Hutclieson observes, tliat " tlie greatest height of impiety ia found within the visible Church," where there is most knowl- edge.
When all has been said, we must admit that there is proba bly something in the verse more deep than we have line to fathom. The two propositions of the verse are both quite in- telligible ; but the connecting link, " therefore," is a hard knot, which has not yet been fairly untied.
Augustine paraphrases this sentence thus : " He sins worse who of ill-will delivers up the innocent to tlie power to be put to death, than doth the power itself, if for the fear of another greater power it puts to death the innocent. The Jews de- livered Me unto the power, as having ill-will aga,iust Me ; but thou art about to exercise thy power against Me, as being afraid for thyself. Not that a man has a right to put to death an in- nocent person from fear ; but to put to death out of hatred is much more evil than to put to death out of fear." Cyril says much the same.
One thing, at any rate, is very clear. There are degrees in Bin. All are not equally sinful. The servant who knew his master's will and did it not, was more guilty than he who knew it not.
13, — [And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him.] This is a remarkable sentence. It evidently means that from this point of the case Pilate sought more diligently than ever to have our Lord acquitted and set free. Before he wished it : now he really took pains to effect it. Whether this was occa- sioned by our Lord's manner and demeanor in speaking the words of the preceding verse, or by some meaning which He attached to the words, we cannot tell. But so it was.
How and in what manner Pilate " sought to release " Jesus, we are not told by John. But it is evident that he left our Lord in the hall, where he had been asking Him, " Whence art Thou ? " and went out alone to the Jews, to tell them he could make nothing of their charge of blasphemy, and wished to let the prisoner go. This must have taken place outside the doors, because the Jews scrupulously refused to go inside. Moreover, the Jews could not have known of this fresh desire to release Jesus, if Pilate had not come forth and communicated it to them. In this verse, therefore, be it remembered, we have Pilate and the Jews alone, outside the palace, and our Lord left inside. Pilate proposes to release Him, and the Jews protest against it. Then we shall find Pilate goes in again, and brings Jesus out for the last time,
[But the Jews cried out. ..Caesar.'] In these words we see the Jews stopping Pilate short, in his weak efforts to get our Lord released, by an argument which they well knew would weigh heavily on a Roman mind. They tell him plainly that they will