13 Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It is believed that “the” judgment seat was inside the Praetorium. In Greek, the above sentence is rendered without the definite article, it is “a” judgment seat. Perhaps a temporary seat brought out where all could see. It appears that Pilate was the one who was seated. If so, Jesus was probably at his side or behind him. Some see a double meaning, typical in John’s writings.
We may suppose then that John meant that Pilate did in fact sit upon the Bema (judgement seat), but that for those with eyes to see behind this human scene appeared the Son of Man, to whom all judgment has been committed, seated upon his throne ( See Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, p. 799).
For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son (Jn. 5:22).
14 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
Some hold that the day of preparation for the Passover was different from the day of preparation for the Sabbath, thereby making the argument that Jesus was crucified on Thursday.
However, “the day of preparation” is never used for a Jewish festival. When we consider the three places this phrase is used, John 19:14,31,42, it becomes evident that this was the day of preparation “for the Sabbath”.
There has been much discussion in trying to harmonize the timing of these events. John’s account, as noted above, states it was “about” the sixth hour. Mark states that the actual crucifixion took place at the “third” hour.
It was the third hour when they crucified Him (Mk. 15:25).
I believe the best resolution is put forward by D.A. Carson.
More than likely we are in danger of insisting on a degree of precision in both Mark and John which, in the days before watches, could not have been achieved. The reckoning of time for most people, who could not very well carry sundials and astronomical charts, was necessarily approximate. If the sun was moving toward mid-heaven, two different observers might well have glanced up and decided, respectively, that it was “the third hour” or “about the sixth hour” ( D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, p. 605).
So 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” (Jn. 19:15).
Pilate realizes that he cannot escape the trap the Jews have set before him regarding the crucifixion of Jesus. He knows the Jews hate the Romans and would like there to be a Messiah who would arise and deliver their nation from Roman rule. Pilate now, in essence, mockingly coronates Jesus who stands before them, feeble, battered, and bloodied as he says, “Behold your King”.
What Pilate said only infuriated the Jews, so they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!”
At this point, the Jews fully rejected their Messiah and cry out, “We have no king but Caesar”. In the providence of God, Pilate spoke more truth than he knew like Caiaphas did before him.
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad (Jn. 11:49-52),
Unknowingly Pilate announced to the Jewish leaders their long-awaited king. Jesus, the descendant of David who had been given the covenant promise of kingship, stood before them, and they did not recognize Him. This open rejection of the Messiah set the course of rebellion that would terminate in the destruction of Jerusalem.
Application
- There is danger in rejecting known truth. As we have gone through the Gospel of John, this truth has been emphasized many times. Sometimes we need to hear important truths often.
- As some of the events that took place during the last week leading to the crucifixion of Jesus were not understood until after the resurrection, so we may not understand events that take place in our lives. Looking back over the years of our pilgrimage, Carolyn and I can now see God’s hand leading through difficult circumstances which we did not discern at the time ( See Truth Led Me Out and My Cup Overflows at www.SabbathinChrist.com).
- When facing decisions, sometimes, we only think of two alternatives. Often, there may be more. Pilate faced a false dilemma that the Jews presented to him leading him to reject the innocent Christ and participate in the guilt of His crucifixion.
Prayer
Father, help me always to follow the truth. Guide me through your Spirit as I study your word. When things take place that confuse me, help me to know that nothing can take me out of your hand and all things, even the ones I do not understand, will work together for good. When facing decisions, help me see all the possible choices and lead me to the right one.
In Jesus name. †
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