In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather [that] a tumult was rising, he took water and washed [his] hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see [to it].” (Matthew 27:24)

Investigating the ‘Jesus of Nazareth case’, Pilate had become convinced that the man on trial was entirely innocent of any charges. As the official representative of Roman justice his duty was clear: he should immediately have acquitted the Lord Jesus Christ. But he knew that the Jewish religious leaders had an ingrained hatred of this Man and were stirring up the Jerusalem crowds, vastly inflated by the influx of worshippers for the Passover feast, into a dangerously explosive fury. And the last thing he wanted was another riot to tarnish his already unsavoury reputation. More, the shrewd Jewish leaders had accused Pilate of treachery against Caesar himself, if he let Jesus of Nazareth go free (John 19:12). That was the final blow. With a craven disregard for justice and right, he publicly washed his hands of the matter. He dared to claim innocence for himself, whereas in reality the Lord Jesus was the truly innocent One, not only guiltless of anything calling for the death penalty but also completely free from all stain of sin. He alone is the just Man who did what was right before God and avoided everything that was wrong. The Bible is clear in its diagnosis of mankind as a whole: all have fallen short of God’s perfect standard and deserve the ultimate punishment (Rom 3:23; 6:23). And here is the great marvel. The One who didn’t deserve to die offered Himself in the place of those whose sins cry out for judgment. Christ died ‘the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18).

In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” [They] all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” (Matthew 27:22)

Reading the terse biblical narrative of the trial of the Lord Jesus it becomes increasingly evident that Pilate, the official Roman Governor of the troublesome province of Judaea, was trying to wriggle out of making a judicial decision about this disturbing prisoner. No fool, he knew that the charges against Him were wholly trumped up by religious men envious of His spotless character (Matt 27:18). His wife had pleaded with him to have ‘nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him’ (Matt 27:19). As he interrogated Christ, he must have begun uneasily to feel that the roles of judge and prisoner had unaccountably been reversed, and that this quiet, dignified Man was assessing him. Custom permitted him to release one criminal in honour of the Jewish Passover feast and Pilate gladly grasped the opportunity of letting the people decide in favour of an obviously innocent Man. However, to his astonishment, the crowd opted for a notorious terrorist and murderer called Barabbas. Try as he might, Pilate could not shuffle off his personal responsibility in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. And neither can we. There is no point asking others what we should do with Jesus: the life-changing decision to trust Him as Saviour and surrender to Him as Lord rests with us alone. The world of Jews and Gentiles rejected Him, nailing Him to a cross; but God has raised Him from the dead and exalted Him to the highest throne in the universe. It makes sense to side with God about the Lord Jesus Christ!

In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

[Pilate] went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ( John 19:9)

Where are you from? This is a question we often ask someone we have just met and are trying to make conversation with. The answer is often of little consequence to us, but when Pilate asked the Lord Jesus the same question, he asked it in fear and in great eagerness to learn the answer.

The reason for this is that, not only did Pilate not know where Jesus was from, he didn’t really understand who Jesus was at all. He was therefore quizzing Him in order to try to make sense of this Jesus of Nazareth – a Man who claimed to be the Son of God!

When Jesus didn’t answer Pilate’s question, Pilate declared his legal authority over Christ in a vain attempt to either impress or scare Him into revealing his origin. This demonstrates even further that Pilate doesn’t know who he is speaking to – Jesus is in fact from a place which gives Him more authority over earth than Pilate can even imagine – Heaven. It is a place that is so wonderful that we, like Pilate, cannot fully appreciate it.

If Jesus came from this wonderful place called Heaven, then what was He doing down here on earth?

He came down here as a human being, lived a completely sinless life, allowed Himself to be crucified, rose from the dead and then ascended back to Heaven. He did this so that He could provide any one of us with a fulfilling life on earth, and eternal life in Heaven – no matter where we are from. All an individual has to do is put their faith in Him.

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)

What is truth? It’s a question that most people have asked themselves at some time or another. Some would even suggest (with astonishing certainty) that there is no such thing as truth; rather that there is nothing more than our individual perception or interpretation of the things we encounter.

We don’t know exactly why Pilate asked, “What is truth?” but he doesn’t wait for an answer. Perhaps he wasn’t interested in the answer. Perhaps he didn’t want to face up to the reality of the answer. Perhaps he didn’t realise that the answer stood before him in the judgement hall that day. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

He is the truth – He didn’t just say truthful things. He is the originator and embodiment of all that is true.

He is the life – the Bible teaches that because of our sin, we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), but we can be “born again” and know new life through trusting Christ for salvation (John 3:1-21)

He is the way – there is only one way to know God, that is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no other ways to God.

We have a choice. We can walk away, like Pilate did. Or we can receive Christ as Saviour and can be one of those who are ” of the truth” and “hear (His) voice.” (John 18:37)

In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” (Matthew 27:23)

This is one of the questions that Pontius Pilate asked the baying Jerusalem mob who were demanding that Jesus be put to death. The crowd wanted Him crucified and yet Pilate could find no crime with which He could charge Him. In fact, Pilate said “I find no fault in Him at all” (John 18:38). Not only could he not find anything worthy of death in the Man who stood before him but he could find no trace of wrongdoing whatsoever. This was because this Man was no ordinary man but the Son of God: He was sinless. Pilate knew that Jesus’ enemies “had handed Him over because of envy” (Matthew 27:18) because He showed them up for what they were, sinners, through the way He lived His perfect life. They wanted rid of Him because He showed them that they were not good enough for God on their own merits. Nothing has changed over the past 2,000 years or so since this event took place. Each of us too constantly misses God’s mark of absolute perfection. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) but it also tells us that “there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). Jesus was crucified to take God’s judgement for sin, so that we can be forgiven if we put our trust in Him. The apostle Paul wrote “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God through Him”. We can be made right with God if we trust in Christ. Do you accept He died for you?

In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” (John 19:5)

The words and actions of the Roman judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus are interesting: by the time he uttered the famous words ‘Behold the Man’ he had already tried to get out of passing judgment: “You take Him and judge Him” (John 18:31) and he had declared publicly the innocence of the Lord Jesus “I find no fault in Him.”(John 19:4)

We might try to guess what was in Pilate’s mind as he uttered these words “Behold the Man.” One reasonable conclusion would be that it was a last ditch attempt to elicit the compassion of those who had brought the Lord Jesus before him by appealing to their humanity and inviting them to see another human being on whom they might take pity. If that was Pilate’s intention it was in vain for there was no pity given to the Lord by His accusers.

The truth is that the Lord Jesus was no ordinary other human being. He was indeed a Man, a true, real Man with flesh and blood and emotions; He is also God: “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16) and He is singled out in the Bible as being exceptional in that “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5) This is the very quality that gave Him the unique qualification to complete His journey to Calvary, to suffer, bleed and die there and take the punishment due to us for our sins – “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3)

In this series we’re considering the statements made by Pilate, the judge at the trial of the Lord Jesus. Pilate probably didn’t intend his words to be profound, but they are!

We hope you find them interesting and thought-provoking.

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “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.” (John 18:37)

Pilate’s query sounds like a sneer. Certainly, the prisoner standing in front of him did not look in the least like a king. He had no courtiers in attendance, for all His closest followers had scuttled off in fear. He wore no impressive robes of office, lacked any obvious trappings of power or influence, owned no land over which He ruled. And yet Christ’s amazingly unruffled answer to the Roman Governor has all the dignity and authority we traditionally associate with kingship, and more. He asserted that His birth was unlike any other. All men and women, of course, are born, but the Lord Jesus said He had ‘come into the world’. Why? Because as the Son of God He existed eternally outside the world before He was born at Bethlehem. Further, He came to earth for a distinct purpose, to ‘bear witness to the truth’. This means far more than simply speaking up for what was true and honest. He had earlier told His disciples, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’ (John 14:6). He came to point people to Himself as the only genuine way into a living relationship with God. The message was desperately needed because by nature we are all sinners, alienated from God. And He also announced that those who are ‘of the truth’ would heed His voice. What does that mean? The words of the Lord Jesus Christ possess a unique in-built convicting power which resonates in the hearts of all, young and old, male and female, who recognise their total inadequacy and cry out for salvation. If you know the filthiness of your heart, if you have a desire to get to know the living God, then listen to the Lord Jesus Christ.