When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”
The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid. He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?”
Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”
At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!”
When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6–13 6. Take you him. He did not wish to…
6. Take you him. He did not wish to deliver Christ into their hands, or to abandon him to their fury; only he declares that he will not be their executioner. This is evident from the reason immediately added, when he says that he finds no guilt in him; as if he had said, that he will never be persuaded to shed innocent blood for their gratification. That it is only the priests and officers who demand that he shall be crucified, is evident from the circumstance that the madness of the people was not so great, except so far as those bellows contributed afterwards to kindle it.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 13 They will have him crucified, whom by an old…
They will have him crucified, whom by an old custom of theirs, they should have stoned and hanged up as convict of blasphemy: but they desire to have him crucified after the manner of the Romans.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–13 6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw…
6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
Ver. 6. Crucify him, crucify him] So afterwards the primitive persecutors cried out, Ad bestias, ad bestias, Christianos ad leones, To the beasts, to the beasts, Christians, to the lions, imputing the cause of all public calamities to them, as Tertullian testifieth. So they cried out at Geneva against Farellus, when the bishop first convented him, In Rhodanum, in Rhodanum, Into the Rhone River, into the Rhone, as the Papists still cry out against the professors of the truth, Ad ignem, ad ignem, to the fire with them, to the fire with them. Tollantur sacrilegi, tollantur. Let the wicked be destroyed, destroyed. Indeed in the form and style of their own sentence condemnatory, they pretend a petition to the secular power, In visceribus Iesu Christi ut rigor iuris mitigetur, atque ut parcatur vita; In the body of Jesus Christ so softened the rigour of the law and so that life was spared, so they will seem outwardly to be lambs, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Witness that chancellor of Salisbury, Dr Jeffery, who was not only contented to give sentence against certain martyrs, but also hunted after the high sheriff, not allowing him to spare them, though he would. So Harpsfield, archdeacon of Canterbury, being at London when Queen Mary lay dying, made all post-haste home to despatch those six whom he had then in his cruel custody; and those were the last that suffered for religion in Queen Mary’s reign.
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I find no fault in him] No wonder! For he was (as Peter saith) "A lamb without blemish" (of original sin), "and without spot" (of actual sin), 1Pe 1:18. Neither was it without a sweet providence of God that he should be so often absolved from the desert of death, that thereby we might escape the manifold deaths that we had so well deserved.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv6–13 Our Lord finds more compassion from Pilate, though a…
Our Lord finds more compassion from Pilate, though a heathen, than he found from those of his own nation; yea, those that pretended highest to religion amongst them: Pilate would have saved him; they cry out for his blood. Pilate leaves another testimony behind him, that what he did, at last overborne with a great temptation, he did contrary to the conviction of his own conscience, and as yet declineth the guilt of innocent blood.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 12 Observe here, 1. How ambitious the chief priests were…
Observe here, 1. How ambitious the chief priests were that Christ should die under a colour of law: We have a law, and by our law he ought to die. The law which they allude to, is the law for putting false prophets and blasphemers to death; of which number they conclude Christ to be, because he made himself the Son of God; whereas he did not make himself so, or only pretend to be so, but really and indeed was so; to wit, the eternal Son of God. Such as are indeed blasphemers, and do arrogate to themselves what is proper to God only, by the law of God they ought to be put to death: but Christ was not guilty of the violation of that law; for he was indeed the Son of God, and did not make himself so.
Observe, 2. How full of fear the conscience of Pilate was, when the Jews told him that Jesus made himself the Son of God: he was afraid to condemn him, no knowing but that he might be some divine and extraordinary person, and consequently might draw down divine vengeance on his own head.
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Learn hence, That serious thoughts of a deity will strike terror even into a natural conscience, especially when the sinner is following a course which his own judgment cannot approve; when Pilate heard of Christ’s being the Son of God, he was afraid, knowing what he had done to him was against his own conscience.
Observe, 3. The question Pilate puts to Christ upon this occasion, Whence art thou? that is, What is thy original or parentage? Art thou a divine person or not?
Our blessed Saviour being unwilling to obstruct his own sufferings, or to discover any thing that might hinder Pilate from proceeding against him, would give him no answer, having before made a reasonable and sufficient defence.
O how ready Christ was to lay down his life for sinners, and how willing to pay that ransom for his people which the justice of God required!
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–13 When the chief priests therefore, and officers, saw him,....…
When the chief priests therefore, and officers, saw him,.... In this piteous condition, in his mock dress, and having on him all the marks of cruel usage, enough to have moved an heart of stone: and though they were the principal men of the priesthood, and who made great pretensions to religion and piety, and the officers were their servants and attendants, and all of them used to sacred employments; which might have been thought would have at least influenced them to the exercise of humanity and compassion to fellow creatures; yet instead of being affected with this sight, and wrought upon by it, to have agreed to his release, as Pilate hoped,
they cried out, saying, Crucify him, Crucify him; which was done in a very noisy and clamorous way; and the repetition of their request shows their malignity, vehemence, and impatience; and remarkable it is, that they should call for, and desire that kind of death the Scriptures had pointed out, that the Messiah should die, and which was predicted by Christ himself.
