Joh 18:28-19:16 | PNT | STEP | For notes on the trial before Pilate, see . Compare . The first examination was at the house of Annas ( ), where an officer had smitten Jesus ( ). Then Annas sent him to Caiaphas ( ). Still later he was tried before the Sanhedrin ( ) and condemned. Then he was led from Caiaphas to Pilate's judgment hall ( ). The judgment hall . The praetorium, or official hall of the Roman governor. Lest they should be defiled . These Jewish leaders, filled with the hate of Christ, and ready to secure his judicial murder by the foulest means, were yet so scrupulous that they would not enter the house of a Gentile lest "they should be defiled" (see ), so that they would not be able to eat the passover. The Pharisees held that contact with a Gentile, or to enter his house was a source of defilement. Hence, this deputation of the Sanhedrin waited without, and Pilate "went out unto them" to ascertain their business. Men can be very religious and yet great sinners.

John 18:28-40

For notes on the trial before Pilate, see Mt 27:1-25. Compare Mr 15:1-15 Lu 23:1-25. The first examination was at the house of Annas (Joh 18:13), where an officer had smitten Jesus (Joh 18:22). Then Annas sent him to Caiaphas (Joh 18:24). Still later he was tried before the Sanhedrin (Mt 27:1,2) and condemned. Then he was led from Caiaphas to Pilate's judgment hall (Joh 18:28).

The judgment hall. The praetorium, or official hall of the Roman governor.

Lest they should be defiled. These Jewish leaders, filled with the hate of Christ, and ready to secure his judicial murder by the foulest means, were yet so scrupulous that they would not enter the house of a Gentile lest "they should be defiled" (see De 16:4), so that they would not be able to eat the passover. The Pharisees held that contact with a Gentile, or to enter his house was a source of defilement. Hence, this deputation of the Sanhedrin waited without, and Pilate "went out unto them" to ascertain their business. Men can be very religious and yet great sinners. That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled. Had the Jews been allowed to put Christ to death, he would have been stoned, as Stephen was, by a mob in Jerusalem, stoning being the usual Jewish method of execution, but he had "signified what death he should die" (Joh 12:32 Mt 20:18-19) and had declared that he should be crucified. My kingdom is not of this world. It would be hard for Pilate to form any conception of a kingdom not of this world, a kingdom of which the subjects did not fight with carnal weapons to defend its king, or to extend its borders. He was a soldier and the representative of a monarch whose power rested on the sword. But such a kingdom was Christ's. It was not of this world, did not spring from it, was heavenly in its origin, and hence his servants would not fight that he should not be delivered to the Jews. (1) Christ's kingdom is supernatural, not of human origin. It is in the world, but not worldly. (2) It is maintained, not by carnal weapons, but by spiritual and moral means. Art thou a king then? If Christ has a kingdom he must be a King. What is truth? Pilate's inquiry was not answered in words, but Truth sat embodied and bound before him. Some have held that this question of Pilate's was asked in scorn. His conduct through the trial shows that he was deeply impressed, and it is probable that the question was asked from a deep curiosity to hear more from so marvellous a teacher. Ye have a custom.

See PNT Mt 27:15. He was eager to comply with the custom in order to release an innocent prisoner, but he had not measured the depths of the Jewish hate which could demand, instead, a robber and a murderer.

John 19:1-16

The Crucifixion SUMMARY OF JOH 19: Jesus Scourged. The Crown of Thorns. Pilate's Acquittal. The New Charge of the Jews. No King but Caesar. Crucified at Golgotha. The Garments Parted by Lot. The Women at the Cross. The Mother of Jesus Committed to John. It Is Finished. For notes on these verses, see Mt 27:19-22. Compare Mr 15:15-22 Lu 23:20-31. John gives a few additional features. Behold the man! Jesus had been scourged, and then, bleeding and torn, was crowned with thorns and a purple robe thrown around him, and led out before the people. Pilate, it is probable, hoped to arouse pity. Crucify [him]. The response was this savage cry.

Take ye him, etc., Pilate then declared. This is his formal acquittal of the charge of sedition and rebellion that they mad made. He had committed no crime against Roman law. Hence, if punished, it must be by their law. We have a law. Failing in their purpose, they now fall back on their charge of blasphemy: "He made himself the Son of God". Whence art thou? This statement arouses the fear of Pilate. He had never seen such calm dignity and majesty before. Could this prisoner be divine? When Jesus is silent, Pilate reminds him that he has power to crucify or release. Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, etc. Jesus breaks the silence and at once assumes the position of Pilate's judge. He declares that Pilate could have no power over himself unless it were given him. Christ submitted because it was the Father's will that he should drink the cup. Poor, helpless Pilate was not so great a sinner as the Jews, who might have known better, who were filled with devilish hate, who were now forcing Pilate to the crime. The words of Christ are really words of compassion. If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. This means that he will be accused before Caesar's tribunal of winking at treason. The Caesar then on the throne was Tiberius, dark, suspicious, cruel in character. Such a charge from the representatives of the Jewish nation at Rome would probably prove fatal to Pilate; would certainly end his career as a public man. The risk was too great. He would rather sacrifice an innocent man than to sacrifice himself. Hence he at once surrenders. It was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour. John marks the exact time when this remarkable judgment was rendered. It was about six o'clock in the morning, on Friday, the day of preparation for the passover. Mark says that the crucifixion began at the third hour (Mr 15:25), nine o'clock, as the Hebrews began to count at six. John wrote many years later, after Jerusalem had fallen, among people who began to count at midnight, as did all the Roman world, and he therefore used their language and called six o'clock the sixth hour, as we do, rather than the first hour as the Hebrews did. Christ and his apostles had eaten the passover already. How then could it be that was the preparation day? Amid conflicting views, I can only give what seems to me the best solution: (1) It is certain that Christ ate a meal the evening before in the Upper Room which was called a passover. (2) It is certain from Joh 18:28 that the Jews had not eaten the passover at that time. (3) It seems clear to me that Christ, anxious to eat this passover (see Lu 22:15), ate it in advance of the usual time, in order that he, the true Paschal Lamb, "Our Passover" (1Co 5:7) might be offered on the same day that the passover was eaten. The priests hurried the trial and execution of Jesus so that they might proceed to the preparation of the passover that evening. As the Lord's supper was anticipatory of the suffering on the cross, so was the Lord's last passover. The question has difficulties, but this view has fewer than any other. We have no king but Caesar. They had not now. They had rejected the divine King, and chosen Barabbas instead, for life, and now make choice of Caesar as their king instead of the Lord's Anointed. To Caesar's tender mercies they committed themselves, and in about a generation Caesar will trample them in the wine press of wrath. The choice they had made sealed the fate of their city and nation.