Pilate was in no mood to pander to the Jewish rulers. He had to come out to them because they would not “defile themselves” by entering the Praetorium! It was early morning and he resented being used by them.
They had probably sent a late-night delegation to his private living quarters to inform him of the plan to arrest Jesus and to get his agreement for a speedy crucifixion. They expected him to cooperate.
“What accusation do you bring against this man?” he demanded.
Impatient and annoyed, they answered, “If he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you.”
Pilate stood his ground. “You take him and judge him according to your law.”
With thinly veiled anger, the Jewish leaders responded, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”
Pilate wheeled around and entered the Praetorium again, and Jesus was brought before him. His first question was as strange as the situation in which he found himself.
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus had been up all night, mocked and beaten in the Jewish court, but his answer was calm and genuine. “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning me?”
Pilate was unnerved by so clear, direct and personal a question. Did he really want to know who Jesus was, or was this just legal questioning?
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate shot back. “Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done?”
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here.”
Pilate heard what he said. “So you are a king?”
“You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”
Truth! Pilate was a soldier and a politician. Truth? Everyone he knew lied. No one cared about truth, only what was good for them. Truth? Was there such a thing?
He asked, perhaps bitterly, “What is truth?” and without waiting for a reply he returned to the anxious Jewish rulers.
He announced his verdict. “I find no fault in him at all.”
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Dear reader, do you find any fault in Him?
Pilate declared the Lord Jesus to be innocent four times, and then handed Him over to be flogged and crucified. That one cowardly decision has made Pilate’s name justly infamous.
Have you done the same? You find no fault in Him, but do you turn your back and walk away? Do you say with Pilate, “I am innocent of the blood of this just man”?
Look more closely. Jesus’ death was much more than an innocent man betrayed. It was a great sacrifice for sin, your sin and mine, and there is not other road to eternal life.
There was indeed no fault in Him. He was willing to die for our sake. It was our sin that took Him to that cross. You cannot wash your hands and say you are not involved. You are involved, and you must either turn back, bow before the Lord and accept His gift of forgiveness, or else you must face God’s judgment, in your sin and alone.
You sinners, seek His grace
Whose wrath you cannot bear
Fly to the shelter to His cross
And find salvation there.
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