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Pilate saith unto them, take ye him, and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. This was not leave to do it, as appears from the reason he gives, in which the innocence of Christ is again asserted; nor did the Jews take it in this light, as is evident from their reply; and it is clear, that after this Pilate thought he had a power either to release or crucify him; and he did afterwards seek to release him; and the Jews made a fresh request to crucify him; upon which he was delivered to be crucified: but this was said in a way of indignation, and as abhorring the action; and is an ironical concession, and a bitter sarcasm upon them, that men that professed so much religion and sanctity, could be guilty of such iniquity, as to desire the death of one that no fault could be found in; and therefore, if such were their consciences, for his part, he desired to have no concern in so unrighteous an action; but if they would, they must even do it themselves.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11, 13 By our law he ought to die, because he…
By our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God - Which they understood in the highest sense, and therefore accounted blasphemy.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 Verse 6. Crucify HIM] αυτον, which is necessary to…
Verse 6. Crucify HIM] αυτον, which is necessary to the text, and which is wanting in the common editions, and is supplied by our version in Italics, is added here on the authority of almost every MS. and version of importance. As it is omitted in the common editions, it affords another proof, that they were not taken from the best MSS.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 13 Joh 19:8-12. When Pilate heard that saying, he was…
Joh 19:8-12. When Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid — He before feared to shed innocent blood, and now he became more afraid than ever to take his life; suspecting, probably, that the account which he heard of him might be true, and that he might be a divine person. For doubtless he had heard of some of the many miracles which Jesus had performed, and now, it seems, began to think that perhaps what had been currently reported was true, and that he really had performed the wonderful works ascribed to him. For it is very well known, that the religion which the governor professed directed him to acknowledge the existence of demi-gods and heroes, or men descended from the gods. Nay, the heathen believed that their gods themselves sometimes appeared on earth, in the form of men, Act 14:11-12. Pilate, therefore, went again into the judgment-hall — Being resolved to act cautiously; and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? — That is, From whom art thou descended? or what is this divine original which thou art charged with claiming? But Jesus — Knowing that his innocence was already apparent, even to the conviction of Pilate’s conscience; gave him no answer — To that question. Indeed, Pilate’s ordering, or allowing such cruelties to be inflicted on a person he knew to be innocent, rendered him unworthy of an answer. Then saith Pilate — Marvelling at his silence, and being displeased with it; Speakest thou not unto me? — Dost thou make me no reply, and not so much as speak to me in such a circumstance as this, in which thy life is so evidently concerned? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee — To adjudge thee to that terrible death; and have power to release thee — If I please, notwithstanding all the clamourous demands of thine enemies? Jesus answered — With great calmness and mildness; Thou couldest have no power at all against me — For I have done nothing to expose myself to the power of any magistrate; except it were given thee — In an extraordinary way; from above — From the God of heaven, whose providence I acknowledge in all these events. Some have thought that the word ανωθεν, from above, refers to the situation of the temple, which stood much higher than the pretorium: and that it is as if Jesus had said, I know that whatever thou dost against me, is only in consequence of the sentence passed in yonder court held above, so that their guilt is greater than thine. But though this would very well account for the connection of the latter part of this verse, “I cannot think,” says Dr. Doddridge, “it altogether just; for had Providence permitted Pilate to seize Christ as one dangerous to Cesar’s dignity, he would have had as much power of putting him to death as he now had. It is therefore much more reasonable to suppose it refers to the permission of God’s providence.” Therefore he that delivered me unto thee — Namely, the Jewish high-priest, with his council, having far greater opportunities of being acquainted with God and his law than thou hast, and knowing, also, that I have done nothing amiss; hath the greater sin — Is more blameable than thou art. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him — That is, he was still further satisfied of the injustice of the prosecution, and of the innocence of Jesus, so that he endeavoured even more than before to have him released. For the reader will observe, that this was not the first attempt of Pilate to release Jesus. This evangelist himself tells us, (Joh 18:39,) that he had once before offered to release him. And the answer of the priests on this occasion corresponds thereto. They cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar’s friend — That is, thou art not faithful to the emperor; by which they insinuated that they would accuse him to his master, if he did not do his duty. This argument was weighty, and shook Pilate’s resolution to the foundation. He was frightened at the very thought of being accused to Tiberius, who in matters of government, as Tacitus and Suetonius testify, was apt to suspect the worst, and always punished the least crimes relative thereto with death. Whosoever maketh himself a king — Or rather, maketh, or calleth himself king, speaketh against Cesar. So Dr. Campbell reads the clause, observing, “the sentence is true, when βασιλεα [the word here used] is rendered king, but not when rendered a king. Judea, at that time, together with Syria, to which it was annexed, made a province of the empire. Nothing is more certain than that whoever in Judea called himself king, in the sense wherein the word was commonly understood, opposed Cesar. But it did not therefore hold, that whosoever called himself a king, opposed Cesar. For if the kingdom to which he laid claim was without the bounds of the Roman empire, the title in nowise interfered with the rights of the emperor.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6–13 They cried out, saying, Crucify him ... - The…
They cried out, saying, Crucify him ... - The view of the Saviour’s meekness only exasperated them the more. They had resolved on his death; and as they saw Pilate disposed to acquit him, they redoubled their cries, and endeavored to gain by tumult, and clamor, and terror, what they saw they could not obtain by justice. When men are determined on evil, they cannot be reasoned with. Every argument tends to defeat their plans, and they press on in iniquity with the more earnestness in proportion as sound reasons are urged to stay their course. Thus sinners go in the way of wickedness down to death. They make up in firmness of purpose what they lack in reason. They are more fixed in their plans in proportion as God faithfully warns them and their friends admonish them.
Take ye him ... - These are evidently the words of a man weary with their importunity and with the subject, and yet resolved not to sanction their conduct. It was not the act of a judge delivering him up according to the forms of the law, for they did not understand it so. It was equivalent to this: “I am satisfied of his innocence, and shall not pronounce the sentence of death. If you are bent on his ruin - if you are determined to put to death an innocent man - if my judgment does not satisfy you - take him and put him to death on your own responsibility, and take the consequences. It cannot be done with my consent, nor in the due form of law; and if done, it must be by you, without authority, and in the face of justice.” See Mat 27:24.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v11 Unless it were given, or permitted thee from above.…
Unless it were given, or permitted thee from above. Therefore, he that delivered me to thee, hath the greater sin. Some expound this of Judas; others, rather of the high priest Caiphas, with the Jewish council: for they could not be ignorant that Jesus was their Messias, having seen the miracles Jesus did, and knowing the predictions of the prophets. (Witham) --- Lest any should think, from what our Saviour had said, that Pilate was not in fault, in this place, he here adds, that he that had delivered him up, had the greater sin: God, indeed, had permitted it; but still these instruments of his death were not without fault. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. lxxxiii. in Joan.) --- Christ had been delivered into the power of Pilate through envy, and Pilate was about to exercise that power through fear. But though this last motive of fear can never justify any one, who condemns the innocent, yet still it is much more pardonable than the motive of envy, which was the incentive of the Jewish multitude. (St. Augustine, tract. 116. in Joan.) --- Judas delivered Jesus into the hands of the priest, but both the priests and the people delivered him up to Pontius Pilate.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6–12 When the chief priests . . . saw him,…
When the chief priests . . . saw him, they cried out--their fiendish rage kindling afresh at the sight of Him.
