John 19:12-16a 12From this point, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13Therefore, when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover, the hour was about the sixth. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15Then those ones cried out, “Away, away, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.” 16So then, he delivered him over in order that he might be crucified.
Pilate remains a focus of John’s account. This may have been intentional in that Pilate serves as a type for people who are fickle and uncommitted. Verse 12 returns to the topic of Pilate wanting to free Jesus. His resistance to the Jews’ plot is obvious in this verse. He tried to walk a fine line between appeasing his conscience and appeasing the Jews. The Jews’ response and threat in this verse finally convinced him to go their way. The reason for his fear from verse 8 could be hinted at in the accusation, you are not Caesar’s friend. If Tiberius Caesar caught wind that Pilate was showing favoritism toward a “king,” not only would Pilate lose his position but his life! Caesar was “lord” of the Roman Empire. There was no king higher than him, and any subordinate local king was put there by Caesar’s authority.
This accusation changed Pilate’s mind and pushed him over the edge. His fear got the better of his conscience. The irony of this part of the story is how the Jews manipulated Pilate and showed their allegiance more to Caesar than God’s Messiah. Who was their king? They answer in verse 15: No king but Caesar. John recounts the exact time and location of what comes next. After bringing the flogged Jesus out for people to see, Pilate sat on the seat of judgment in the placed called The Stone Pavement or Gabbatha. This showed that what he was about to do was an official act as governor and representative of Rome.
What John meant by the day of preparation is unclear. On the day before the Passover, Thursday, the sacrificial lamb was prepared and slaughtered. John could be making an allusion to that. But if that is the case, then the calendar of events is off for the week. John could also mean the day of preparing for the Sabbath, which would make the trial on Friday. The time was the sixth hour, which was noon. Jesus had been awake at least thirty hours, with the last twelve hours being of interrogation and torture. It is difficult to reconcile and synchronize the chronology of the events between the Synoptic accounts and John. Their purpose and perspectives were different. The core storylines are the same, though the details such as the time of trial are different if we approach the challenge from a logical perspective. Reading each Gospel from its own vantage point and emphasis shows consistency in the major items.
Pilate next mockingly introduced Jesus as the King of the Jews, but they would have none of it. Pilate attempts one more appeasement of his conscience in verse 15 and tries to walk the fine line between justice and fear of what others might think. He had one last opportunity to make the situation right, but he gave in to his fear. The Jews pushed even harder, emphasized with the repeated phrase away with him. They were pushing Jesus away from their own hardened consciences. They were bent on getting rid of Jesus, and so they chose the cruelest way possible: crucifixion. The statement of the chief priests further condemned them in their lack of faith and outright hatred for God’s revelation. They were doing the same thing they accused Jesus of doing by blaspheming God’s Messiah and even God as their king! The contrast between them and people like the Samaritan woman of chapter 4 is astounding.
Pilate may have thought he had no more choice when he condemned Jesus to be crucified in verse 16, but he did. He was looking for the easy way out, but in doing so, he aligned himself with the Jews in their unbelief and condemnation. This part of the story is a powerful example of the danger of giving in to peer pressure and not believing in Jesus. Jesus warned his listeners many times about this and the consequences they would face (3:36).
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