18:28
This verse highlights the utter hypocrisy of the religious leaders. They led Jesus to the governor’s headquarters. They wanted Jesus killed, but did not have the authority to do that themselves, the Roman rulers had to do that. But they did not enter the governor’s headquarters themselves so they would not be defiled. They were about to kill the Son of God, their Messiah, yet they were concerned about entering the house of a Gentile. We need to beware of the deceitfulness of our hearts. Entering a Gentile’s house paled into insignificance compared to what they were in the midst of doing. Yet they thought they would still be “clean”. The Passover festival in total lasted seven days and “eat the Passover” may refer to the whole festival, rather than just the meal itself.
18:29,30
Pilate went outside to meet them so that they would not be “defiled”. Pilate was governor of Judea from AD26-36, during the regin of emperor Tiberius. Pilate would be keen to avoid antagonising the Jews. While the Romans were quite prepared to violently put down any insurrection, they much preferred to maintain peace, and it did not look good for any governor who experienced an uprising on his watch. So Pilate went outside to meet the party of priests wanting to know what the charge was.
The priests know they are on very dodgy ground with nothing substantial to charge Jesus with. So they make a vague statement, appealing to Pilate’s desire for a quiet life.
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