Crucify him, crucify him--(See Mar 15:14).
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Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him; for I find no fault in him--as if this would relieve him of the responsibility of the deed, who, by surrendering Him, incurred it all!
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv6–13 6. They cried… Crucify him—As Jesus stands the representative…
6. They cried… Crucify him—As Jesus stands the representative of suffering for sin, so these are the representative sinners. All our sins have cried, in the words of these men, “Crucify him, crucify him.”
Take ye him—Crucify him then yourselves, Pilate in effect says, for I cannot perpetrate the deed. There is a tone of impatience in the words that shows how indignantly the Roman felt their exacting and obstinate cruelty.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–13 6. and officers] Better (as in Joh_18:18), and the…
6. and officers] Better (as in Joh_18:18), and the officers. The leaders take the initiative, to prevent any expression of compassion on the part of the crowd. The sight of ‘the Man’ maddens rather than softens them.
cried out] The verb (kraugazo) expresses a loud cry, and (excepting Mat_12:19; Act_22:23) occurs only in this Gospel in N.T. Comp. Joh_11:43, Joh_12:13, Joh_18:40, Joh_19:12; Joh_19:15.
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Crucify him] Omit the pronoun, which is not in the Greek. The simple imperative better expresses the cry which was to give the cue to the multitude. According to all four Evangelists the demand for crucifixion was not made at first, but after the offer to release Jesus in honour of the Feast.
Take ye him] Better, Take Him yourselves, as in Joh_18:31. We may admit that it ought to have been beneath the dignity of a Roman judge to taunt the people with a suggestion which he knew that they dare not follow; but there is nothing so improbable in it as to compel us to believe that the Jews had the power of inflicting capital punishment (see on Joh_18:31). Pilate is goaded into an exhibition of feeling unworthy of his office.
for I find] As in Joh_18:38, the ‘I’ is emphatic; ‘for I do not find in Him a ground of accusation.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–13 (6) When the chief priests therefore and officers saw…
(6) When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him.—Comp. Joh_18:3. The spectacle, so far from moving their pity, excites their passionate hatred, and they frustrate any other cry which may arise by that of “Crucify Him!” (Comp. Mat_27:22.)
Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.—Comp. Notes on Joh_18:31; Joh_18:38. “Crucify Him,” the words mean, “if you dare to do so; there is no charge on which I can condemn Him; and I will be no party to your act.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6–13 When then the chief priests and the officers saw…
When then the chief priests and the officers saw him, they stifled every movement of possible sympathy by "loud harsh cries" (ekraugasan). They cried out, Crucify, crucify him! Scourging and mockery do not meet the case, nor exhaust the curse and the verdict they have already pronounced. He must die the doom of the vilest. He must be done to death as a slave. Pilate saith unto them, certainly not granting to them permission to take the law into their hands, irrespective of the Praetorian court and against his will, but in angry sarcasm, and with an unconcealed threat, Take him, ye yourselves, and crucify; that is, if you dare. Go, do your deed of blood by your own hands, take all the responsibility; for I find no crime in him. Pilate thus derides their powerlessness, and repeats his verdict of acquittal. (see Joh_18:31) At this moment the so-called trial might have ended, so far as Pilate was concerned, with a frank and immediate release. It would seem as though the governor had decided, and there could be no more discussion. But
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw Him
Joh_19:6
When the chief priests therefore and officers saw Him
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Pilate at bay
I.
THE CLAMOUR. Crucify Him!
1. Its occasion: the presentation of Christ therefore. One would have expected, as Pilate doubtless did, that revenge would be satiated by the bleeding form of One who had offended them by His teaching, and by the humiliation of One whom they had charged with kingly ambition. Here surely was an end of His prestige--the people would never listen to Him again, or shout hosannahs any more. Instead of this, these human tigers having tasted bleed, only thirsted for more.
2. Its nature.
(1) Cowardly, inasmuch as its object was an innocent defenceless prisoner.
(2) Ferocious, for it called for a death, of all deaths the most humiliating and cruel. To have cried Drown! Behead! Pelson! would have argued some relic of pity; for these would have been comparatively painless means of putting their victim out of His misery.
3. Its accordance with the Divine plans. This was the form of death deliberately chosen and predicted by Jesus. Hence the clamour was an unconscious means of helping to fulfil His prophecies of being lifted up. He causeth the wrath of man to praise Him.
II. PILATES RESPONSE TO THE CLAMOUR. Take ye Him, &c. A response
1. Contemptuous: showing the governors repugnance to being the dirty tool of an unscrupulous and fanatical mob. All the Romans sense of right and pride of race come out here.
2. With a merciful design. It meant I have nothing to crucify Him for; crucify ye Him if ye dare! It was something like the reply of a British officer in India to a Brahmin who consulted him with reference to a Sutee. It was represented that the burning of a certain widow was in conformity with the laws of their religion. Very good, said the officer, you carry out your laws and I will execute mine. According to mine, to burn a widow is murder, and I will hang every man connected with the murder. Pilate doubtless thought that this would be an end to the matter. He little knew, apparently, those with whom he had to deal.
III. THE GROUND FOR PILATES RESPONSE, I find no fault in Him. This is the third time that Pilate made this confession. It should go for something, for it came from an experienced Roman judge--after a personal examination; after a trial, when all the odds were against the prisoner; after excruciating torture; and was made to a people whom Pilate had every reason to desire to propitiate. The only inference that can be drawn is that there was no fault in Jesus. And if Pilate found no fault in Him can we? (J. W. Burn.)
I find no fault in Him.
The faultlessness of Jesus
I. OF WHOM THIS IS SAID.
1. The Man Christ Jesus. Behold the Man! Can you find any fault
(1) With His character, which was holy, harmless, &c. Which of you convinceth Me of sin?
