John 18:35

This was the turning-point. Suppose the governor was uneasy about the rights and interests of Caesar. Then the Lord could have pointed to His consistent life, as in John 6:15, and to His unchanging teaching, as in Luke 20:25. Either would have disproved the charge completely and set his mind at rest. But the question really came from the Jews (Luke 23:2). So, faced with Israel's unbelief and contradiction, the Lord had nothing to say but the truth. He had nothing to do but bear witness to the "good confession" before Pontius Pilate (1 Tim. 6:13), and this He does with all simplicity.

The question brought out what was in him. "Am I a Jew," he cries. This is merely a Jewish question, beneath the notice of a proud Roman, except in carrying out his duty. That is how men look at Christ: who He may be is to them a mere matter of religion, a question for theologians, of no personal interest to them. But "God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus." And "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." Every tongue will confess "that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Pilate was quick to disclaim all responsibility by asking, "Am I a Jew?" But why then had he asked his first question? Of course it was true, as he said, that the Lord's own nation and their rulers had handed Him over to Pilate. But Pilate's responsibility was to judge any charge against the Lord justly. Yet no charge had been laid. He asks the Lord, "What have You done?" This again was no question for a judge to ask. The accusers were to state what He had done, and the judge was to weigh that charge strictly.

Pilate told Him. It was His own nation and the chief priests who had handed Him over. Those whose King He was had publicly refused Him. His own nation and their religious leaders were seeking His execution. Pilate was therefore justified in putting his next question: "What have You done?"

Now this answer of Pilate gave the full proof of Israel's guilt. The man who represented the power of the world at that time settled the point: Israel had disowned their King and sold themselves into the hands of a stranger. For the present this was everything with Jesus. It at once carried Him beyond the earth and out of the world. For Israel had rejected Him, and His kingdom was therefore not now from here.

The threefold testimony of the man who represented the fourth kingdom is of the greatest interest. The first testimony he repeated three times: "I find no guilt in this man." So spoke the fourth beast in him (Dan. 7). His second testimony was, "Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me." The third was the inscription on the cross: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."… So a man who did not know what truth is declared the truth, forced by a power he knew nothing of. Meanwhile the only one in this dark scene who had the truth denied three times that he knew Him.