1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they slapped him in the face.
-Physical abuse & verbal abuse. This would not have been an easy thing for a father to go thru. Obviously it wasn't easy for Jesus.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"
-I suppose being as beat up as he was, he would've looked guilty as charged. I heard it said that perhaps Pilate beating Jesus might have appeased the crowds. Apparently that wasn't enough.
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."
-priests and officials were instigators in this matter. People are such lemmings sometimes. I gotta make sure I stand up for the right things even in the midst of popular opinion.
7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."
-It honestly would be a difficult thing to believe someone who claimed to be God. I suppose the miraculous signs would speak for themselves, but I would've been skeptical back then as I'm sure many were.
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
-Fear is the emotion given to Pilate. Fear of uprising, fear for his own life?
-In fear, Pilate begins this intense little conversation. I wonder what bearing where he was from had for the large scheme of things? Maybe Pilate was just trying to start some small talk and in doing so get Jesus to change his mind and apologize to the crowd. Where was Pilate going with this line of questioning?
11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
-The threat of power doesn't do much against God. Interesting reply to a strange conversation. All power, good or bad, is issued from heaven. All situations, good or bad, are under heavens supervision.
-Shows degrees of sinfulness. The common saying is that sin is sin, but here its not.
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."
-Maybe Pilate thought Jesus was just insane and tried to free him. Maybe Pilate believed Jesus a little bit. Maybe Pilate didn't want to do the paper work to crucify a man.
-The crowd has creative comebacks.
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
"Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"
"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.
"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
-Jews take strong alliance to Caesar.
-A very intensely strange situation.
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