(2) With His words, which were untainted by falsehood, malice, wrath (except for hypocrisy and evil doing), but were full of grace, love, and truth.
(3) With His actions, which were all straightforward, righteous, beneficent.
2. The Teacher. Will you find fault with
(1) The matter of His teaching. Produce its like from pagan sages or even inspired prophets!
(2) The manner: so tender, illustrative, interesting, forceful. Never man spake as this Man.
3. The Saviour. Can you find fault with
(1) His power to save. He is able to save to the uttermost.
(2) His willingness. Come unto Me. This Man receiveth sinners--now.
4. The King. No fault can be found with One the principle of whose government is to cause all things to work together for His subjects good.
II. BY WHOM THIS IS SAID.
1. Pilate, the Roman judge, after the most careful examination. What would Pilate not have given had it been possible to find fault, and so extricate himself.
2. Judas His betrayer. I have shed innocent blood. What would not that guilty conscience have given to have found one flaw on that spotless innocence.
3. The saved sinner who has trusted in Him and found mercy.
4. The afflicted believer who finds His grace sufficient.
5. The dying saint. Yea, though I walk through the valley, &c.
6. Angels and glorified spirits. Worthy is the Lamb.
What then is the conclusion to be drawn from all this?
1. All other men--the most wise and the most saintly--are faulty somewhere. But this Man had no fault.
2. Upon no other man has this verdict been passed. Friends or enemies, or himself, have found some fault. But neither friend nor foe could find fault with Jesus. Nor did He find fault with Himself. Was He not then the Holy One of God? (J. W. Burn.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v7 Joh_19:9. Whence … Jesus gave no answer.—The answer had…
EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
Joh_19:9. Whence … Jesus gave no answer.—The answer had already been given (Joh_18:36-37 : see also Joh_8:25; Joh_10:24-25). Besides, what Pilate had to settle now was the justice of the charge for which Jesus was brought before him (Isa_53:7).
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Joh_19:11. He that delivered He unto thee, etc.—The Jewish high priest claimed to represent a divinely ordered religion and system, and to be directed in his action by divine revelation and guidance. Therefore, as one who should have been in possession of clearer light, he was more guilty than a heathen judge, to whom the light and truth of God had not come.
Joh_19:12. Cæsar’s friend.—Amicus Cæsaris was a title of honour sometimes given to provincial governors. Those men well knew the jealous fears of Tiberius for his authority. The suspicion of treason brought almost inevitable ruin during his reign, and many were charged with that crime.
Joh_19:13. Therefore.—Pilate’s action is that of a man of the world, not of a just, impartial judge—of a man who puts self-interest before truth and righteousness.
Joh_19:14. The preparation (παρασκευή).—Of the passover, which was near at hand. Soon the passover lamb was to be slain, and even on that very day “Christ our passover was sacrificed for us.” The sixth hour.—See note, pp. 536, 537.
Joh_19:15. Shall I crucify your king?—Since those men would persist in the political charge against Christ, Pilate intends that the condemnation of the accused shall rest on that ground, as he clearly showed in the “title” written to be affixed on the cross (Joh_19:19). No king but Cæsar.—This cry, in which the leaders of the theocracy reject their rightful King, is sadly prophetic. They judged themselves “unworthy of everlasting life”; therefore the kingdom of God was taken from them (Act_13:46; Mat_21:43). And the world’s rule has been hard and bitter for them and their children.
Joh_19:16. Then delivered lie Him unto them, etc.—I.e. to the priests and rulers of the Jews. Not that Jesus was actually delivered into their hands, but He was delivered up, in order that their evil designs against Him might be carried out. The quaternion of Roman soldiers who carried out the actual crucifixion were only instruments of their wicked will (Act_2:23; Act_3:15).
Joh_19:17. Bearing His cross, etc.—He bore it until He appears to have sunk under it, and then Simon of Cyrene was compelled to help Jesus to bear it (Mar_15:21). Golgotha (from נָּלַלִ).—Probably so called from the rounded form of the mound, or hillock, on which crucifixion was usually carried out. The Vulgate translated the word Calvaria—a skull, or a place of burial. Hence our word Calvary. The question of the site of Calvary and the holy sepulchre need not be discussed here. It is a question that is not yet settled, if it ever can be. But no valid reason has yet been given to lead to a conclusive decision against the spot now covered by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Joh_19:18. Two others.—The intention, no doubt, in crucifying these two malefactors, and Jesus in the midst as, on account of His alleged treason, more guilty than they, was to offer to the world an ostensible reason for His condemnation.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Joh_19:7-18
Joh_19:7-16. Jesus innocent, yet condemned.—Pilate had done his utmost to deliver Jesus from those implacable foes, i.e. he had done his utmost to effect his purpose by policy. He hesitated to take a firm stand on the platform of even-handed justice. His unjust government of his province made him fear to do this. “Conscience makes cowards of us all”; and here it made Pilate weak and vacillating. The Jewish leaders were quick to see this, and pressed their advantage remorselessly until the divinely appointed end had been reached. Notice—
I. Pilate’s final examination of Jesus.—
1. The last word of Jewish malice made Pilate again hesitate and bethink himself before finally yielding (Joh_19:7).
2. The Son of God! This saying of the infuriated Jews, coupled with the remembrance of his wife’s message regarding her mysterious dream, made Pilate more than ever conscious that in Christ’s presence the eternal world was near. Little wonder that he feared, lest haply he might be found “fighting against God” (Act_5:34-40). But he had neither the clear conscience nor the moral courage of a Gamaliel to make such a stand for truth and right as he should have made.
3. Perturbed in mind, this unbeliever (in whose mind the usual association of unbelief and superstition was found) returned to the judgment hall, and again stood before the silent, suffering Christ. Abruptly and with troubled countenance he asks the question, “Whence art Thou?” but he received no answer from our Lord.
4. It is plain why Jesus did not answer the Roman judge. All the materials for forming a judgment were before him, and on reviewing these Pilate had already pronounced Jesus innocent. Thus the Roman judge himself was indirectly condemned. But it was also in mercy for Pilate’s moral weakness which his heathen education could not change into strength. Therefore He spares him further sin.
