But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Jesus stood bound as a prisoner inside Pilate's judgment hall, surrounded by a guard of soldiers and rapidly gathering spectators, while the judges of the Sanhedrin, priests, rulers, elders and mob stayed outside the entrance because entering would ceremonially defile them and keep them from the Passover. Their hatred had already defiled their hearts, and their rejection of Christ as the true Passover lamb had left the feast without meaning for them. Pilate had been called hastily from his bedchamber determined to act quickly with official severity, but on looking closely at Jesus he found no guilt, fear, boldness or defiance, only goodness, nobility, and a calm and dignified bearing marked by heaven. That sight stirred his better nature and recalled what he had heard of the healings and resurrections, what his wife had told him, and reports that Lazarus had been raised after four days dead, so he resolved to require the accusers to state and prove their charges before he would condemn the prisoner whom he regarded as innocent.
In the verse Pilate asks the crowd with great earnestness whether they want him to release Jesus as the King of the Jews. He offers this under the festival custom of freeing one condemned prisoner, presenting a choice between Jesus and Barabbas, whom he presents as Jesus who is called Christ set side by side with Barabbas. Pilate asks this because he thinks the people did not understand his first offer, and he is trying to save Jesus' life and avoid condemning an innocent man despite pressure from the religious leaders and the crowd. He hopes that the contrast between the gentle, suffering and dignified Saviour and the notorious, hardened criminal Barabbas will arouse the people's sense of justice, pity and sympathy and lead them to choose Jesus in opposition to the priests and rulers.
Before this appeal Pilate had Jesus scourged and mocked, hoping the sight would move the multitude to pity and to accept that punishment as sufficient and would even satisfy the malice of the priests. But the Jews recognized it as weakness in one already declared innocent and as an effort to save the prisoner, so they grew more determined that Jesus should not be released and pressed for a final decision to secure His death, a fanatical hatred stirred by the priests that Pilate did not understand. The appeal fails because the priests stir up the people and, under satanic influence, the crowd rejects the offer, demands Barabbas the guilty murderer instead of Jesus, and calls for Jesus to be crucified, a cry that astonishes Pilate.
The crowd's choice shows rejection of God in Christ and willingness to follow Satan's direction, with Barabbas standing for Satan chosen before Christ the Son of God. The same choice is repeated in the world where each person shows by conduct whether Christ is chosen. The verse belongs to a condemnation that exposes the fickleness of a crowd that once hailed Jesus as king but now demands His crucifixion. Jesus prepared His faithful disciples for that reversal so that insults from the crowd and the turning away of professed followers would not surprise them or cause them to abandon faith.
Jesus stood bound as a prisoner inside Pilate's judgment hall, surrounded by a guard of soldiers and rapidly gathering spectators, while the judges of the Sanhedrin, priests, rulers, elders and mob stayed outside the entrance because entering would ceremonially defile them and keep them from the Passover. Their hatred had already defiled their hearts, and their rejection of Christ as the true Passover lamb had left the feast without meaning for them. Pilate had been called hastily from his bedchamber determined to act quickly with official severity, but on looking closely at Jesus he found no guilt, fear, boldness or defiance, only goodness, nobility, and a calm and dignified bearing marked by heaven. That sight stirred his better nature and recalled what he had heard of the healings and resurrections, what his wife had told him, and reports that Lazarus had been raised after four days dead, so he resolved to require the accusers to state and prove their charges before he would condemn the prisoner whom he regarded as innocent.
In the verse Pilate asks the crowd with great earnestness whether they want him to release Jesus as the King of the Jews. He offers this under the festival custom of freeing one condemned prisoner, presenting a choice between Jesus and Barabbas, whom he presents as Jesus who is called Christ set side by side with Barabbas. Pilate asks this because he thinks the people did not understand his first offer, and he is trying to save Jesus' life and avoid condemning an innocent man despite pressure from the religious leaders and the crowd. He hopes that the contrast between the gentle, suffering and dignified Saviour and the notorious, hardened criminal Barabbas will arouse the people's sense of justice, pity and sympathy and lead them to choose Jesus in opposition to the priests and rulers.
Before this appeal Pilate had Jesus scourged and mocked, hoping the sight would move the multitude to pity and to accept that punishment as sufficient and would even satisfy the malice of the priests. But the Jews recognized it as weakness in one already declared innocent and as an effort to save the prisoner, so they grew more determined that Jesus should not be released and pressed for a final decision to secure His death, a fanatical hatred stirred by the priests that Pilate did not understand. The appeal fails because the priests stir up the people and, under satanic influence, the crowd rejects the offer, demands Barabbas the guilty murderer instead of Jesus, and calls for Jesus to be crucified, a cry that astonishes Pilate.
The crowd's choice shows rejection of God in Christ and willingness to follow Satan's direction, with Barabbas standing for Satan chosen before Christ the Son of God. The same choice is repeated in the world where each person shows by conduct whether Christ is chosen. The verse belongs to a condemnation that exposes the fickleness of a crowd that once hailed Jesus as king but now demands His crucifixion. Jesus prepared His faithful disciples for that reversal so that insults from the crowd and the turning away of professed followers would not surprise them or cause them to abandon faith.