Jesus answered, Thou hadst no authority whatever against me if it were not given to thee from above. On this account he that has delivered me up to thee has [the] greater sin.
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From this time Pilate sought to release him; but the Jews cried out saying, If thou releasest this [man], thou art not a friend to Caesar. Every one making himself a king speaks against Caesar.
Pilate has just heard that his authority is not his own. From that point he tries to set Jesus free — until one sentence from the crowd stops him. That sentence is not a legal argument. It is a threat aimed at his career. It raises the question this trial turns on: when truth and self-interest collide, which one does a man serve?
The Lord had just told Pilate that his authority came from above. Those words left a mark. Pilate now tried to release Him, and one writer reads that as a sign of a stirred conscience.
These were the last words of Christ that Pilate heard from His lips. The next time they meet, the governor will stand before the One he was about to condemn to death, and hear the Lord's judgment about him. These last words did impress him. What prisoner had ever spoken to him like that? … The words of Christ, "the greater sin," seemed to strike home to that man of the world. Conscience may be stifled for a time, but conscience has a voice.
His accusers changed tactics. They aimed at something closer to Pilate than justice.
The Lord's words shake Pilate more than ever, and he again seeks to release Him. But he is not master of himself, and so cannot be master of others. The Jews know the man, and they know their opportunity. They bring an argument against him that makes him like clay in their hands at once. God is a possibility, but Rome is a certainty, and nearer at hand.
The charge that Jesus made Himself a king against Caesar was a tool, not a conviction.
Conscience was clearly pressing him, so Pilate looks for some way to release the Lord. But the Jews are ready with another weapon. They tell him that letting Him go would show no friendship to Caesar. They claim the Lord had made Himself a king and was therefore speaking against Caesar. In fact this meant nothing to the Jews themselves. But they gain their deceitful end by making Pilate afraid for his own position and standing with Caesar. This overrides his conscience.
Pilate had reason to dread a report reaching Rome. The threat found a weakness already there.
Pilate knew his own government had not always been upright. He feared the Jews would report him to the emperor. "The fear of man lays a snare" (Prov. 29:25). So he prepared to give in to their wishes.
Another writer names what Pilate valued most, and shows his accusers shared the same fault.
The Jewish leaders themselves "loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God" (John 12:43). Pilate had far more regard for the praise of Caesar than for judgment according to truth and justice.
The sentence forces a choice between two loyalties. Commentators press that choice on the reader as a live question, not old history.
Are there not many here in the same moral position as Pilate? Your conscience touches you. You would like to be on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ… You would like to stand up for Him, to be His friend, to be on His side. But then there is the world. You cannot give it up. You cannot break with it. You cannot part company with its friendship… They cannot give up their Caesar.
Pilate held his office at Caesar's pleasure. That dependence bred fear.
Do you know who Caesar was? He was the Roman emperor. And who was Pilate? His delegate. Pilate depended on Caesar; he was supported by the world. And I would like to say this to you: in exactly the proportion that you are supported by the world, you are afraid of it. Work that through, and see whether it is not true.
The same moment exposes both sides of the courtroom, each for a different reason.
How powerless the struggle to do right is in a person who loves the world, never judges his own sins, and does not know grace! … Pilate preferred the friendship of the world to the Son of God. In the same way, the Jews saw no beauty in Him that they should admire Him. Both played their part in crucifying Him.
- Conscience — Christ's words about "the greater sin" reached Pilate. He tried to release Him. Conscience has a voice even in a hard man.
- Weapon — his accusers dropped legal argument and went for his career. God is a possibility; Rome is a certainty, and nearer at hand.
- Pretence — their claimed loyalty to Caesar meant nothing to them. It was only a lever to make Pilate fear for his own position.
- Fear — Pilate's own record would not stand a review. So he valued Caesar's praise above true judgment. The fear of man lays a snare.
- Choice — Caesar's friend or Jesus' friend. Pilate chose the world's friendship over the Son of God. Anyone who loves the world still faces that choice.