5. But in answer to Pilate’s foolish boast about his power Jesus did reply in a fashion that made Pilate yet more uneasy (Joh_19:11). Jesus pointed out to him that his power and authority as judge and governor lay above and behind imperial Rome (Rom_13:1): that this power was given to be exercised justly, and that therefore he would be called to account for the use of it; but that those who knew better—the theocratic judge Caiaphas and the other Jewish leaders, who should have had more enlightenment, and who unjustly pressed Pilate to condemn Jesus—were the most guilty.
II. Pilate’s final declaration of the innocency of Jesus.—
1. This last conversation with the Saviour made Pilate more feverishly anxious than ever to release Jesus. The more he saw of the kingly Sufferer, the more unfathomable abysses of mystery and being seemed to open around Him.
2. In doing this he bore testimony again to his own word, “I find in Him no fault at all” (Joh_18:38). And well might Pilate do so; for Jesus here distinctly acknowledges Pilate’s right to judge derived from above, and thus proves that He is no stirrer-up of the people against properly constituted authority. He declares also the right of Heaven to order human affairs, and thus shows Himself to be no blasphemer.
3. Well then might Pilate seek to release Him. And we should rejoice to be able to accept this evidence of the blamelessness of our great High Priest. It was testimony dragged from an unwilling witness; and it shows us that Jesus in this was fitted for His great mediatorial work as the Redeemer of men.
III. Jesus, though innocent, is condemned.—
1. Pilate’s well-meant efforts to save Jesus from the uttermost penalty proved vain. A cry of wrath from the excited mob rent the air: “If thou let this man go,” etc. (Joh_19:12). The struggle between righteousness and apparent self-interest going on in Pilate’s breast, and which a moment ago seemed being decided on the side of righteousness, was suddenly ended in favour of self-interest.
2. If this accusation, however baseless, came to the ears of Tiberius, and it was proved that Christ had been released, then Pilate knew, or thought, there would be “short shrift” for him. “What was this Jew in comparison with his position and safety. Better the satisfaction of this unjust demand of the Jewish rulers than disgrace or worse at Rome.” Is it so certain, Pilate? and does a God of righteousness not reign? Had you remained firm that day your house might have been established in righteousness (Psalms 112). Unrighteousness will not serve you; the unrighteous shall perish.
3. Pilate therefore, with a heavy load upon his conscience, sat down in his judgment seat to stain his office by a crime. He was not a judge, but a slave in the high light of noon.
4. Strange were his words in pronouncing judgment: “Behold your King”; and as the people cried, “Away with Him, crucify Him,” again the scornful voice was heard: “Shall I crucify your King?” This was the plea on which they finally pressed Pilate to condemn Jesus, and they will not be spared the humiliation of the charge.
5. But if Pilate was a slave, what shall be said of those hypocritical men who boasted of their freedom as they cried out, “We have no king but Cæsar” (Joh_8:32-33)? Jesus is “delivered to be crucified,” and is led away to the cross. But as these men go we see gathering over them the storms of justice, summoned by their imprecation, “His blood be on us and on our children.” We see a subjugated people—a ruined city, the abode of hideous iniquity, round which the eagles gather for their prey—a blazing temple—“a people scattered and peeled”—until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luk_21:24), and the descendants of those murderers shall say, “Blessed is He,” etc. (Mat_23:39).
Joh_19:17-18. Golgotha.—A guard of Roman soldiers issue from one of the gates of Jerusalem escorting three prisoners, and accompanied by a varied crowd, many execrating or jeering, some, mostly of the gentler sex, weeping. The guard hold their way toward an open space near the highway, where, on a low mound, malefactors are wont to be executed. Two of the prisoners are known criminals; the third, who has aid in bearing the cross to which He is soon to be nailed, is Jesus, who was pronounced innocent by the Roman judge. As they come to the place of execution, the flower-scented airs of spring breathe around, and the bright spring sunshine, as yet undimmed, gleams down on this scene. The preliminaries of crucifixion are soon arranged. Jesus and the malefactors are nailed to the crosses they have been bearing, which are then set upright and fixed. Jesus occupies the central position; on either hand the malefactors are placed, and the weary hours begin to pass. We place ourselves in thought before the central cross on Golgotha, and ask the meaning of this scene.
I. The cross of Jesus is the symbol of the punishment of sin.—
1. Around it are marshalled the hosts of light and darkness. The crucial hour of conflict has come, when humanity shall be freed from the guilt of sin—when the darkness that covered the earth, and the gross darkness brooding over the peoples, shall begin to pass, and the true light to shine (1Jn_2:8).
2. Jew and Gentile felt the burden of sin, and perceived that they were responsible for its committal and obnoxious to its punishment. The Hebrew with the divine revelation given to him apprehended this truth most deeply. He realised that sin springs “out of the depths of human personality in opposition to the divine,” that it is “in its nature destructive and leads to death,” and that by it misery comes upon men.
3. But the Gentile also had his idea of sin. It gave rise to the dualism of Persia, it meets us in the thought of the most cultured Gentile peoples; it is one of the foundations on which the loftiest heathen literature, Greek tragedy, has been built. “Behind all the activities of life, and all the play of dramatic passion, … there is a stern background of righteousness which will by no means clear the guilty. A shadowy terror overhangs all wrong-doing, and a curse which cannot be turned away pursues the offenders” (Dr. John Tulloch).
4. Sin and its punishment, then, were amongst the most engrossing thoughts of all men. How to escape its guilt and penalty—that was the cry of the ages.
5. And here on the cross of Jesus the prayers of the ages uttered, or unexpressed, have found an answer. “He was made sin for us who knew no sin.” On the cross He suffered the extreme penalty, even to the hiding for a moment of the Father’s face.
6. There, too, the dominion of evil is broken. The evil power in which sin inheres is vanquished. The head of Satan is bruised; and the kingdom of darkness begins to shrink as the kingdom of light expands.
