One tliino; at any rate is very clear : whatever Socinians may- say, our Lord distinctly laid claim to divinity, and the Jews distinctly understood Him to mean that He was God as well as man.
Cyril well remarks that if the Jews had dealt justly, they would have told the Gentile ruler that the person before him had not only claimed to be the Son of God, but had also done many miracles in proof of His divinity.
Rollock observes, " Look, wliat blinds them ! The Word of God that should make them see, blinds them so that they use it to their ruin. The best things in the world, yea, the Word of God itself, serve to wicked men for nothing else but their induration. The more they read, the blinder they are. And why ? Because they abuse the word, and make it not a guide to direct their affections and actions."
— [ When Pilate. .Jieard... was afraid.'] In this verse we see Pilate in a different frame of mind. This new charge of blasphemy against our Lord threw a new light over his feelings. He be- gan to be really frightened and uncomfortable. Tlie thought that the meek and gentle Prisoner before him might after all be some superior Being, and not a mere common man, filled his weak and ignorant conscience with alarm. What if he had be- fore him some God in human form ? What if it should turn out that he was actually inflicting bodily injuries on one of the Gods ? As a Roman he had doubtless heard and read many stories, drawn from the heathen mythology of Greece and Rome, about Gods coming down to earth, and appearing in hu- man form. Perhaps the prisoner before him was one ! The idea raised new fears in his mind. Already he had been made very uncomfortable about Him. Our Lord's calm, dignified, and majestic demeanor had doubtless made an impression. His evident innocence of all guilt, and the extraordinary malice of His enemies, whose characters Pilate most likely knew well, had produced an effect. His own wife's dream had its influence. Even before the last charge of the Jews the Roman judge had been awe-struck, and secretly convinced of our Lord's inno- cence, and anxious to have Him set free, and actually " afraid " of his prisoner. But when he heard of His being the " Son of God," he was made more afraid.
Burgon remarks, " Like Gamaliel in the Acts, Pilate was seized with a salutary apprehension, lest haply he be found even to fight against God."
The " saying " referred to must mean the expression, " Son of God."
The word "more " deserves attention. It shows clearly that from the first Pilate had been " afraid," and uneasy in con- science. He had never liked the case being brought before him at all. To have such an extraordinary preacher, and a worker