John 19:12

Ver. 12. “ From this time Pilate sought to release him; but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou releasest this man, thou art not Caesar's friend; for whoever makes himself a king, opposes Caesar. ”

᾿Εκ τούτου : from and by reason of this word uttered by Jesus; comp. John 6:66. John seems to say that all the efforts which had been previously made by Pilate with the aim of releasing Jesus had been nothing in comparison with those which he made from now on, under the impression of this last saying which he had just heard. Weiss rejects this meaning, and sees in the he sought only this idea: he was proposing to end the matter by releasing Him, when the words of the Jews prevented him from doing so. But the imperfect: he was seeking, implies a series of efforts and of new attempts with the Jews.

Only the latter had prepared a weapon which they had resolved not to use except in the last extremity; so ignoble was it in their view both for him who was its object and for those who employed it. It was that of personal intimidation.

The reigning emperor, Tiberius, was the most suspicious of despots. The accusation of high treason was always well received by this tyrant. Qui atrocissime exercebat leges majestatis, says Suetonius. The most unpardonable offence was that of having suffered his authority to be imperilled. Such is the danger which the Jews call up before the dismayed view of Pilate. This equivocal term King of the Jews, with the political coloring which it could not fail to have in the eyes of Tiberius, would infallibly make Pilate appear as an unfaithful administrator, who had attempted to screen from punishment an enemy of the imperial authority; and his trial would be a short matter; this Pilate knew well. It is true that the trial of this last expedient was, on the part of the Jews, a renouncing of their great national hope, the very idea of the Messiah, and a making themselves vassals of the empire. Such a victory was a suicide. In this regard also it is easy to understand how, in their plan of battle, they should have reserved this manoeuvre for the last; it was the stroke of desperation. The effect of it was immediate: