The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 381

thoro Is In John's ne.rre.tive no direct hint th~ Pr11JIMlum, It i& nnneceaso.ry (with of Luke's e.tldltion I e.nd Oh:rist's oounter- mo.ny) to see in Pilate an "almost per- que•tion to the inquiry of Pilo.te (whioh suaded" believer in the cle.ims of Jeans, lo.et is given In the some form by nil four who yet we.a warring with his hotter jadg- ev1mgelisls) implies the.t he had not over- ment, e.nd apostatizing from e. nascent foith. hee.rtl the false ohnrge which the Jews hod He o.ppee.rs rather a.a the Roman man of the hrought into the court, 'l'he Lord was world, who hns DEl'•ler lenmed to rule his within the Prrotorium. Pilate nnd the policy by any notious of righteommess nnd Jews were on the open, externe.1 space, truth, o.nd is utterly unable to appreciate the where the o.lterce.tion proceeded. We me.y spiritual cle.ims of this Nazarene; yet he was e.lso, with Steinmeyer, observe the.t nothing shrewd enongh to see that, so far as Roman oould e.ppee.r more anomalous to Pile.ta authority we.a concerned, this Prisoner was the.n the.t these bigoted e.nd rebellious utterly harmless. His question was, Art priests, who perpetu11lly resisted the claims thon the King of the J'ewal Of course, be of Roman governors to enforce tribute, expected e.t first e. negative reply. Should should now hypocritically pretend the.t a this abused and rejected, this bound and prophet-leader of their own he.d been guilty bleeding Sufferer, with no apparent followers of such e. charge. Instead of resisting, the e.ronnd him, e.ctually betrayed by one of bis Pharisees would he.ve foMtered a demagogue intimate friends, deserted by the rest, and who had ta.ken such e. disloyal part. Pilate hounded to death by the fierce cries of would at onoe he.ve suspected that there Pharisee e.nd Sadducee, chief priest and we.a something ominous in the very chnrge elder, answer in the affirmative, it might itself, when tumultuously pressed by a party easily suggest itself to Pilate that he mast who were e.coustomed to regard such pro- be under some futile hallucination. It has oeedings a.a pe.triotio; and he saw with been said the.t the question might have shrewdness that the Jews he.d merely been answered right off in the affirmative oloaked their real antagonism by present- or in the nege.ti ve, according a.a the term ing e.n incrimine.tion whiob, under ordinary "King of the Jews" was understood. If what circumstances, they would have treated as e. Pile.ta meant we.s e. popnlar titular leader, orowning virtue. imperatar of Jewish levies, one prepare,) for Vera. 33-38.-(b) [Within the Prai- the ea.rear of Judas of Galilee, or Herod the torium.J Christ's admission that he was a ldnmaian, or for the.t of Barchochab in e.fte, King, but that hi• kingdom waa Mt of tM, times,-nothing could seem to be Jess likely world. or more patently repudiated by the facts; Vera. 33, 34.-Pilate therefore entered moreover, from our Lord himself, who had e.g&in 1 into the !'rmtorium, out of direct e.lwa.ys refused e. quasi-royal dignity (eh. vi. hearing of the vociferous crowd, where 15), it would have required an emphatic Jesus e.nd John himself he.d remained negative. Pilo.te knew no other way of under supervision of the officers of the interpreting the phl'Sse. If the term mee.nt court, e.nd oalled-ummoned-Jesus to his the true " King of Israel," the Messiah side, and so.id to him the.t of which the mob e.nticipe.ted by prophecy e.nd psalm, the outside formed e.n imperfect idea.. The King of all kings and Lord of Ion.ls, the account of John throws much light on the Ruler of hee.rts, who would dre.w e.11 men to inference which Pile.ta drew from the reply him, e.nd cast out e.nd vanquish the prince of Jesus, a.a given in ver. 38 and in Luke of this worlJ, then the " crown" was his, xxiii. 4, To the loud e.ocuse.tions and bitter and he could not deny it; but before this charges of " the chief priests e.nd elders " assertion was me.de iu the bee.ring of the (Mo.tt. xxvii. 11, 12; Me.rk xv. 3, 4) brought multitude, our Lord would draw from Pilate in the presence of Pile.te1 Christ answered the sense in which be nseJ the words. nothing. His solemn e.nd e.cousing silence He does not say to him, ::Su 11.e-yrn, " 'l'hou caused the governor to marvel greatly (see sayest "-e. reply given verbatim by all the both Me.tt. xxvii. 14 e.nd Me.rk xv. 5). He synoptists, e.nd referring to e. second Jeme.nd me.rvelled not only e.t the silence of the me.de in the presence of the multitude-but Lord, but e.t that silenoe after he, Pilate, he put e. counter-question, Se.yest thou this he.d reoeived from him so explicit e. state- thing, o.skest thou this question,from thyself! ment e.s to the nature of his own kingdom. -from thy knowledge of the hopes kind.led An exple.ne.tion of the motive of Pilo.te, and by the e.noient books, or from comparing my of his entire me.nner upon this ocoo.sion, is words with my appearance, or from any to be found in the pri ve.te interview between judgments thou hast formed ii priori"/ (ao our Lord and the Rome.n governor within Godet, Nee.nder, Olshe.usen, e.ud Ewald). Thus Jesus was not so much informing 1 T.R. o.nd Tisohendorf (8th edit.) ple.oe Pile.ta of the distinction between the two wc!/1.iv after 1rpe&1-rwprnv; R.T., Tregelles, and k:ingshiJli!, a.a claiming qu.d Prisoner e.t the Westcott o.nd Hort, before Eis. be.r the source of the o.oousation. .. liaTa  894 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [cu. :r.vm. 1-4.0.