The Jewish authorities wanted Jesus dead but were unwilling to kill Him themselves because they did not wish to lose favor with the common people who believed in Jesus. They wanted Rome to do it. They wanted Rome to take the blame. The evil Jewish authorities played Pontius Pilate like a fiddle to gain their aims.
Pontius Pilate was the fifth person to be procurator or governor of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. He was appointed by Caesar Tiberius in the year 26 and he would retain his position for ten years. Up until Pilate, the procurator only possessed military power over the region while his superior, the Legate of Syria, took care of civil affairs. However, during the first six years of his tenure, Pilate possessed both military and civil powers due to the absence of the appointed Legate of Syria in Rome. Thus, Pilate was exercising his temporary civil authority when he was forced into considering the charges brought against Jesus.
Like Caesar Tiberius, Pontius Pilate did not have fond feelings for the Jewish people. The first portion of his rule was characterized by a complete contempt for Jewish religious scruples and customs.
At the beginning of his term, he attempted to have Roman standards brought into Jerusalem by night. These standards had pagan images on them and the Jews considered their presence as spiritually polluting their Holy City. Pilate refused to remove them and the Jews began to demonstrate. Pilate was about to kill the ring-leaders of the demonstrators but relinquished and had the standards removed to his headquarters in Caesarea.
Soon afterward, he stole money from the Temple to pay for an aqueduct from the Bethlehem area to Jerusalem. A large crowd appeared outside his Caesarean fortress to protest. Pilate ordered his soldiers to dress like Jews and infiltrate the crowd of demonstrators. When the soldiers had successfully done so, they pulled out clubs from beneath their robes and beat the protesters...many of them to death.
A couple years later, he began minting coins that contained Roman pagan symbols on one side.
In Luke 13:1, there is the mentioning of Pilate mixing the blood of Temple sacrifices with that of Galileans he had murdered. Again, this was a desecration of Jewish worship in addition to cruel brutality.
With such a horrible record, it is amazing to witness the morality and desire for justice in his handling of Jesus. It is absolutely clear that Pilate thought Jesus to be an innocent man undeserving of the death penalty so aggressively sought by the Jewish authorities. Several times, he attempted to save Jesus from the death penalty.
I am perfectly convinced that under different circumstances, Pilate would have freed Jesus. He would have defied the Jewish authorities and follow his conscience and convictions.
One must ask, if Pilate had been so willing to defy Jewish authorities in the past, why was he so unwilling to do so on this day?
I will share with you my opinion.
About six months before this, Pilate again attempted to decorate his Jerusalem residence with golden shields. Unlike at the first, this time they did not bear pagan images but they did bear inscriptions which promoted Caesar-worship.
King Herod Agrippa and the Jewish authorities formally protested this act directly to Caesar Tiberius. Tiberius, wishing to maintain the submission of the Jews to Roman authority, sent a blistering letter of rebuke to Pontius Pilate ordering him to remove the shields to Caesarea AND to up-hold all the religious and political customs of his Jewish subjects.
The message was clear - For his own survival, Pilate must not unnecessarily offend the Jewish ruling authorities and the people. Rome would be monitoring Pilate’s conduct closely. His rule would be under a magnifying glass.
The chief priests knew that Pilate’s position was fragile. They knew they had leverage over Pilate and they used it to achieve their evil aims. They successfully threatened Pilate into submission to their will.
Note in John 19 that the Jewish authorities pretended their loyalty to Caesar and called Pilate’s into question - verses 12-16:
"As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.’’ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!’’ So they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’’ Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?’’ The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar.’’ So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified."
Mark 15:15, "Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified."
Pontius Pilate tried to evade his moral responsibility by washing his hands:
Matthew 27:24, "When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, ’I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.’"
But Christ Jesus makes it quite clear that the washing of hands did not absolve Pilate of his guilt in this matter. John 19:11, "he who delivered Me up to you has [not the only but] the greater sin." Pilate was still guilty of sin. What was his sin? Condemning one whom he believed to be an innocent man.
Pilate, in verse 10, states that he had the authority to execute justice - to free or to condemn. He admits that the final decision is his. But Jesus instructs him that whatever authority Pilate possesses is a delegated authority - an authority given him by God above. And Pilate could do nothing to Jesus unless it was allowed by God above.
The three truths contained here are (1) that those who have judicial power on earth have it because God gave it to them, (2) those given such power ought to exercise it according to God’s standards of justice, and (3) those with judicial power on earth cannot exercise their powers further than what God’s providence permits.
Pilate is guilty of sin because he knows that he is condemning an innocent man. His sin would be even greater if he had had a knowledge of God, God’s standards of justice, and if his condemning of Jesus was out of envy and malice like the Jewish authorities.
The Jewish authorities’ sin is greater than Pilate’s because they, as chief priests, were appointed by God to administer righteous judgment according to God’s revealed laws recorded by Moses. They had the responsibility before God to deal with Jesus in accordance to written laws. They were to be objective in their judgment. They should never have brought a fellow Jew to a gentile to be tried. God’s people are tried by God’s magistrates in the ways God has revealed.
I would like for us to derive some lessons from Pilate’s encounter with Jesus:
1) Civil and Judicial authority is derived from God. Romans 13:1
2) God delegates authority upon whomever He wishes. Daniel 4
3) Civil authorities are to suppress evil and promote good. Romans 13:3-4
4) We are to submit to those in positions of authority. 1 Peter 2:13-17
5) We resist authority only when it conflicts with God’s authority. Acts 5:17-29
6) God’s people do not turn to heathen authorities for redress of wrongs amongst God’s people. 1 Corinthians 6:1-11; Matthew 18:15-17.
7) When evil or injustice is about to be committed in our presence, we are not justified by washing our hands. We must speak the truth and stand for righteousness. Ephesians 5:11,13; James 4:17.
As for the fate of Pontius Pilate... About six years later, a fellow who claimed to be a prophet led a large multitude of Samaritans out to Mount Gerazim where he promised to find some relics from the Ark of the Covenant. Thinking that the gathering was the beginning of an anti-Roman up-rising, Pilate attacked the group with his calvary and killed many.
He was called to Rome to explain his extreme course of action to Caesar Caligula. He was stripped of his rank and, in disgrace, exiled to Gaul where he committed suicide in AD 37.