II. The cross of Jesus is the symbol of divine love.—
1. When sinful men remember that they must stand before God they begin with fear to ask, “How shall I come before Him?” etc. And if they are honest their answer will be, “I cannot answer for one of a thousand transgressions.” I cannot pay the ten thousand talents which I owe. I have no way by which the debt might be cancelled. My own righteousness falls in ruins. The heaven that I would purchase with my good works becomes like an empty dream.
2. “What man could not do God did,” etc. (Rom_8:3). His love planned the way of escape for man. In the Son He lays a foundation on which men may build safely for eternity, “not having their own righteousness which is of the law,” etc. (Php_3:9).
3. And in the cross is seen the love of the Redeemer in His vicarious suffering and self-sacrifice for mankind, in obedience to the Father’s will, “who desires not the death of a sinner,” etc. (Eze_18:32). The cross of shame thus becomes a visible manifestation and symbol of heavenly love toward fallen men.
III. The cross of Jesus on Golgotha is the meeting-point of the ages.—
1. (1) It was foreseen from eternity. Jesus is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
(2) It was concealed in the first promise of redemption after Eden’s fall.
(3) Abraham saw it afar off, “and was glad,” when Isaac was spared on Moriah (Gen_22:12-14).
(4) Jacob waited for the salvation of God (Gen_49:18).
(5) Isaiah and all the Old Testament saints and prophets sighed for and looked forward to that happy hour when Christ’s divine sorrow and suffering should bring joy to men. “Oh that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, and come down,” etc. (Isa_64:1). “Yea, many kings and prophets would fain have seen the things which Christ’s disciples saw,” etc. (Luk_10:24).
(6) The Gentile world also felt vague longings after peace and a higher life which no wisest philosophy, no effort, could help men to attain to,—when the love of God wrought redemption for humanity on the cross of shame.
2. (1) And toward this cross all succeeding ages have looked.
(2) Men still have tried in various ways to effect for themselves what the redeeming grace of our great High Priest alone can effect. They have sought through ritual, pilgrimages, etc., to escape the necessity of that full surrender to Christ which has made the cross of Christ “to the Jews a stumbling-block,” etc. (1Co_1:23). But however far men wander into the ways of unbelief or superstition, seeking thus to gain peace and promise of heaven, they have had to come back to the cross of Jesus.
(3) And now in ever-widening circles its influence is spreading. Men of all races, as the years pass on, are turning toward it, as the true centre of life—the true blessedness for time, the only hope for eternity.
Application.—Do we see in this scene on Golgotha divine love exhibited toward us? Do we see in it the wisdom and mercy of God working out through Christ our redemption? Then what joy and comfort should the view bring to our souls! On that cross the dominion of evil is broken, the guilt of sin removed, the sting of death taken away. Do our sins appal us with the thought of judgment? “Christ was delivered for our offences,” etc. (Rom_4:25; Col_1:14). Does death affright? The power has been taken from him (Rom_14:8). Does the law thunder condemnation?
“Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission.
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
Christ hath redeemed us, ‘once for all.’ ”
What reason, then, to rejoice in the cross of Jesus! Thence flow eternal peace, heavenly joy, divine sonship and citizenship; there the darkness passes from our souls for time and eternity, and through the mists of sorrow and pain the morning of joy dawns, and the Sun of righteousness arises, bringing an endless day of truth and grace.
Joh_19:17-18. The cross of Christ.—It is in the mystery of the cross that God has made the glory of His wisdom most evident. The thoughts of men and those of God have been in opposition since men sinned. It is therefore no cause of astonishment that men should have dared sometimes to find fault with the works of God. That which should surprise us most is that men have been offended even at the grace of God. The mystery of a crucified God is foolishness to the worldling. Yet with the apostle we maintain that it is in a special degree the manifestation of divine wisdom. Two things were essential:
1. To satisfy an offended God; and
2. To elevate men, who had become perverted and corrupted. But these ends could not be attained to in any way more effectually than by the cross of the Saviour.
I. There is no other means by which an offended God can be satisfied than the cross of Jesus Christ.—
1. God could be satisfied only by the God-man. And what has this God-man done, or rather what was there that He did not do? Why was God alienated from man? Because man had sought to be as God. “Ye shall be as gods,” etc. (Gen_3:1-5). And I, said the God-man, in order to satisfy My Father, I shall humiliate Myself more than any man: “I am a worm and no man,” etc. (Psa_22:6). Men had rebelled against God. Therefore, said the God-man, shall I become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Php_2:8). Man in sinful concupiscence eats of the forbidden fruit; therefore I (said the God-man) will become a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief (Isa_53:3). Can we conceive a more complete reparation?
2. But this is not all. The Saviour has revealed three great truths with which men should be chiefly concerned:
(1) What God is;
(2) what sin is; and
(3) what salvation is. The knowledge of these truths is essentially connected with the mystery of the cross. What is God? An exalted Being, for whose glory Emmanuel had to be humiliated, even to the death of the cross. The idea of the greatness of God which this gives surpasses all that can otherwise be conceived. And what is sin? An evil, for the expiation of which it was necessary that the God-man should become “a curse” (Gal_3:13) and full of reproach. This is the mystery of the cross which we preach. And what is the salvation of man? It is a blessing to secure which for man the Son of God laid down His life. These are the great truths which this divine Master, dying on the cross, teaches us. Now, a truth which gives us such lofty ideas of God, which inspires us with a perfect horror and hatred of sin, which leads us to prize salvation above everything else, must be a mystery of divine wisdom.
II. There is no means more effectual than the cross of Christ for converting men perverted and corrupted by sin.—
1. There are three sources of sin according to St. John: “The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” (1Jn_2:16). The remedy for these our Lord brought when He came from heaven, and He shows us in His passion what they are. The despoilment of His garments teaches us not to love riches, the lust of the eye. The humiliations He underwent testify against ambition, the pride of life. His sufferings witness against sensuality, which is the lust of the flesh. “What would be the result,” said the learned Pic de la Mirande, “if men should agree universally to live according to the example of Jesus Christ, so that this crucified God should become practically the law according to which the world would be governed? To what a degree of perfection would the world speedily be raised which to-day is so corrupt!”
