The Gospel of John Lesson 81 (07-27-14) John 18:33-19:6

The Gospel of John Lesson 81 (07-27-14)

Lesson 81 – John 18:33-19:6

Having now seen and talked to Jesus and having discussed the matter in more detail with His accusers, Jn. 18:28-32, Pilate begins to perceive that there is more to this situation than meets the eye. His sixth sense tells him now to think bigger with his questioning and ask some questions that might be somewhat out of the box or maybe even paranormal.

Over a period of time he has watched this thing with Jesus and Israel as a nation who were represented by their religious leaders. He perceives that there may be forces at work here that may not be easily explained. Even though Pilate is a political man and out of habit would make his decisions generally on a political basis here he is found to be curios concerning the unusual details found in this situation.

Pilate enters the judgment hall in v. 33 and begins by asking Jesus a sensible and pertinent question considering the situation at hand. He asks Jesus directly if He Himself claims to be the king of the Jews. Of course, this is a relevant question. We know that when the Magi had shown up in Jerusalem sometime after Jesus’ birth looking for the prophesied King that had been born, that the king at that time in Jerusalem, King Herod, an ancestor of the King Herod found during Pilate’s reign, was very concerned and actually threatened, taking the magi’s statement concerning the newborn King very serious.

But, the circumstances were different here before Pilate. When Jesus had arrived on the scene as a baby His birth was accompanied by many signs and celestial wonders. Seeing the things that the King Herod of that time saw he had every right to be threatened and/or concerned. But, this was not the case concerning Jesus the man standing here alone before Pilate the Governor.

Pilate saw no threat in Jesus the man standing here all alone with no apparent following. In reality, Pilate was in all probability wondering what all the hub bub was about. This is evident in the apparent frustration that we see Pilate express in v. 35. Pilate knew that it was for envy and self-interest that the religious leaders handed Jesus over to him, Mt. 27:18. Eventually we will see Pilate use this line of reasoning in Jn. 19: 5 to attempt to bring the Jewish leaders to their senses displaying Jesus beaten and buffeted telling them to “Behold the man” giving them a visual example that Jesus could not possible be a threat to anyone.

In v. 33 Pilate asks Jesus if He claimed to be the King of the Jews. Many Bible commentators believe that in asking Jesus the question that Pilate had actually pulled Jesus aside bringing Him closer to him, away from earshot of the crowd, to have a more private conversation with Him looking for a way to deal with this situation and save face at the same time.

Jesus’ reply in v. 34 to this question is somewhat confusing and could be interpreted in a number of ways. However, it appears that what is meant by His reply was more like, “What gave you the idea that I was coming to fight against you or your government? Did I make any claim to this, did I do something to make you think this, or, did you ask me this question because of their accusations or claims against Me?”

In v. 35 Pilate appears to be offended by Jesus’ question and responds as if to say, “Don’t be ridiculous. Am I a Jew? It was your people that brought you here. I didn’t come searching for you.” In other words, Pilate tells Jesus that this is a little matter to him, that was more of a local Jewish matter and that he did not take Jesus’ claim to be a king to be any threat.

At the end of v. 35 Pilate ends up asking the obvious question. “What did you do?” By this time, Pilate being caught between a rock and a hard place is totally baffled as to what to do. But, in vs. 36 and 37 Jesus gives Pilate something to think about. He tells Pilate that although He is no threat to Pilate or his government at this time that He is indeed a King, and, actually tells Pilate that He is indeed the One that was to come, the Prophesied One who was to be the King of the Jews. Later we will see Pilate use this inscription “King of the Jews” placing it above Jesus while He was on the Cross, not as an acknowledgment of who he believed Jesus was, but more as a scorn, more of an in your face to the Jews, saying, “So, this is your savior, your King? Take a good look at what we did with him!”

However, for now, Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this present world system, and, that it is not His time to be a threat to him. He tells Pilate that the proof that He is no threat is that he can see that He is not amassing an army at this time to do battle with him, or, anyone else for that matter, Jn. 18:36.

Now Pilate is completely puzzled. Jesus’ statement in v. 36 made no sense to him at all. Pilate understood what Jesus was saying in that it was not His plan or intention to cause or lead an insurrection at that time and that the proof of what He was saying was that He had no followers poised to rescue Him and begin an assault. But, what he did not understand was that if Jesus was or would be a king that something had better happen soon. His, Jesus’, time for opportunity was running out.

So, in v. 37 Pilate trying to make some sense out of this matter asks Jesus the only obvious question left, “Are you a king then?” I am sure, in the moment, before Jesus made His response, that Pilate, even though frustrated with the situation, was wondering what kind of a response he would receive from Jesus. Pilate was looking for just a yes or no answer. He just wanted to slap a band aid on the problem and be done with this. But, things aren’t always so simple in life, especially when it comes to eternal matters…especially if Jesus is involved.

