The first thing we have to look at here is found in Matthew 27:24-25. In Matthew’s account Pilate is beginning to understand the determination of the Jews to see Jesus crucified. Yet he has seen nothing that would justify a death sentence. In verse 24 he took water and washed his hands, telling them, “I am not responsible for the blood of this righteous Man, see to it yourselves.” Then in verse 25, “And all the people answered, Let His blood be on us and on our children.”
The Jews gladly accepted responsibility for Jesus’ death. Soon they would be visited by the same punishment. Approximately 40 years later the Romans would finally tire of the difficulties involved in trying to govern the Jews. When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman Titus, the historian Josephus says over 1,100,000 people were killed and another 97,000 were enslaved – some to work the mines in Egypt and others to be slaughtered in Roman arenas. Over 500 people were scourged and crucified each day for weeks. The city and temple were utterly destroyed.
So now we go back to John 19:1, “Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him scourged.” This was a particularly cruel, and often deadly, form of Roman punishment. The instrument used was a long, wooden handle with twelve leather straps. Each strap had a sharp piece of bone or metal attached to the end of it. The victim was tied to a post and hit 40 times (the number allowed by Roman law) on the bare back and sometimes on the face and stomach. The flesh was ripped open in several places with each blow and the wounds would get deeper as the whipping progressed. The loss of blood was severe.
I don’t want to appear to sensationalize this, but the Scriptures tell us that Jesus was unrecognizable when the scourging finally ended. This is a literal translation of Isaiah 52:14. “There were many who were appalled when they saw Him. His physical features were disfigured beyond any man’s, and His appearance was so changed that He didn’t even look like a man.”
But they weren’t finished. After the beating John 19:2-3 tells us the Roman soldiers forced a crown of thorns down onto His forehead, took turns punching Him with their fists, while sarcastically mocking Him with “hail (good health) to the King of the Jews”. Matthew adds the soldiers also spit on Him and beat Him on the head with a reed as they mocked Him (Matthew 27:30).
This brings us to 4-7. Pilate is hoping this awful spectacle will appease the mob and his nightmare will end. Again he fails to recognize the determination of the Jews to see Jesus crucified. The point to notice in these verses is the last part of verse 7 when they shout, “He deserves to die, because He claimed to be the Son of God”.
Then when we go to verse 8, we see, “And when Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.” Now Pilate is torn between two choices, neither of them acceptable to him. If he refused to do what the Jews were demanding, he risked offending the Sanhedrin who would then file formal charges against him to Caesar and possibly foment yet another rebellion in Israel – something unacceptable in Rome, if it could have been avoided in their view by simply killing an unpopular citizen.
On the other hand, Pilate by this time was not sure that Jesus was not telling the truth – that He was a miracle worker, a prince and the son of a deity. A warning his wife had sent him, saying, “have nothing to do with that just Man, I have suffered a painful experience today in a dream because of Him” reinforced Pilate’s growing conviction that Jesus was not only an innocent man, but also telling the truth (see Matthew 27:19).
What follows in verses 9-11 will cause Pilate to be even more convinced of Jesus’ innocence. In verse 9 Pilate and Jesus go back into the judgment hall, where Pilate asks, “where are You really from?” Again, Jesus knows when to remain silent. This prompts Pilate in verse 10 to ask, “Why don’t You answer me? Don’t You know I have the authority to release You and the authority to crucify You?”
Now Jesus answers, and it’s another of those direct answers that seals Pilate’s belief that he’s dealing with an innocent man. This is verse 11. “Jesus answered, You would have no authority over Me at all, unless it were given you from above. Therefore, the sin of those who delivered Me over to you is greater (than your own).” In other words, Jesus is telling Pilate, “It will be a sin to condemn Me, because you’re convinced that I’m innocent. But the Jews have the greater sin, because they have turned Me over to you and insist that I be crucified.”
So verse 12 tells us, “From this time on, Pilate was anxious to release Him.” But the Jews knew how to handle Pilate. “If you let this Man go, you’re no friend of Caesar! Anyone who says He is a king is against Caesar!” This amounted to a charge of treason against Pilate, designed by the Jews to force his decision. He couldn’t afford to have them go to Rome and be accused of preferring another king to his emperor. Under Roman domination, as harsh and demanding as it was, the Jews naturally hated Caesar. But under the circumstances (again, under the control of Jesus and the will of the Father), they hated the One Who claimed to be their Messiah even more.
Now Pilate knows he has only one way to go. He’s in survival mode now and is not going to put himself in the position of having to defend himself to Tiberius in Rome against a charge of treason. So Pilate sits down in the judgment seat in front of the Praetorium. This was called the Pavement, or in Hebrew, Gabbatha (verse 13).
Verse 14 has been somewhat controversial for some. This is what it says. “Now it was the day of preparation for Passover Week, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to them, Look, this is your King!” The problem is the designation “sixth hour”. Some say the sixth hour of John 19:14 is actually 12:00 midnight Jewish time. But how could that be, Jesus was examined the second time by Caiaphas and the council “as soon as it was day” (Luke 22:66), then “the whole multitude of them got up and led Him to Pilate (Luke 23:1) and “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the judgment hall (Pilate) and it was early” (John 18:28).
It is impossible to tell exactly what time the third trial took place or when Jesus was first taken to Pilate. But it had to be some time after midnight. The sixth hour here is probably used by John to describe the length of time since Pilate had first begun to examine Jesus. And the descriptions of “as soon as it was day” and “it was early” simply describe an undetermined time after midnight.
Mark 15:25 tells us that Jesus was crucified the “third hour”. This would have been 9:00 AM. We have to assume this is correct and conclude that the first two trials took place before midnight and the last four some time after midnight and that the trials with Pilate, Herod, then again with Pilate took six hours, and that all of these trials were finished before 9:00 AM. One thing is obvious; Jesus has been up all night, has been nearly beaten to death and is about to suffer one of the cruelest forms of execution ever devised by man.
The decision is now final. This is John 19:15-16. “But they all shouted, Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! And Pilate asked them, Crucify your King? And the chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar! So he delivered Him over to them to be crucified.”