John 18:33-35

Pilate summoned Jesus into the Praetorium to question Him, since the Jews wanted Jesus dead. This was Pilate’s question: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Apparently this is the accusation the Jews finally brought against Jesus.

 

But Jesus asked Pilate whether this question had come from Pilate or from others. I think that Jesus was trying to point out that Pilate was not really seeking the truth. Pilate was merely seeking to know the claim. Had the question originated with Pilate, it would have been significant for a Roman to be truly trying to discern whether Jesus was the king of the Jews. But Pilate was merely acting as a judge. He did not care whether Jesus was truly the King of the Jews or not. He cared merely whether Jesus claimed to be king of the Jews.

 

So Pilate answered, “I’m not a Jew, am I?” In other words, Why would I care about this? Why would I come up with this idea? I don’t care who the king of the Jews is! He continued, “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Pilate’s concern was to finish up this process of judging Jesus. Whether or not Jesus is the king of the Jews does not matter to Pilate; what he cares about is finding a basis for judging Jesus or setting Him free. And Pilate is probably confused about why the Jews would hand over a man who claimed to be their king – why would they betray one of their own unless he had done something terrible?

 

But Jesus has not done something terrible. All the Jews have brought to Pilate, according to Pilate’s own words, is that Jesus claims to be their king. To Pilate, it was obvious that this man was innocent of all charges. Why? Because the Jews would never hand over their own true king, so He couldn’t really be their King. And there had been no other significant charges, so Jesus must be a decent man.

 

Father, thank You for sending the Innocent One for us. Thank You for making it plain by the way that people responded to Jesus that He really was innocent. Thank You that Jesus, the Innocent One, was willing to die in my place and the place of other guilty ones – even in the place of those who denied Him, accused Him, condemned Him, and killed Him. Thank You that You have that kind of love, and that Jesus has that kind of love. Only someone with the innocence of God could display the love of God this way.