Lecture 2 — Jews call for crucifixion

^19:4^ Pilate therefore went out again, and said to them: behold, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no cause in him. [n. 2380]

^19:5^ (Jesus therefore came out, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he said to them: behold the man. [n. 2381]

^19:6^ When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out, saying: crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them: take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no cause in him. [n. 2383]

^19:7^ The Jews answered him: we have a law; and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. [n. 2386]

^19:8^ When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared all the more. [n. 2388]

^19:9^ And he entered the praetorium again, and he said to Jesus: where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. [n. 2389]

^19:10^ Pilate therefore said to him: do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and I have power to release you? [n. 2392]

^19:11^ Jesus answered: you would not have any power against me, unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore, he that delivered me to you has the greater sin. [n. 2394]

^19:12^ And from then on Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: if you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. For whoever makes himself a king, speaks against Caesar. [n. 2397]

2379. Now the Evangelist treats of the crucifixion of Christ:

first, the crucifixion itself;

second, the death of Christ: afterwards, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:28);

and third, his burial: and after these things, Joseph of Arimathea . . . asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. (John 19:38).

As to the crucifixion,

he first mentions the dispute Pilate had with the Jews;

second, we have the sentencing of Christ: when Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared all the more;

and third, the sentence is carried out: and they took Jesus and led him out (John 19:16).

Pilate, wanting to release Christ, began arguing with the Jews.

First, the Evangelist shows how Pilate tried to release Christ by exhibiting him to the crowd;

second, by declaring his innocence, Pilate said to them: take him yourselves and crucify him: for I find no cause in him.

As regards the first,

the Evangelist describes Jesus being shown to the crowd;

and second, the effect this had, when the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out saying: crucify him, crucify him.

2380. Three things are mentioned concerning the first.

First there is the intention of Pilate, which was to free him. He says, Pilate therefore went out again, from the praetorium, and said to them, to the Jews who were waiting there, behold, I am bringing him out to you, for this purpose, that you may know that I find no cause in him, deserving of death. Why then, unrighteous Pilate, was there this shameful bargaining without cause? Was it so the Jews would not believe that you would release him because you were partial to him? What kind of partiality is that when you give one so much thrashing? Or perhaps it was so that his enemies, gladly seeing his disgrace, would no longer thirst for blood. In effect, he is saying: if there were a reason for his death, I would condemn him just like I have scourged him. Perhaps he has committed some minor infraction of the law, which did deserve a scourging, but there was nothing deserving of death.

2381. Second, we see Christ being presented before the crowd, Jesus therefore came out, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. He was exhibited in the same robe he wore when he was mocked by the officers in the hope that the crowd would be appeased when they saw him, not respected for his authority, but entirely dishonored: for it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face (Ps 69:7).

This teaches us that we should be ready to undergo any kind of disrespect for the name of Jesus Christ: fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at their revilings (Isa 51:7).

2382. Third, Christ’s exhibition is further described through the words of Pilate, behold the man! spoken in a sarcastic way, as if one so disgraced would dare to usurp a kingship. Look at the kind of person you are accusing of this! The words of the Psalm apply to him: I am a worm, and no man (Ps 22:6). And so, if you do hate your king, spare him now because you see him dishonored. When disgrace increases, let your hatred decrease, as Augustine says.

2383. Now we see the effect of this exhibition on the Jews. No matter how disgraced and wretched and beaten he appeared, their hatred did not lessen but was still burning and growing.

When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, when Jesus was brought out, they cried out, saying: crucify him, crucify him! Their desire was so strong that they shouted this twice. And they would not be satisfied with any kind of death, but demand the most dishonorable kind, namely crucifixion: let us condemn him to a shameful death (Wis 2:20).

He said, when they had seen him, because the sight of the one they hated only served to incite and inflame their hearts with more hatred: the very sight of him is a burden to us (Wis 2:15).

2384. Now the Evangelist shows how Pilate tried to free Christ by declaring his innocence. As a result, a disagreement arose because,

first, Pilate declared the innocence of Christ;

while second, the Jews repeated his guilt; we have a law; and according to the law he ought to die.

2385. As to Christ’s innocence, Pilate said to them, take him yourselves, and crucify him. It is like saying: I do not want to be a judge who judges unjustly. I will not crucify him. You crucify him if you want, but I find no cause in him, deserving of crucifixion: for the prince of this world comes and in me he has not anything. (John 14:30); Jesus whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him (Acts 3:13).

2386. But the Jews repeat Christ’s offense: the Jews answered him: we have a law; and according to the law he ought to die. They seemed to understand from Pilate’s response that he would not go against Christ because of a charge of claiming a kingdom, although they had thought he would be especially inclined by this to kill him. And since this crime was not enough to put Christ to death, the Jews thought that when Pilate said, take him yourselves and crucify him, he was asking if they had another crime, a violation of the law, for which he could be condemned and for which they were condemning him. Thus they say, according to the law he ought to die.

First, they charge Christ with a crime against the law of the Jews;

second, against the law of the Romans: if you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend.

In regard to the first,

we see the accusation of the Jews against Christ;

second, the effect of this on Pilate, when Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared all the more.

2387. The crime against the Jewish law that they charged Christ with was that he made himself the Son of God, and for this he deserved death. Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal to God (John 5:18); and again, we do not stone you for a good work but for blasphemy (John 10:33).

They always said that he made himself the Son of God, assuming he was not. But this was not against the law, as Christ proved to them before (John 10:34), by citing: I say, you are gods (Ps 82:6). For if other people, who are adopted children, can call themselves children of God without blasphemy, how much more can Christ do this, who is the Son of God by nature. But they regarded him as a liar and blasphemer, each of which deserved death, because they did not understand his eternal generation.

2388. Now the Evangelist mentions the effect which the accusation of the Jews had on Pilate; when Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared all the more. First it produced fear, for when Pilate therefore had heard this saying, that is, that Christ made himself the Son of God, he was the more afraid that it might be true and that it would be disastrous to proceed against him without cause. Through which it is understood that the gentiles, having heard of the betrayal of the Son of God, were afraid. O Lord, I have heard your hearing and was afraid (Hab 3:1).

2389. Second, he mentions another effect it produced: doubt and questioning: **and he entered the praetorium again, and he said to Jesus: where are you from? **

First, we have the question Pilate asked;

second, the silence of Christ;

and third, the reproach of Pilate.

2390. In regard to the first he says, he entered the praetorium again, stricken with fear, and he said to Jesus, whom he had led back with himself, where are you from? He wished to find out whether Jesus was God, with a divine origin, or a man, with an earthly origin. This could be answered by what was said before, you are from below, and I am from above (John 8:23).

2391. Jesus, because he chose to, did not give an answer, so that he might show that he was unwilling to overwhelm by words and to make excuses, since he had come to suffer.

At the same time he is for us an example of patience, and fulfilled what is found in Isaiah: like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isa 53:7). It says, like a sheep, to show that the silence of Jesus was not that of a man convicted of sin and aware of his evil, but the silence of a gentle person being sacrificed for the sins of others.

2392. Then the Evangelist shows how Pilate reproached him for his silence, when he says that: **Pilate therefore said to him: do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and I have power to release you? **(John 18:10)

First, we see Pilate boasting of his power;

second, we have what Christ said about this power.

2393. Pilate was displeased that Jesus did not answer him, and said, do you not speak to me? In these words he has condemned himself. For if this entire matter lay in his power, why does he not release Jesus since he has found him without crime? I will condemn you out of your own mouth (Luke 19:22); because you have authority among men, mortal though you are, you do what you please (2 Macc 7:16).

2394. Pilate was boasting about his power, men who . . . boast of the abundance of their riches (Ps 49:6). So our Lord curbs him, saying, you would not have any power against me, unless it had been given to you from above. It was as Augustine said: when Christ was silent, like a lamb he was silent; when he spoke, he taught as a shepherd. So,

first Christ teaches Pilate about the source of his power;

second, about the greatness of his sin.

2395. In regard to the first he says, you would not have any power against me, unless it had been given to you from above. He is saying, in effect, that if you seem to have some power, you do not have this from yourself, but it has been given to you from above, from God, from whom all power comes: by me kings reign (Prov 8:15). He says any power, that is, no matter how little, because Pilate did have a limited power under a greater one, the power of Caesar: for I am a man under authority (Matt 8:9).

2396. Therefore, he concludes, he that delivered me to you, that is, Judas or the chief priests, has the greater sin. He says greater, to indicate that both those who delivered him up to Pilate and Pilate himself were guilty of sin. But those who delivered him up had the greater sin because they delivered him up out of ill-will, whereas Pilate did what he did because he was afraid of a superior power.

This refutes those heretics who say that all sins are equal, for if they were, our Lord would not have said, the greater sin. Woe to that man by whom the temptation comes! (Matt 18:7).

2397. The effect of all this was that from then on Pilate sought to release him. As we saw before, Pilate tried to release Christ from the very beginning. Thus, from then on indicates that he now sought it for another reason, that is, to escape from sinning. Or, he had tried to release him but from then on, from now on, he was fully and firmly determined to release him.