John 19 Verses 1-11 

John 19:1 “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. 2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. 4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. 5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” 

There are several observations we can make to the above passage: 

1.  Pilate scourged Jesus.  To scourge means to flog.  This was done to Roman prisoners in an effort to get them to confess any wrongdoing they may have done.  Jesus, of course, had done no wrong. 

2.  The Roman soldiers went to great length to mock Jesus.  It appears that this was intended to be a ridicule of the Jews and their desire to have a king other than Caesar.  The platting of a crown of thorns, putting a purple robe on Jesus and saying, “Hail, King of the Jews” was done to mock the Jews desire for a natural king. 

3.  Pilate proclaimed that he found no fault in Jesus. 

4.  Upon seeing Jesus the chief priests and officers cried out saying, “crucify him, crucify him.”  Elsewhere we are told that they had delivered him for envy.   

5.  To the chief priests and officers cry to crucify Jesus, Pilate to them, “take ye him and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.”  “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”  This was the first time that Pilate had heard this accusation against Christ and this made Pilate more afraid. 

6.  Pilate went again into the judgment hall and asked Jesus, “Whence art thou.”  To this Jesus gave no answer.  A perplexed Pilate then said: “Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?”  To this the Lord answered: “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” 

John 19 Verses 12-18 

John 19:12 “And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. 16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.”

When Pilate sought to release Jesus, the Jews accused Pilate of not being Caesar’s friend: “whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.”  While Pilate knew that there was no fault in Jesus, yet this saying frightened him as he did not want to be known as one who was not Caesar’s friend.  “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.”  This action showed that Pilate had made the decision that he would acquiesce to the desires of the Jews.   

“And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!  But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.”  With this saying, those Jews disavowed God as being their king.   

“Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.  And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.”  These wicked Jews had accomplished what they set out to do.  However, what they did not know was that Jesus was going willingly to the cross, where he would suffer the judgment of God to redeem his people from their sins.  Those things that man inflicted upon Jesus is not what saved us from our sins, but what the Father poured out upon him in judgment is what delivered us from eternal condemnation.