Matthew 27:12

And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. For the exposition, see the notes at Luke 23:1, and at John 18:28....

12_He answered nothing. _If it be asked why the Evangelists say that Christ was silent, while we have just now heard his answer from their mouth, the reason is, that he had a defense at hand, but voluntarily abstained from producing it. And, indeed, what he formerly replied about _the kingdom _did not arise from a desire to be acquitted, but was only intended to maintain that he was the Redeemer anciently promised, before whom every knee ought to bow, (Isaiah 45:23.) _Pilate wondered _at this patience; for Christ, by his silence, allowed his innocence to be suspected, when he might easily have refuted frivolous and unfounded calumnies. The integrity of Christ was such that the judge saw it plainly without any defense. But Pilate wished that Christ might not neglect his own cause, and might thus be acquitted without giving offense to many people. And up to this

11-25 Having no malice against Jesus, Pilate urged him to clear himself, and laboured to get him discharged. The message from his wife was a warning. God has many ways of giving checks to sinners, in their sinful pursuits, and it is a great mercy to have such checks from Providence, from faithful friends, and from our own consciences. O do not this abominable thing which the Lord hates! is what we may hear said to us, when we are entering into temptation, if we will but regard it. Being overruled by the priests, the people made choice of Barabbas. Multitudes who choose the world, rather than God, for their ruler and portion, thus choose their own delusions. The Jews were so bent upon the death of Christ, that Pilate thought it would be dangerous to refuse. And this struggle shows the power of conscience even on the worst men. Yet all was so ordered to make it evident that Christ suffere...

Verse Matthew 27:12. _HE ANSWERED NOTHING._] An answer to such accusations was not necessary: they sufficiently confuted themselves....

WHEN HE WAS ACCUSED ... - To wit, of perverting the nation, and of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, Luke 23:2, Luke 23:5. Probably this was done in a tumultuous manner and in every variety of form. HE ANSWERED NOTHING - He was conscious of his innocence. He knew that they could not prove these charges. They offered no testimony to prove them, and, in conscious innocence, he was silent....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 27:1, MATTHEW 27:2 _Jesus brought to Pilate. _(Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66; Luke 23:1; John 18:28.) MATTHEW 27:1 WHEN THE MORNING WAS COME. This is the early morning of Good Friday, the 14th of Nisan. If the rulers had had special regard to legality, they could not have co

AND WHEN HE WAS ACCUSED OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS,.... As that he was a perverter of the people, a stirrer of sedition, discord, and rebellion among them; that he taught them not to give tribute to Caesar, and set up himself for a king; all which he had done not in one place only, but throughout all the land of Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem; see Luke 23:2, HE ANSWERED NOTHING; the things laid to his charge being notoriously false, and known to be so by all the people; and the evidence with which they were supported being so slender, the judge could never receive it; he therefore judged it unnecessary, and not worth a while to return an answer to them: besides, he knew they were bent upon his death, and that, should he set aside these charges, as he easily could, they would invent new ones, and so increase their sin, and their condemnation: but the chief reason of all, o

CHAPTER 27 1. Delivered unto Pilate.(Matthew 27:1 .) 2. The Suicide of Judas.(Matthew 27:3 .) 3. Before Pilate. (Matthew 27:11 .) 4. The Awful Choice.(Matthew 27:15 .) 5. Crowned with Thorns and Crucified.(Matthew 27:27 .) 6. The Death of the King. (Matthew 27:45 .) 7. The Rent Veil and the Earthquake.(Matthew 27:51 .) 8. The Burial. ...

JESUS BEFORE PILATE (Mark 15:1 *, Luke 23:1; Luke 23:18). Mt. follows Mk. closely, but has an additional source of information on which he draws for Pilate's wife's dream and Pilate's handwashing. This source may also be the origin of the reading Jesus Barabbas (Matthew 27:16, Syr. Sin. and Origen), a reading which gives point to Pilate's question in Matthew 27:17 (Jesus Barabbas or Jesus Messiah ?). Such a name would be quite natural. In place of Mk.'s information about Barabbas, Mt. simply says he was a notable prisoner; he also makes Pilate anticipate the d

THE MAN WHO SENTENCED JESUS TO DEATH (Matthew 27:1-2 ; Matthew 27:11-26)...