The Lord, bringing down his arrogance, says: "You would have no authority over Me if it had not been given to you from above." For I do not simply die, but am accomplishing something mysterious, and this has been predetermined from above for the common salvation.
Jn. 19:11. Therefore the greater sin is on him who delivered Me to you.
But lest you, having heard "given from above," should think that Pilate bears no responsibility before God, He adds: "Greater sin is on him who delivered Me to you." By this He shows that Pilate too is guilty of sin, though a lesser one. For from the fact that Christ's death was "given from above," that is, permitted, Pilate and the Jews do not thereby become innocent; but their free will chose evil, and God allowed and permitted them to carry it out.
So, from the fact that God permits evil to come into action, the wicked are not free from guilt; but because they choose and commit evil, they are worthy of every condemnation.
The Lord frightened Pilate with these words and presented a clear defense of Himself: if I had not given Myself up voluntarily, and if the Father had not permitted this, then you would have no power over Me; the sin is upon you as well, but even greater upon Judas who betrayed Me, or indeed upon the people, because they added to the pain of My wounds a new pain and did not remember their obligation to show mercy, but, finding Me without defense and without help, handed Me over to the cross; they were not even ashamed that I had come out innocent from so many tribunals, but cried out: "Crucify, crucify!"
Jn. 19:12. From that time Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out: if you release Him, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.
So, when the Lord frightened Pilate with these words, from that time on he sought all the more to release Him.
The Jews, since they had been convicted of slander in claiming that He made Himself a king, and had not succeeded either in their appeal to their own law (for from that point Pilate feared all the more and wished to release Him, so as not to provoke God), again resort to foreign laws and frighten Pilate, as one who was timid. For when they saw that he reverently feared lest by condemning Jesus, the Son of God, he might sin, they instill in him fear of Caesar, and having accused the Lord of seizing royal power, they threaten Pilate that he would offend Caesar if he released one who was rising up against him.
And where was He caught seizing royal power? How will you prove this? By a purple robe? A diadem? Soldiers? But is not everything about Him poor? Both His clothing, and His food, and His home? He does not even have a home.
Jn. 19:13. Pilate, having heard this word, brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat, at a place called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
But how little courage there was in Pilate, when he considered it dangerous for himself to leave such an accusation without investigation! He goes out, as if with the intention of investigating the matter, for this is what the words "sat down on the judgment seat" mean; meanwhile, having made no investigation, he hands Him over, thinking thereby to win them over.
Jn. 19:14. Now it was the Friday before the Passover, and about the sixth hour.
The Evangelist Mark says that when Christ was crucified, "it was the third hour" (Mark 15:25), while John says that it was the "sixth" hour. How can this be?
Some think to resolve this by saying that there is a scribal error. And that this could have happened, and that in John as well the third hour was written, and not the sixth as it now reads, is evident from the following. Three evangelists — Matthew, Mark, and Luke — agree in saying that from the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. Clearly, our Lord was crucified before the sixth hour, before the onset of the darkness, namely around the third hour, as Mark noted, and likewise John, although the error of scribes changed the gamma into the sign of the episemon. Thus they resolve this disagreement.
Others, however, say that Mark clearly and indisputably indicated the hour of the sentence regarding the crucifixion of the Lord. For it is said that judges crucified and executed from the time at which they pronounced the sentence, because in words the punishment and death received its force. Therefore Mark says that He was crucified at the third hour, the hour in which Pilate pronounced the sentence. And since Mark notes the time of the sentence, John recorded the hour at which the Lord was crucified. Moreover, consider how much was accomplished between Pilate's sentence of crucifixion and the hour at which the Lord ascended the cross. Having released Barabbas, he scourged Jesus and definitively handed Him over to crucifixion; for the release of Barabbas was the condemnation of the Lord. The soldiers mock Him. And consider how much time would have been spent on the prolonged mockery. Pilate brought Him out, conversed with the Jews; he goes back in again and judges Jesus; he comes out again and talks with the Jews. All of this could have occupied the time from the third hour to the sixth. Therefore John, having set forth these things with precision, as one who followed everything closely, mentions the sixth hour, when Pilate handed Him over completely "to be crucified," no longer conversing with the Jews nor judging Jesus, but having pronounced the final decision concerning Him.
If someone should ask why, having already pronounced the sentence of crucifixion around the third hour, he again wished to release Him — first, let such a person know that he pronounced the sentence under compulsion from the crowd; then he was troubled by his wife's dream, for she had warned him: "Have nothing to do with that Righteous Man" (Matt. 27:19). With all this, notice how John expressed it: "It was about the sixth hour." He did not say affirmatively "it was six o'clock," but as if hesitantly and without certainty — "about the sixth hour." Therefore it should be of no importance to us that the Evangelists apparently do not perfectly agree with one another, even if we were to grant this disagreement. For consider: did they not all say that Jesus was crucified? And that concerning the hour one says it was the third, and another the sixth — does this in any way harm the truth? But it has been quite sufficiently demonstrated that there is not even a disagreement at all.
Jn. 19:14. And Pilate said to the Jews: behold, your King!
We have said many times that Pilate is more weak and fearful than malicious. And now, look: he gives the matter the appearance of investigation and trial, but in everything acts weakly. "Behold," he says, "your King": he neither condemns Jesus nor directly exposes the Jews, but as if covertly reproaches them for their slander. "Behold," he says, "what kind of man you are accusing of seeking kingship over you—a poor man who does not even think of seeking this. The accusation is false. For what does He have that is characteristic of a usurper of power? Soldiers? Wealth? Noble birth? 'Behold your King.' What benefit is it to you if you kill Him, a Man who cannot cause the slightest harm?" So speaks Pilate, but without persistence and firmness, and without fighting for the truth.
Jn. 19:15. Take Him away, take Him away, crucify Him!
And they say: "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him"; they insist upon and demand the cross, because they wish to give Christ an evil reputation. For such a death was the most shameful and accursed, as it is said: "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Deut. 21:23). But they did not know that just as by a tree came the fall, so by a tree would come the restoration.
Jn. 19:15. Pilate says to them: Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar.
Note also how they themselves declare that they have no other king but Caesar, and through this they voluntarily submit themselves to the authority of the Romans and cut themselves off from the Kingdom of God. Therefore God also delivered them over to the Romans, whom they themselves had called their kings, having renounced the Providence and Protection of God.
Jn. 19:16. Then at last he delivered Him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led Him away.
"Then at last he handed Him over to them." Madman! He ought to have investigated whether He could actually claim royal power for Himself, but instead you hand Him over, yield out of fear, and conclude the trial in a manner unworthy of a man.
Jn. 19:17. And bearing His cross, He went out