Jewish peasant to whom the laws of Rome did not apply. However, Pilate did not follow Roman legal
procedure to some extent.
It seems that he was aware as he sat in court that Y‘shua was no ordinary man. Certainly, he realised it that
it was out of envy that they had handed Y‘shua over to him.
―For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over.‖(Matt 27:18)
The charge:
Roman law has had a great influence on English law, and Pilate‘s first question in this trial was the same one
that any English lawyer would ask today: ―What have you been accused of?‖
When Caiaphas and the others brought Y‘shua to him, Pilate came out to them and asked, ―What accusation
bring ye against this man?‖ (John 18:29.) Caiaphas appears to have been surprised at this. Evidently, he
thought that Pilate would simply ratify the death sentence and ̳rubber stamp‘ the verdict of the Jewish court.
But this was not to be. Taken aback and resenting Pilate‘s insistence on retrying the case, the Jewish
authorities curtly replied, ―If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.‖‘ (John 18:30
NAB.)
Pilate made his first attempt to get rid of the case. With ill-concealed impatience, he retorted: ―Take him
yourselves, and judge him according to your law.‖ (John 18:31) ―We do not have the right to execute anyone‖
(John 18:31.)
Pilate had still not had an answer to his question, and so Y‘shua had not been charged. Without a charge he
could not be tried. The Jewish authorities were in dilemma. They could reveal the true nature of their charge:
blasphemy. Pilate as a Roman and pagan would not be concerned about this. So they hastily re-framed their
charge.
Their determination to kill Y‘shua is seen in the way in which they did this. They now brought a charge
against Him that was not even mentioned in the Jewish trial and which was quite obviously false.
―We found this man misleading our people; he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar and maintains that
he is the Messiah, a king.‖ (Luke 23:2)
The first charge – that of ̳subverting our nation‘ was very vague; and, unless some definite act could be
proved, could be easily disproved. The second charge, ―he opposes payment of taxes to Caesar‖, was
obviously false. That very week, in answer to the trick question, ―Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar
or not?‖ (Matt 22:17), Y‘shua had given his famous reply, ―Then repay to Caesar what belongs to
Caesar and to God what belongs to God.‖ (Matt 22:21)
But the last charge He claims, ―he claims to be the Messiah; a king‖ was a serious one. The Jewish
authorities were accusing Y‘shua of being a revolutionary against Rome. Pilate must have been surprised to
find the Jews, of all people, suddenly becoming champions of Rome! But this was a charge that he could not
ignore.
The authority of the Roman emperor was at stake. The charge was treason. The interrogation
the Roman statute on treason was the Lex Julia Majestatis, 48 B.C. It made it an offence to engage in any
activity against the Emperor or the Common Wealth. It could have been argued that Y‘shua was an alien and
owed no duty to the Roman state, but as a Jew living in Roman occupied territory, he did owe allegiance to
Caesar. In A.D. 6, the emperor agreed to make Palestine a Roman province and the Jewish nation gave
their allegiance to Caesar. Any breach of this by a Jew was treason.
Now that the charge had been made, the next step was to examine the accused. To do this, Pilate returned
to the praetorium and took his seat upon the bema (a portable chair or throne) with Y‘shua in front of him.
In some scene full of dramatic power, John pictures for us the lowly majesty of Y‘shua confronting the proud
majesty of Rome‘s representative. At this moment all the other actors in the passion recede from the
foreground. The basic idea is the confrontation of Caesar by Y‘shua with kingship as the topic for discussion.
Pilate summoned Y‘shua and the accounts in all four Gospels record his first question,
―Art thou the King of the Jews?‖ (John 18:33.)