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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - John 19:8 - 19:12
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_19:8-12
8Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; 9and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. 10So Pilate said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?" 11Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." 12As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar."
Joh_19:8 "when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid" Pilate's wife had already warned him about Jesus (cf. Mat_27:19), and now the Jewish leaders were claiming that He had asserted that He was the Son of God. Pilate, being superstitious, became afraid. It was quite common for the gods of the Greek and Roman pantheon to visit humanity in human form.
Joh_19:9
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV "Where are You from"
TEV, NJB,
NIV"Where do you come from"
Pilate is not asking about Jesus' hometown but His origin. Pilate is beginning to sense the significance of the person before him. Jesus knew from his comments in Joh_18:38 that Pilate was not interested in the truth but rather political expediency, so He did not respond.
Pilate joins a number of people who marvel at Jesus but do not understand His origin (cf. Joh_4:12; Joh_6:42; Joh_7:27-28; Joh_7:41-42; Joh_8:14; Joh_9:29-30). This is part of John's vertical dualism. Jesus is from above and no one below can know/understand/see/hear without the Father's touch (i.e., Joh_6:44; Joh_6:65; Joh_10:29).
▣ "Jesus gave him no answer" Pilate must have remembered Jesus' answer (cf. Joh_18:37)! Some see this as fulfillment of Isa_53:7.
Joh_19:10 "and I have the authority to crucify You" Pilate asserts that he has political authority of life and death, yet in the face of an unruly mob he relinquished this right to their will. Pilate's question grammatically expected a "yes" answer.
Joh_19:11 "you would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above" This is a second class conditional sentence which is called "contrary to fact." Jesus was not intimidated by Pilate. He knew who He was and why He had come! The Bible asserts that God is behind all human authority (cf. Rom_13:1-7).
▣ "he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin" At first reading this seems to refer to Judas Iscariot (cf. Joh_6:64; Joh_6:71; Joh_13:11) but most commentators believe it refers to Caiaphas, who officially handed Jesus over to the Romans. This phrase can be understood collectively as referring to (1) the illegal Jewish leaders or (2) Jewish people as a whole (cf. Mat_21:33-46; Mar_12:1-12; Luk_20:9-19; Romans 9-11).
Joh_19:12 "Pilate made efforts to release Him" This is an imperfect tense which means repeated action in past time. He had tried several times.
▣ "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar" This is a third class conditional sentence which meant potential action. The Jewish leaders were threatening to report Pilate to his superiors in Rome if he did not follow through on their wishes and condemn Jesus to death. The phrase "friend of Caesar" was an idiom reflecting an honorific title bestowed by the Roman Emperor (starting with either Augustus or Vespasian).
Caesar was a title for the Roman Emperor. It came from Julius Caesar and it was adopted by Augustus.