NLT Study Bible - Gospel of John - Flipbook - Page 49
John 18:29
1810
governor. His accusers didn’t go inside
because it would defile them, and they
wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Pass
over. 29So Pilate, the governor, went out
to them and asked, “What is your charge
against this man?”
30“We wouldn’t have handed him over to
you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.
31“Then take him away and judge him by
your own law,” Pilate told them.
“Only the Romans are permitted to exe
cute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied.
32(This fulfilled Jesus’ predict ion about the
way he would die.)
33Then Pilate went back into his head
quarters and called for Jesus to be brought
to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he
asked him.
34Jesus replied, “Is this your own ques
tion, or did others tell you about me?”
35“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own
people and their leading priests brought
you to me for trial. Why? What have you
done?”
36Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an
earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers
would fight to keep me from being handed
over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom
is not of this world.”
37Pilate said, “So you are a king?”
So Pilate, probably fearing a riot, went
outside to meet them. The Passover
meal itself had occurred the night
before (see 13:1; Mark 14:14-16). The
following day, another meal began the
weeklong Festival of Unleavened Bread
(Lev 23:5-6).
18:29 Pilate, the fifth Roman governor
of Judea, ruled the country from AD 26
to 36. He usually lived on the coast in
Caesarea, but kept troops stationed
in a fortress in Jerusalem where he
appeared personally for major festivals.
He was a brutal ruler whose atrocities
against the Jews were legendary (e.g.,
Luke 13:1; Josephus, War 2.9.2-4).
18:31-32 Pilate found the charges
unsatisfying and told the Sanhedrin,
judge him by your own law. Pilate saw
this as a Jewish squabble, which he refused to investigate. The Jewish leaders,
however, insisted that an execution was
necessary. fulfilled Jesus’ prediction
about the way he would die (see 12:3233): The Jews would have employed
stoning; the Romans used crucifixion.
If Pilate delivered Jesus’ sentence, he
would be crucified.
18:33 Pilate was personally responsible
for capital crimes in which the interests
and security of the Roman empire
were at stake, so he began his formal
legal inquiry. Are you the king of the
Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Ac
tually, I was born and came into the world
to testify to the truth. All who love the truth
recognize that what I say is true.”
38“What is truth?” Pilate asked.
Jesus Is Sentenced to Death
John 18:38b–19:16 // Matt 27:15-31 // Mark 15:6-20
// Luke 23:13-25
Then he went out again to the people and told
them, “He is not guilty of any crime. 39But you
have a custom of asking me to release one
prisoner each year at Passover. Would you
like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”
40But they shouted back, “No! Not this
man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a
revolutionary.)
18:33
Luke 23:3
John 19:9
18:36
Matt 26:53
Luke 17:21
John 6:15
18:37
John 8:47
1 Jn 4:6
18:39–19:5
//Matt 27:15-31
//Mark 15:6-20
//Luke 23:13-25
19:1
Isa 50:6; 53:5
19:3
John 18:22
19:4
Luke 23:4
John 18:38
19
Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a
lead-tipped whip. 2The soldiers wove
a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and
they put a purple robe on him. 3“Hail! King
of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped
him across the face.
4Pilate went outside again and said to the
people, “I am going to bring him out to you
now, but understand clearly that I find him
not guilty.” 5Then Jesus came out wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe.
And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”
Jews? To get the governor’s attention,
Caiaphas had charged that Jesus had
urged people not to pay their taxes
to the Roman government and had
claimed to be a king (Luke 23:2). To
Pilate, Jesus might have been just
another Jewish terrorist–revolutionary
(see Luke 23:18-19; Acts 5:36-37) with
a head full of messianic notions and a
band of well-armed followers.
18:34-35 Jesus’ reply forced the governor to show the origin of his question.
The Temple leadership was behind
these charges. Pilate only wanted to
know if Jesus was a rebel who might
threaten Roman interests.
18:36-37 Jesus was willing to accept the
title of king, but he made it clear that
he did not govern an earthly kingdom
that might rival Rome. Jesus’ kingship is
not of this world. Rather than being a
political ruler, he rules through the devotion and obedience of his followers.
18:38-39 What is truth? Truth was not
a foreign idea to Pilate, but he did not
wait for an answer to his question because he did not believe there was one.
Pilate returned to the council members waiting outside and delivered his
verdict: not guilty. Although he referred
to Jesus as “King of the Jews” (see also
19:19), the title meant nothing more
to Pilate than a mocking expression
18:32
Matt 20:19
John 12:32-33
of contempt. Pilate’s offer of amnesty
revealed his desire to let Jesus go.
18:40 Jesus was no threat to Rome, but
Barabbas was a revolutionary, a violent
man who took part in political uprisings
(see Luke 23:19), with a proven capacity
to challenge the Roman military occupation of Israel.
19:1-16 Jesus was also beaten after
his sentencing (Mark 15:15), but here
John records an earlier beating, which
was likely Pilate’s attempt to show that
Jesus had been punished and could be
released (19:4). When this failed, Pilate
passed his sentence and handed Jesus
over to the Jewish leaders for crucifixion (19:16).
19:2 The crown of thorns might have
come from a date palm (cp. 12:13-14),
whose thorns can exceed twelve inches.
There are Greek coin images showing
such crowns, with the stems woven and
the thorns radiating upward above the
crown. The purple robe was probably
a soldier’s robe—dark red to complete
the picture of mock royalty.
19:4-6 Pilate’s intention was to bring
Jesus out to display the marks of his
punishment to sway the crowd to let
him go. After being flogged with a
lead-tipped whip, Jesus was bleeding
profusely. Pilate announced his verdict