2. In the divine plan how beautifully is the excess of malice corrected by the excess of perfection in Christ, the excess of sinfulness by His superabounding holiness, the excess of base ingratitude by the abounding of His unspeakable love!
3. Behold, here is surely what is sufficient to confound our reason in view of the judgment of God; and may it please Him that this judgment, at which our reason must be convinced of its errors and put to confusion, may not already be begun for us. For from this time forth the dying Saviour has committed to Him the judgment of the world. “Now is the judgment of this world” (Joh_12:31). His cross will rise against us. It is the cross of Christ by which we shall be judged—this cross (so inimical to our passions), which we have honoured in our speculations, and which we have shrunk from in our practice, with it we shall be confronted. All that is not found to be conformable to it shall then bear the character and seal of reprobation. What resemblance is there between it and our fleshly lives? Let not that which should reconcile us to God only make us more worthy of condemnation; but let it be that in which we place all our confidence.—Abridged from Bourdaloue.
HOMILETIC NOTES
Joh_19:14. The time of the crucifixion.—Does John here use the Jewish mode of reckoning time? and if so, how is this statement to be reconciled with Mar_15:25, “And it was the third hour,” etc., and with the assertion of all the Synoptists that the darkness—not mentioned by St. John—lasted from the sixth to the ninth hour, i.e. twelve to three o’clock?
1. It must be remembered that the ancients had not the convenient means we have of determining the exact time. They had to go a good deal by guess-work, by noticing the position of the sun, etc. We are not therefore to think that the hour as given either by the Synoptists or by St. John was what we might call the exact moment in astronomical time. Then St. John expressly uses the word about. It is just as if he had said toward noon.
2. All the Synoptists give the hours when darkness fell on the scene of the crucifixion as the sixth to the ninth. This probably denoted the actual time of our Lord’s crucifixion; and in this way St. John’s general reference would not be at variance with St. Mark’s statement as above.
3. Probably the scourging was regarded by St. Mark as the beginning of the crucifixion. It was preliminary to it. Then would come the march to Golgotha, and the preparation for the crucifixion itself. Both would take time. And as Jesus would almost appear to have been the last of the three to be nailed on the cross, it might be well on toward noon when His cross was finally lifted up.
4. There are strong arguments, however, in favour of the idea that John used the Western mode of reckoning time (a day of twelve hours from midnight to noon and from noon to midnight) as best known in Roman Asia where he laboured. But this surely would only shift the difficulty, and not solve it; for 6 a.m. is not 9 a.m. The likelihood is that amid the events of that day, so awful to the disciples, neither St. John nor St. Peter (if he it was who dictated St. Mark’s Gospel) would have time or thought to inquire what the exact hour by sun-dial or clepsydra was, whilst both might think of somewhat different stages of the proceedings when they made their notes of time.
Joh_19:16-18. The presence of evil in human life.—When we turn to the highest form of life in man himself, the presence of evil haunts it everywhere in endless forms of general and individual experience in all relations of human society, all functions of human industry, and in the noblest energies of human progress. We cannot conceal its working when we look within our own hearts. Nay; here more than anywhere it shows its deepest power, and touches human experience with acutest misery. Different natures will apprehend differently the depth and power of evil in human life; but there are none, not even the more sentimental enthusiasts, can dispute its existence; and it requires only a slight degree of moral earnestness to be solemnly arrested by it. The highest natures have been most moved by its mystery; and those who have most realised the greatness of man, and done most for his good, have at the same time felt most pathetically the shadows of evil that rest upon his lot. So far there can hardly be any difference of opinion as to the fact which we call evil. Whatever men may make of the fact, its presence around them and in their own life admits of no denial. A fact so universal and so painful, touching human life at all points with such a sore pressure, has been necessarily a subject of much inquiry and reflection. Men have never ceased interrogating the mystery which lies around them and within them. The history of religion is in great part a history of the explanations which men have tried to give of it.—Dr. John Tulloch.
Joh_19:17-18. The law is no remedy for sin.—The moral law powerfully contributed to awaken the innersense of the Hebrew people and deepen their consciousness of sin. The divine is presented in it not merely as Sovereign and Lord—although this is the opening keynote (Exo_20:2-3)—but as identified with every aspect of order, truth, righteousness, and purity in human life. A moral idea not only invests all life, but is carried up to Jahveh-Elohim, as the Source of this life and its highest Exemplar. It was impossible to dwell in the light of such an ideal and not to have had the spiritual sense quickened and made sensitive and the feeling of offence toward the divine called forth in many ways hitherto little understood or owned. This is what St. Paul means when he says that “the law entered that the offence might abound” (Rom_5:20), and again, that “without the law sin was dead” (Rom_7:8). He is speaking of his own experience, or of the experience of a devout Jew in his own time; but the experience of the religious nature is always so far the same—nay, the experience of the individual is typical of the race. When the law entered into the consciousness of humanity, and was added to the progressive force of divine revelation, the sense of sin was deepened alongside of it. Conscience became alive in front of the divine commandment, and spiritual life was touched to its depths by that sad undertone of sin which has never died out of it. Through ages the moral law has been the most powerful moral factor of humanity, restraining its chaotic tendencies, and binding it into harmonies of domestic, social, and religious well-being. It has lain not merely upon the human conscience, but entered into the human heart as one of its most living inward springs—bracing its weakness, rebuking its laxity, holding before it an inflexible rule of moral good. Words cannot measure the strength which it has been to all the higher qualities of the race, and the widespread moral education which it has diffused, discriminating and purifying the ideas alike of good and evil wherever it has prevailed, and clothing life with a reality and depth of meaning which it would never otherwise have possessed.—Dr. John Tulloch.
