28

29

Jesus before Pilate.

CHAP. Xviii. 28-40.

"Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment. And it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.

"Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What 30 accusation bring ye against this Man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we 31 would not have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 32 that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He spake, signifying what death He should die.

33

"Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto Him, Art Thou the 84 King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me. 35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered Thee unto me: 36 what hast Thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom 37 not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear

witness unto the truth. 38 truth heareth My voice. What is truth?

Every one that is of the
Pilate saith unto Him,

"And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in Him no 39 fault at all. But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this Man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber."

HE scene now changes. Jesus is brought by the Jews

Tbefore the Roman power. Though it is yet so

early, He has already been examined at the high-priest's house; and now He is brought to the Prætorium, the head-quarters or palace of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.

We meet this morning after a quiet night, we have slept in peace, and now we awake to our daily comforts: but oh, how different were that night and morning to Him! And all was for us.

The Jews would not go into the Prætorium, for it was a heathen place, and, according to their notions, would so have defiled them that they could not then have eaten the passover. How strict they were in outward things, even when plotting against Him who was the true Paschal Lamb! Pilate therefore went out to them. There they stood, in front of the hall, with Jesus as their prisoner.

They seem to have hoped that Pilate would take their word for it that He was guilty, and order His execution at once. When asked what was the charge against Him, they only said, "If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee."

Pilate, on his part, appears to have supposed that the charge was only a trifling one, for which a slight punishment would be enough. They themselves therefore might judge Him, "Take ye him, and judge him according to your law."

But this by no means met their wishes. They might not inflict the punishment of death, for that power had been taken from them by the Romans. But it was His death that they desired; nothing less would satisfy them.

If, as some think, they still had the power of putting to death in certain cases, and by special leave, yet even then the death would have been by stoning, not by crucifying. And the Lord was not to be stoned. He was to be "lifted up," crucified. The Jews little thought that, in thus handing Him over to the Romans, to be put to death in their way, they were fulfilling His own words, and bringing to pass the purposes of God.

Pilate now saw that the matter was more serious than he had supposed. He appears to have now gone back into the hall of judgment, and to have had Jesus brought to him there, leaving the Jews still standing without. There it was that he asked the question, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" It was the Jews who had accused Him of calling Himself so, though that is not mentioned here. Jesus knew this, and accordingly put it to Pilate whether it were not so: "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of Me?"

Pilate, though in some fear of the Jews, yet did in his heart despise the whole nation. "Am I a Jew ?" he asked scornfully. How should he, the Roman governor, know or care anything about such things? It was the Jewish rulers and people who had delivered Jesus to him, and told him this against Him. Now

"What hast

however he could hear His own account. thou done?" he asked.

He does not

Our Lord's answer is very remarkable. deny that He is a king: but He was no such king as Pilate supposed; no mere earthly king, with servants to take His part against the Jews; He had a kingdom; but it was not from hence, not of this world.

To the Roman governor, Jesus, standing before him a defenceless prisoner, looked but little like a king. "Art thou a king then ?" Thou, poor prisoner, art thou a king? The words seem spoken, half in pity, Our Lord, in His answer, appears to reply to this feeling: "Thou sayest that I am a king"; Yes, it is even so; thy words are true, humble as I seem, yet I am indeed a king.

half in scorn.

But, though a king, it was not as a king that He had then come. He had been born, and had come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. So He told Pilate. And He added, "Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice."

This took Pilate by surprise. Here was something quite new, quite different from what he had expected, and from anything to which he was accustomed. Possibly he felt the sting of our Saviour's words, "Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice," for he did not hear, so as to believe. But he only said, "What is truth ?" and then, without waiting for an answer, left Jesus there, and went out again to the Jews.

He had been struck by our Lord's words and behaviour. Whatever else he thought about Him, he was persuaded that He was innocent and harmless. "I find in him no fault at all," he said. And then, as a happy way of getting rid of the whole business, he proposed

that the Jews themselves should choose Jesus as the prisoner to be set free at the feast according to the custom.

But there was then another prisoner in custody for his crimes, Barabbas. They would have him set free, and not Jesus. The contrast is striking. Jesus, the innocent, must die; Barabbas, the robber and murderer, should live that was the choice of the Jews. Peter reminded them of it afterwards, "Ye denied the Holy One, and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you" (Acts iii. 14). This was part of their guilt, and part of our Saviour's shame-the shame that He endured for us: Barabbas was preferred to Him.