e pitiful sight of the
scourged and bleeding Christ to soften the hearts of the maddened Jews.
But the effect failed. Think of the awful fact--a heathen, a pagan, who
knew not God, pleading with the priests and people of Israel for the
life of their Lord and King! When, unmoved by the sight, the chief
priests and officers cried with increasing vindictiveness, "crucify him,
crucify him," Pilate pronounced the fatal sentence, "Take ye him and
crucify him," but added with bitter emphasis: "I find no fault in him."

It will be remembered that the only charge preferred against Christ
before the Roman governor was that of sedition; the Jewish persecutors
had carefully avoided even the mention of blasphemy, which was the
offense for which they had adjudged Jesus worthy of death. Now that
sentence of crucifixion had been extorted from Pilate, they brazenly
attempted to make it appear that the governor's mandate was but a
ratification of their own decree of death; therefore they said: "We have
a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son
of God." What did it mean? That awe-inspiring title, Son of God, struck
yet deeper into Pilate's troubled conscience. Once more he took Jesus
into the judgment hall, and in trepidation asked, "Whence art thou?" The
inquiry was as to whether Jesus was human or superhuman. A direct avowal
of the Lord's divinity would have frightened but could not have
enlightened the heathen ruler; therefore Jesus gave no answer. Pilate
was further surprized, and perhaps somewhat offended at this seeming
disregard of his authority. He demanded an explanation, saying:
"Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to
crucify thee, and have power to release thee?" Then Jesus replied: "Thou
couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from
above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin."
The positions were reversed; Christ was the Judge, and Pilate the
subject of His decision. Though not found guiltless, the Roman was
pronounced less culpable than he or those who had forced Jesus into his
power, and who had demanded of him an unrighteous committal.

The governor, though having pronounced sentence, yet sought means of
releasing the submissive Sufferer. His first evidence of wavering was
greeted by the Jews with the cry, "If thou let this man go, thou art not
Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar."