18:31,32
Pilate sensed the game the priests were playing, knowing that they had no real concern for the well being of the Roman empire so it must be a religious dispute of some kind. So Pilate urged them to take Jesus away and deal with the matter themselves. If Pilate did handle it then any decision he made was only likely to lead to trouble for himself. The Jews then give the real reason they have brought Jesus to Pilate. They want Him killed and while the Romans allowed them some rights, they did not have the authority to sentence someone to death.
If the Jews had been allowed to kill Jesus, then it would have been by stoning. This was a horrible enough death, but did not fit with the prophecies nor the words Jesus had spoken about Himself being lifted up. So we see that even the details of Roman jurisdiction were under the control of God.
18:33-35
Remember that the Jewish authorities are outside the building, so they would not hear the words that Jesus spoke to Pilate. Pilate asked Jesus directly, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Based on what the Jewish leaders had said he had surmised that they were accusing Jesus of claiming authority over them, in place of the Romans.
Jesus knew what was going on and asked Pilate if this was a genuine question on his part, or based purely on what others, ie the Jewish leaders, were saying.
Pilate does not deny that it is the Jewish leaders who are behind all this. No doubt he considered the Jews to be a troublesome and enigmatic people.
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