Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, 3 and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly. 4 Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And he said to them, “Behold, the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” 8 Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid, 9 and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer him. 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered [him], “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” 15 They cried out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
Scourging was normally a part of the punishment of prisoners condemned to crucifixion. The multi-thong whip used inflicted severe corporal punishment. The soldiers mocked and beat the “King of the Jews (vv. 2-3).” Pilate brought Jesus out to the Jewish leaders again dressed in a purple robe with a crown of thorns on his head mocking him as their king (vv. 4-5). This enraged the Jewish leaders and they all the more wanted Pilate to crucify Jesus, but Pilate refused because he did not find Jesus guilty of any capital offense and told them to crucify Jesus themselves. At this the Jewish leaders specified a charge; “He made himself the Son of God,” and according to that law he should die (v. 7; Jn. 5:17-18). The religious battle between the Jewish leaders and Jesus had been over the nature of the relationship Jesus claimed to have with God.
Pilate was losing favor with Rome, so the Jews were aggressive in trying to get him to accede to their wishes. Pilate tried to question Jesus again, but Jesus would not answer him. Pilate in his role of Prefect had the power of life and death (v. 10) but Jesus told him that the power had been given to him by God (v. 11). It was God’s divine plan at work even through Pilate (Jn. 10:17-18). Pilate again tried to release Jesus, but the Jews shouted, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar (v. 12).” A friend of Caesar was someone who had influence with Caesar, someone who was in the inner circle. The Jews shifted from the religious claim to a political focus. Someone claiming to be a Jewish king in Judea would be a threat to Caesar and if Pilate released him then he would be a traitor to Rome. The Jewish leaders were so intent of killing Jesus that they totally renounced their God who led them out of slavery in Egypt, “We have no king but Caesar (v. 15).” Jesus was led away to be crucified.
Almighty God, Jesus said, “Whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” Grant us the strength to be steadfast and confess our faith in Jesus especially when we are threatened with something we value. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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