ILLUSTRATION
Joh_19:17-18. The preaching of the cross the power of God unto salvation.—Let me try then to point out to you what some of the effects will be in a man’s preaching from a true sense of the value of the human soul, by which I mean a high estimate of the capacity of the spiritual nature, a keen and constant appreciation of the attainments to which it may be brought. And first of all it helps to rescue the gospel which we preach from a sort of unnaturalness and incongruity which is very apt to cling to it; this is, I think, very important. Consider what it is that you are to declare week after week to the men and women who come to hear you. The mighty truths of Incarnation and Atonement are your themes. You tell them of the birth and life and death of Jesus Christ. You picture the adorable love and the mysterious sacrifice of the Saviour, and you bind all this to their lives. You tell them that in a true sense all this was certainly for them. I do not know what you are made of, if sometimes, as you preach, there does not come into your mind a thought of incongruity. What are you, you and these people to whom you preach, that for you the central affection of the universe should have been stirred? You know your own life. You know something of the lives they live. You look into their faces as you preach to them. Where is the end worthy of all this ministry of almighty grace which you have been describing? Is it possible that all this once took place, and by the operation of the Holy Spirit is a perpetual power in the world, merely that these machine-lives might run a little truer, or that a series of rules might be established by which the current workings of society might move more smoothly? That, which men sometimes make the purpose of it all, is too unworthy. The engine is too coarse to have so fine a fire under it. You must see something deeper. You must discern in all these men and women some inherent preciousness, for which even the marvel of the Incarnation and the agony of Calvary were not too great, or it is impossible that yon should keep your faith in those stupendous truths which Bethlehem and Calvary offer to us. Some source of fire from which these dimmed sparks come, some possible renewal of the fire which is in them still, some sight of the education through which each soul is passing, and some suggestion of the special personal perfectness to which each may attain, all this must brighten before you, as you look at them; and then the truths of your theology shall not be thrown into confusion nor faded into unreality by your ministry to men.—Dr. Phillips Brooks.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v11 Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
sin
Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv7, 12 Pilate again examines Jesus:
Pilate again examines Jesus:
v. 7. The Jews answered him, We have a Law, and by our Law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.
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v. 8. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid,
v. 9. and went again into the judgment-hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art Thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
v. 10. Then saith Pilate unto Him, Speakest Thou not unto me? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee?
v. 11. Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above; therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin.
v. 12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him.
When Pilate made his declaration before the people of his belief in the innocence of Jesus, they stopped their noisy demonstration just long enough to give him an answer which was intended to bring his superstitious heart into further subjection. They calmly stated to him that they had a Law, and that according to that Law it was necessary that Jesus die. It was intended to impress Pilate and to browbeat him into submission, by playing upon his superstition. Unwittingly the Jews here uttered a great truth, as their high priest had done a short time before. It was indeed necessary that Jesus die, but not for any guilt of His own. "Mark here that the innocence of Christ, our Lord, stands for our guilt. For though He was condemned to death being innocent, He yet is guilty before God according to the Law; not for His person, but for our persons. He stands before Pilate, not as the son of the Virgin Mary, but as a malefactor; and that not for Himself, but for thee and for me. Thus Christ for His own person is innocent but being in our stead, He is guilty, for He has taken our part to pay our guilt. " The emphasis of the Jews was now upon that one point which had aroused the hypocrites to the highest pitch of pretended indignation, namely. that He had made Himself the Son of God. Their manner implied that they considered His claim to be altogether unfounded, but one that for that very reason merited punishment. It was a point which had no value from the standpoint of the Jews, who were attempting to show that Jesus was a dangerous rebel. "Such accusation of blasphemy toward God had no weight with Pilate, since he knew nothing of the Law of the Jews; and even if the Jews had gained this point and truly had fixed this upon Christ that He had blasphemed God, yet Pilate might have said: Why do you Jews act contrary to your own Law? Your Law commands that a blasphemer should be stoned, and not crucified; but now you cry that I should crucify this man, although crucifying is not the penalty of blasphemy, also according to your Law. Therefore the Jews are again raving and foolish, and are caught. For thus it will happen to all enemies of God that oppose the truth, that they are always caught in their own rascality. " But for us there is a world of comfort in that fact, that Jesus suffered and died as the Son of God. That gives to His Passion the real, lasting worth. The Jews, in their anxiety to force Pilate into submission, almost spoiled their own object. For the effect of their statement concerning the claim of Christ was to make him afraid of the punishment of the gods, if he should carry out the demand of the Jews. So he once more entered the hall and had a second interview with Jesus. He wanted to know whether there were any truth to the statement as to His being of divine origin. The question, blunt as it sounds, must have been spoken also with a certain amount of awe. The silence of Jesus said more strongly than words might have done that the whole trial was a blasphemous farce. Jesus had given testimony concerning Himself, as the King of truth, and Pilate had rejected the words, treated them with contempt. But the silence of Jesus enraged the proud, supercilious Roman, who now sought to impress this poor prisoner with the greatness of his power over Him. That this Man would not answer him, the governor, who, in his belief, had absolute power over His life, was almost unbelievable.
But the calm answer of Jesus pointed out to him his limits: Not wouldest thou have any power over Me if it had not been given to thee from above. Jesus was under divine direction to carry out the divine obligation resting upon Him. God’s purposes were being carried out in the present trial, and not a weak man’s whims and fancies. The greater blame rested with the Jews that had delivered the Lord into the hands of the Gentiles; their sin and guilt was of a nature that would bring them temporal and eternal destruction. "Here thou seest that Christ judges the work according to the heart and not according to outward seeming and appearance. Pilate commits a sin in having Christ crucified, though he finds no cause of death in Him. But since his heart is not so evil as that of Caiaphas and the high priests, therefore did not sin so great as the sin of Caiaphas and the high priests. " Such was the impression that Pilate gained from this interview that he sought more than ever, although without result, to release the Lord. But as Jesus had told him, the matter was no longer in his hands, but in that of a higher power.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 10, 12 The Jews answered him
The Jews answered him
Here "Jews" is a synecdoche for the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus. AT: "The Jewish leaders answered Pilate" (See: Synecdoche)
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he has to die because he claimed to be the Son of God
Jesus was condemned to death by crucifixion because he claimed he was "the Son of God."
Son of God
This is an important title for Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)
translationWords
Jew
law, laws
Son of God
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13 19:6 Pilate knew that a riot could happen when…
19:6 Pilate knew that a riot could happen when a man popular with the masses was executed, so he shifted responsibility to crucify Jesus to the Temple leaders.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.