Jesus challenges Pilate with His answer. He responds to Pilate with the comment that Pilate had made, the statement that Jesus was a king, and in turn forced Pilate to think about who he really thought Jesus was. Before this response by Jesus, Pilate was ambivalent in the matter concerning who Jesus really was. To Pilate, it really did not matter to him. All he had wanted to do was to be done with this matter.

But, Jesus challenges Pilate to think about the matter at hand and not just make a routine political decision in the situation at hand. As things progress, in the end this challenge will make Pilate make a conscious decision that he is responsible for concerning Jesus. Jesus tells him that he, Pilate, had actually made the statement that He was a king and makes it plain that it was His destiny to be a King and to be where He was standing in front of him, Pilate, at that time.

But, Jesus adds one more thing. He tells Pilate that He did not just come to be a King, but in actuality the purpose of His coming was to reveal and proclaim what the truth of life was. We see that Jesus’ comment here pushed a button inside of Pilate getting Pilate’s attention. He responds quickly to Jesus’ statement as if a knee jerk reaction, reacting suddenly and somewhat dramatically. Jesus’ statement was a topic that in Pilate’s world had no relevance.

However, you can tell by the way he responded that Jesus had touched his conscious making him actually think about the reality of life, his actions and the decision that he was about to make. From this point on Pilate was not on auto pilot concerning making decisions in this matter. Jesus had raised the bar of awareness for responsibility for Pilate. As far as justice goes, Pilate knew that he could not just rubber stamp this affair now. He now understood that truth mattered and that maybe there was some sense of accountability here. This was a reality that Pilate was not happy with. Apparently, Jesus’ statement bothered him.

He responds with a statement that is meant as a dodge to the reality that he has just now been faced with. He responds to Jesus by saying, “What is truth anyway.” Pilate now leaves Jesus to go out to the mob and makes a statement that may have possibly now been tempered with a touch of conscious responsibility. He tells the mob that he finds no fault in Jesus at all, realizing maybe for the first time in a long time that he actually has a moral responsibility in this matter.

Read Jn. 18:39-19:3 In v. 39, after telling the mob that he finds no fault in Jesus, Pilate again tries to somehow reason with them attempting to hopefully spark some sense of reason in the matter. There is a lot that continues to happen at this time as things continues to progress. Other Gospel accounts add details that are significant.

In chapter 23 of the book of Luke in v. 14 Pilate tells the mob that he has thoroughly examined Jesus from every angle concerning the charges, examining Him publicly and not in secret, and has found Him blameless. Pilate goes on to say in v. 15 of Like telling them that he had even sent Jesus to King Herod to be examined, remember that the mob had accompanied Jesus there, and Herod had also nothing worthy of passing the sentence of death upon Him.

One thing to remember here as things unfold is that it is Pilate’s position, job and duty to protect the innocent. Pilate has no doubt that Jesus is completely innocent. He is now also since his conversation with Jesus concerning ‘truth’ fully conscious of his actions and judgments whether they are willfully being made being right or willfully being made being wrong. This decision will have eternal significance for Pilate as the representative for the Gentile world, Pilate being their/our representative.

Pilate makes what will be a last ditch effort to divert the mob away from their fixed determined direction. Knowing that what is in the works concerning Jesus is completely unjust he again attempts to reason with the mob attempting to bring them to their senses. But, to no avail. He offers them a choice between Barabbas and Jesus. Barabbas was a known criminal and murder, one that had committed insurrection against the Roman government and actually was worthy of the judgment of death under Roman law (Mk. 15:7). Jesus, however, was found by Pilate to have no fault. Pilate thought that the choice between the two would be obvious.

Somewhere at this time (Mt. 27:19), while Pilate was seated on the judgment seat, Pilate’s wife had sent unto Pilate a message warning him not to have anything to do with this matter concerning Jesus, that she had been warned in a dream with some drama in it that they, especially Pilate, should stay clear of this matter, in essence really warning Pilate that he had better be careful that he treat Jesus justly, offering a fair verdict in this matter. Again, Pilate knew that this whole matter centered around envy (Mt. 27:18), the religious leaders being envious of Jesus, knowing that Jesus was in no way worthy of the verdict of death.

Pilate after hearing this proceeds with what he thinks is a no brainier. He offers the mob what he thinks is an obvious choice. He offers them a choice between Jesus the proven innocent one having been thoroughly examined by more than one being found to have no offense, and, Barabbas, an obvious convicted murderer. Pilate even offers Jesus to them partially crucified, having been beaten, again showing that Jesus is really no threat to anyone. But to no avail. The mob cries out even the louder.

But, things are not over yet. In Jn. 19 vs. 6-8 we see further dialog that even at this point gets Pilate’s attention. They respond in v. 7 to Pilate that Jesus claimed to be not only a king, but also a God. In hearing this Pilate now again enters the Judgment Hall for even more questioning with Jesus.

He presents Jesus to them as just a man…no threat to anyone and surely not a God. However, in just moments Pilate’s image of Jesus will be greatly challenged causing him to rethink and question who he thinks this Jesus really is.