John 19:7-9a The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9a He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?”
The gospel of John is a Jewish book. It was written by John, a Jewish apostle of Christ, to the Jewish people and is about the Jewish Messiah. The expression “the Jews” in the gospel of John actually refers to the religious leaders. According to the text about the trial of Christ, there were considerable arguments between Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea, and the religious leaders. The religious leaders failed to find any violation against Jesus according to the Jewish religious Law, so they presented Jesus as a conspirator against the Roman Empire because he claimed to be the Messiah, the King of the Jews. Their idea was that since he claimed to be the Messiah, and since the Messiah was to rule the Jewish people as their king, then Jesus violated the political status-quo of the Roman Empire. That was their talking point in getting rid of Jesus under the guise of a political conspiracy.
However, Pilate attributed this whole charade to jealousy on the part of those leaders. When Pilate was unconvinced that Jesus’ claims of Kingship constituted a threat to the Roman Empire, the religious leaders finally, out of frustration, stated the real reason that they wanted Jesus killed. They insisted that he committed blasphemy because he attributed deity to himself. Onmany occasions in the gospel of John, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and that he was Yahweh, the Jewish deity of Scriptures.
If a judge presiding on a trial was told that the defendant claimed to be an alien from outer space or some form of a deity, the expected response from that judge would be a mixture of laughter and scorn, with possible sympathy to the mental state of the defendant. Pilate’s response, however, was very different – he became more afraid and he took Jesus aside privately and asked him “Where are you from?” or “What is your origin?”
Pilate’s reaction clearly suggests the following: he initially was afraid because he felt that there was something special about Jesus. Yes, he was righteous, but also that he was some sort of a king. To him, he felt that he was more than a mere earthly, righteous king. There was something more, but he was not able to put his finger on it. When he heard the claims about Christ being the Son of God, he was more afraid than before because this claim was the most fitting to the personality of the one who stood before him. Yes, Jesus was flogged. But the flogging and the torture only highlighted his deity and perfection. It was like gold – when it is exposed to fire, it shines brighter.
Some commentators have to tried to suggest that Pilate was the superstitious type who was afraid of putting the wrong person to death on account that the gods might manifest themselves in the victim. They have suggested that his reaction comes from his pagan background more than anything else. This will not do. First, the New Testament specifically, and history in general, do not portray Pilate as a superstitious, weak ruler. Instead, he is portrayed as a cruel, efficient and pragmatic ruler who did not hesitate to shed Jewish blood for the sake his agenda. From his point of view, slaughtering innocent Jewish people was politically expedient.
Furthermore, from Pilate’s earlier dialog with Jesus, it was not his pagan worldview that was at play but the Jewish background was at play. Added to that, it is unthinkable that Pilate could have been ignorant of the religious history of an area he was supposed to rule. The truth of the matter is that Pilate tried to shield himself from personal accountability by stating that this Messiah is a Jewish king. Therefore, this Jewish matter does not concern him since he is not Jewish.
But now, when the claims of the sonship of God are revealed and his initial impressions are corrected, he can no longer shield himself from any responsibility towards Jesus. The fact is, the Jewish worldview became the dominant one: There was one God in the universe and probably he was the one standing before him. The only logical reaction was intense fear and a private conversation to confirm this conclusion.
John 19:9b But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
John 19:12 From then on Pilate sought to release him.
For a mere human, an obligatory answer denying the claim of deity would have been expected. Anything else was blasphemous for a mere human. But Christ was not a mere human. His silence speaks volume: He is God and God is not to be interrogated.
Pilate needed Jesus to answer the question and when that failed, he tried to use his authority as a governor to force Jesus to talk. But Christ responded that Pilate’s authority was given to him by God and that Pilate could not have done anything if Christ did not allow him to. Christ is sovereign over all, and it is his plan that is in action. Then Christ rebuked Pilate and told him he was partially responsible for the outcome of his trial. It all fits together: Since Jesus really is the sovereign God in the flesh standing before him, then Pilate is only playing the role given to him.
Then what was the response of Pilate? After this revelation and the difficult words from Jesus, Pilate sought even harder to release him. The only explanation for Pilate’s reaction is that he became more convinced that Jesus was the divine Messiah. This explains why he sought harder to set him free. However, he was quickly reminded of what was at stake: If he did not sentence Jesus to death, he probably would be seen as a traitor to Rome and lose his position as governor. In the end, he convinced himself that he tried all he could and that this matter was outside of his hands. The only thing that he insisted upon upholding was his evaluation of Jesus. He insisted that Jesus truly was the divine Jewish King, even at the protest of the religious leaders.
John wrote this gospel to convince the Jewish people that the Jesus was the Messiah. But what does all this mean to the modern reader? On that day, Jesus was on trial by a ruthless, pragmatic Roman governor with a history of bloodshed and lack of regard for Jewish life, but there was more on trial than whether or not a man deserved to be sentenced to death. Despite the flogging, torture and the cross, the cross examination of Jesus confirmed to Pilate not only the innocence of Jesus, but His kingship and his deity as well.
By Daniel Amari
Copyright © 2021, by Daniel Amari.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used bypermission. All rights reserved.