John 19:8-12, Caesar's Friend

8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

That Pilate is “even more afraid” refers to having heard the Jewish theological position on why Jesus must die. Jesus’ claims to divinity alarm him to the point that he pulls Jesus inside to question him privately again. “Are you from this world or from another above?” he asks Jesus. As with the Jewish leaders, Jesus refuses to answer. Another concern for Pilate is the dream his wife had (Matthew 27:19). She warns her husband, “Have nothing to do with that man.” Jesus could have gotten out of crucifixion but decided not to answer Pilate, a fulfilment of Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

Pilate tries to coerce Jesus into talking by reminding him of his authority. He, after all, is the representative of the most powerful man in the world—Tiberias Caesar in Rome. Jesus responds that all authority comes from God. He is sovereign over all things, and that his being in this position in front of Pilate is the will of God. Pilate can do nothing about it!

Jesus then makes an interesting statement that “he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” Jesus is referring to Caiaphas, the high priest, not to Judas. Note that Pilate is not without sin. His is only lesser than that of the man who represents Israel before God. God’s high priest stands accused of trying to kill God himself.

Pilate again, believing Jesus innocent, tries to free him. The Jewish leaders play their trump card: “You are no friend of Caesar’s if you release him.” Some historical perspective is helpful. Caesar’s rise to power was through his relationship with a highly placed imperial official named Sejanus. Sejanus, however, had recently been executed after a palace purge in Rome, leaving Pilate in a precarious position. The Jewish leaders knew their trump card was powerful. Caesar was to be the only king. If he got wind of a claim to kingship by Jesus or, worse, a claim to being the Son of God, that went unpunished by Pilate, Pilate would be brought down. Caesar called himself the son of God. Roman imperial theology declared that the Caesars were gods and to be worshiped. Not only was there a battle going on between Jesus and Israel’s high priest but between the God of Israel and the gods of Rome.

We adore you, O Christ, and bless you because you did not flinch at Pilate’s offer to avoid the shame and terror of the cross but embraced it and death for us in our place. Amen.