Matthew 27:11-26

THE TRIAL BEFORE PONTIUS PILATE

St Mark 15:2-15; St Luke 23:2-5; Luke 23:13-24; St John 18:29 to John 19:16

St Luke states the threefold charge most clearly: ‘We found this [fellow] (1) perverting the nation; (2) and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar; (3) saying that he himself is Christ a King.’
Pilate, true to the Roman sense of justice, refused merely to confirm the sentence of the Sanhedrin. ‘He asked, what accusation bring ye against this man?’ (John 18:29), being determined to try the case. This accusation amounted to a charge of treason—the greatest crime known to Roman law. Of the three points of accusation, (2) was utterly false; (1) and (3) though in a sense true, were not true in the sense intended. The answer or defence of Jesus is that He is a King, but that His ‘kingdom is not of this world,’ therefore (it is inferred) the ‘perversion of the people’ was not a rebellion that threatened the Roman government; see note Matthew 27:11. The defence was complete, as Pilate admits: ‘I find no fault in him.’