![\"pontius](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/405\/2019\/03\/pontius-pilate-300x231.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Have you ever wondered what Pontius Pilate thought about when Jesus was set before him during his trial? Have you ever wondered why they chose him to choose who to sentence to death, either Jesus or Barabas?<\/p>\n
In John 18:28-40, the story of Jesus coming before Pilate is told.<\/p>\n
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor.\u00a0By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace,\u00a0because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.<\/span>\u00a0So Pilate came out to them and asked, \u201cWhat charges are you bringing against this man?\u201d<\/span>30\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cIf he were not a criminal,\u201d they replied, \u201cwe would not have handed him over to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>Pilate said, \u201cTake him yourselves and judge him by your own law.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u201cBut we have no right to execute anyone,\u201d they objected.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/sup>This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>Pilate then went back inside the palace,\u00a0summoned Jesus and asked him, \u201cAre you the king of the Jews?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cIs that your own idea,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0Jesus asked,\u00a0\u201cor did others talk to you about me?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAm I a Jew?\u201d Pilate replied. \u201cYour own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cMy kingdom\u00a0is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.\u00a0But now my kingdom is from another place.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201cYou are a king, then!\u201d said Pilate.\u00a0<\/span>Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cYou say that I am a king. In fact,\u00a0the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.\u00a0Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWhat is truth?\u201d retorted Pilate. With this, he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, \u201cI find no basis for a charge against him.<\/span> But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release \u2018the king of the Jews\u2019?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>They shouted back, \u201cNo, not him! Give us Barabbas!\u201d Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.”<\/span><\/p>\n In John 19: 1-16, the story continues.<\/p>\n Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>and went up to him again and again, saying, \u201cHail, king of the Jews!\u201d\u00a0And they slapped him in the face.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, \u201cLook, I am bringing him out\u00a0to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,\u00a0Pilate said to them, \u201cHere is the man!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, \u201cCrucify! Crucify!\u201d\u00a0<\/span>But Pilate answered, \u201cYou take him and crucify him.\u00a0As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>The Jewish leaders insisted, \u201cWe have a law, and according to that law he must die\u00a0because he claimed to be the Son of God.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>and he went back inside the palace.\u00a0\u201cWhere do you come from?\u201d he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cDo you refuse to speak to me?\u201d Pilate said. \u201cDon\u2019t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cYou would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.\u00a0Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, \u201cIf you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king\u00a0opposes Caesar.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge\u2019s seat\u00a0at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaicis Gabbatha).<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>It was the day of Preparation\u00a0of the Passover; it was about noon.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHere is your king,\u201d\u00a0Pilate said to the Jews.\u00a0<\/span>But they shouted, \u201cTake him away! Take him away! Crucify him!\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u201cShall I crucify your king?\u201d Pilate asked.<\/span>\u201cWe have no king but Caesar,\u201d the chief priests answered.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.<\/span><\/p>\n You can bet Pilate was stressed during it too.\u00a0 He must have bee almost as distressed as Jesus was with everything that was happening. He told the crowd before him “I see nothing wrong that this man has done.” Because of this Pilate literally washed his hands of the mess of it because he couldn’t take being the man that was responsible for turning Jesus over to be crucified. He didn’t want to see Jesus be condemned by the people and put to death. He didn’t want to be the one that handed over an innocent man to be crucified for no reason.<\/p>\n He thought he had made a terrible mistake by handing Jesus over to be crucified. He washed his hands of the mess and retreated after that. To think that the people were counting on him to be the one that handed Jesus over to die must have been overwhelming for him. Maybe some of his thoughts were, “Why would they want me to condemn this man when he hasn’t done anything wrong?” “What is this game their playing?” “Why release a hardened criminal like Barabas instead of releasing an innocent man like Jesus?”<\/p>\n But think about this too. If Pilate hadn’t handed Jesus over to be crucified, then His story and everyone’s story would have turned out differently. None of us would have our sins forgiven. Jesus had to take them upon Himself, so we could all live. Even though Pilate didn’t know it at that time, he was doing the right thing for all of us. If he wouldn’t have said to crucify Jesus, then none of us would be saved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever wondered what Pontius Pilate thought about when Jesus was set before him during his trial? Have you ever wondered why they chose him to choose who to sentence to death, either Jesus or Barabas? In John 18:28-40, the story of Jesus coming before Pilate is told. Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":611,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1882,1881],"tags":[1888,1887,1889,1886],"class_list":["post-1078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pilates-thoughts","category-pontius-pilate","tag-pilate","tag-pilates-delimma","tag-pilates-thoughts","tag-pontius-pilate"],"yoast_head":"\n