John 19:14-15

‘And he says to the Judaisers, “Look, see your king.” They therefore cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him.” Pilate says to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The Chief Priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Today we would call it mob rule, except that sadly the mob were the judicial authorities. There were no witnesses called, there was no evidence laid, the verdict was based on passion and political expediency. Pilate felt he could no longer resist. He made one final feeble attempt and then gave up. The Jewish leaders were determined to have blood, and not only to have blood but to have it by a method that would bring a curse on the One Who died, by His hanging on a cross. They wanted Him shamed.

There is no way in which they can be exonerated, although attempts have been made to do so. Every good Jew must equally condemn them for their behaviour. And the truth is unavoidable because it is not based on the Gospel records but on the facts of what actually happened, that Jesus actually lived an outstanding life, as revealed by His teachings, that He was crucified, and that Pilate and Rome had nothing to gain by His death. The records simply verify what we would already surmise.

‘We have no king but Caesar'. It was a good job that the common people did not hear this statement. Any Pharisees present must have been squirming. This ran contrary to the whole of Jewish belief. They were betraying their own people. They were rejecting the hope of the Messiah. To most Jews God was king and Caesar an intruder whom they longed to get rid of, and they looked for God to send their Messiah to set them free. But to the Chief Priests Caesar was important because he maintained the status quo and thus their power base. In less than forty years they would be totally disillusioned, and their power would be broken.