John 18:35

John 18:35. Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Nothing could more strongly express the contempt of the Roman governor for the Jews than these first words in reply, ‘Am I a Jew?' No words of Jesus had called for a repudiation of Jewish birth, but He had spoken in such a way as might imply that Pilate had been taking counsel with the Jews about His case. Take counsel with them! The very suggestion of such a thing fills the governor's mind with disgust, and he cries out, ‘Am I a Jew' What have I to do with so contemptible a race? Thine own people have delivered thee to me. But for them and for their wretched squabbles I care not I make my appeal to thyself. Tell me thyself, what hast thou done?' All tends to bring out the frightful degradation to which ‘the Jews,' the very flower of Judaism, have reduced themselves. A Gentile treats them with open scorn, and prefers the words of one brought before him as a malefactor to theirs.