Lesson 51: John 19:1-16 - The Civil Trial
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.
2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.
3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.
9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”


11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.
14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

In His trial before Pilate, Jesus told the truth about Himself, but He did not force Pilate to make the right decision. Many things in this account tell us Pilate knew Jesus was telling the truth – that He truly was innocent of all the charges being brought against Himself, and Pilate also knew the correct and just thing to do was to set Jesus free. But he was afraid. He was afraid of losing his powerful job, of being shamed before the Emperor, of being banished or even killed if he upset the Jewish leaders.

The Jewish leaders were also afraid of losing their positions of power over their own people.

Many years ago a young man from a wealthy family gave up the riches which could have been his, for a life as a missionary in a very poor country. He said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” He was speaking of not being able to lose the eternal life God promises. Shortly after, he was killed by the very people to whom God had sent him as a missionary.

*Did this young missionary lose anything that was his to keep?
*What fear keeps you from gaining Jesus Christ in your life?