Jesus Examined by Pilate

John 18:28; Hall of judgment] Official residence of Pilate. Roman trials were open to the public. Lest they should be defiled] To enter a Gentile home during the Passover, because unleavened bread would be found therein, would render them ceremonially unclean according to their tradition—a horrible prospect for people with murder in their hearts! That they might eat the pass—over] But the Passover meal was past; it was eaten Thursday evening, according to the synoptists. This, then, if accurately recorded, must refer, not to the Passover proper, but to the additional sacrifices required on the morning following the paschal meal.

John 18:29; 29. Pilate] Roman governor or procurator of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, he resided normally at Caesarea on the Mediterranean seashore, but had come to Jerusalem during the Passover to help keep order. Appointed in 26 A. D. he served for ten years. "He was then summoned to Rome to answer certain charges made against him, and was banished to Vienna in Gaul, where he is said to have committed suicide." (Dummelow, p. 715.)

John 18:29-32; Luke 23:2. Jesus had been convicted of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin, a Jewish but not a Roman crime. So when Pilate asked, 'What is the charge against this man?' their designs were temporarily thwarted. They were seeking a Roman execution for a Jewish death sentence, a thing Pilate could have approved. But now it appeared Pilate was taking original jurisdiction and wanted to try the case over again. They replied, probably through Caiaphas as spokesman: 'We have already tried him; he is guilty; we come to you to endorse our sentence and order the execution.' Pilate replies: 'If it is a Jewish crime and not a Roman, judge him according to your law.' Their answer: 'We cannot put a man to death; you must do that.' This was not true; they could have executed Jesus by stoning if Pilate had approved their death sentence. But such an execution would have caused a riot among the people; Jesus had many followers in Jerusalem; and their conspiracy called for a Roman execution, one that could not be questioned by the people. The effect of their plan would be, as John says, to fulfill Jesus' saying that he would be crucified. The Jews stoned their victims to death; Rome crucified hers; and both Divine Providence and Satan's mortal helpers were now combining to assure the decreed type of death.

Luke 23:2; John 18:29-32; Knowing now that they have failed to gain a Roman crucifixion for the Jewish capital offense of blasphemy, they immediately change their charge to high treason, with three counts in their indictment: He is guilty of sedition by stirring up the whole nation; of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar; and of assuming the royal title.

John 18:33-38. With divine dignity Jesus made no answer to the Jews, though they accused him of "many things." So majestic was the Man that even Pilate "marvelled greatly." But when Pilate spoke alone with him, Jesus responded freely. Pilate asks, 'Art thou the king of the Jews?' Jesus replies with a question, 'Are you asking if I am a religious or a political king?'

John 18:33-38; It would be nothing to Pilate that Jesus claimed religious overlordship; such a political claim, however, might be considered high treason. Pilate responds, 'I do not meddle in Jewish affairs, and since the charges of your countrymen are garbled, you tell me what you have done to cause your arrest.' To this Jesus does not reply, but speaks further of the spiritual nature of his kingdom, causing Pilate to ask again, 'Art thou a king then?' Now the answer comes; having made it clear that no political or earthly kingdom is involved, Jesus says plainly, 'I am a King,' adding that he had come into the world to bear witness of the truth.

John 18:37; 37. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice] Powerful doctrine this: 'My sheep hear my voice.' Some people have the native and instinctive ability to recognize and accept truth; others are less gifted. See John 10:27.

John 18:38; 38. What is truth?] The issue is not so much what-is-truth in the sense of separating truth from error, and thereby being able to know with finality that any specific doctrine or principle is an eternal reality. Hence we find the revealed definition of truth saying: "And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." (D&C 93:24.)

John 18:38; Truth, thus, in a purely abstract sense is the thing which actually is. But truth, in the sense of separating it from error or untruth, is the knowledge which men have of what actually is. To illustrate, the fact that there is a God is a truth in the abstract sense because it is a verity that actually is. But the knowledge that God is a personal being in whose image man is created, and not a congeries of laws operating throughout the universe, is the ultimate and specific answer to the question what-is-truth where Deity is concerned. (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 733-735.)

John 18:38; I find in him no fault at all] Up to this point in the judicial travesty destined to take our Lord to the cross, Pilate is maintaining admirable impartiality and is seeking to dispense justice with a fair hand.