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12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. ~ John 19:12-16
Pilate had presided over hundreds of trials. He’d seen many brought before him, both innocent and guilty. All of them, vigorously protesting their arrest, arguing their innocence. But, the Lord Jesus is different. He brings forth no defense. In fact, He remains silent because, as Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was led as a sheep to slaughter and He was silent.” It was His calling and He was willing.
In v.12, we read, “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” Pilate went to great lengths to procure freedom for the Lord Jesus, but it was too late. All of his efforts went to nothing because the Jews cried out all the more saying, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
Pilate thinks he is trapped by the circumstances, not knowing he is involved in a much grander plot, a plot which will determine eternity for many. I am so grateful the Lord Jesus knowingly bowed His will to the One who has given me the type of life that has the touch of eternity upon it. This gifted life brings with it a transcendent view that ushers in the perspective of God for all who are willing to receive it.
According to v.13, Pilate, limited by a fallen world, brings the Lord Jesus out before the gathered crowd. He then sits on his judgment seat, as if he is God. At first he said, “Behold, the Man!” Now he says, “Here is your King!” Pilate brings forth no verdict, the people do that; they’re in charge. Pilate came so close to being the host of eternal life, but stopped short of the willingness that is required.
In v.14, we read, "It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. " Noon was the same hour the Lord Jesus met the woman at the well, it was the sixth hour. There's the reminder again, that number which represents incompleteness. SIX. We are incomplete apart from a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. We will never behold the Lord Jesus as our king until we come to the end of ourselves. When we have exhausted our resources we are then postured to access His.
This One who is boundless was bound by those whom He created. This One who could have overpowered them and rendered them ineffective allowed Himself to be their captive so they could lead Him to death. This One who laid down His crown of glory was given a crown of thorns. This One to whom all will one day fall down and worship was treated with contempt and then slapped in His face.
After the people vehemently request the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus in v.15, we read in v.16, “Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.” Pilate is thinking, “If I let this Man go, there’s going to be a riot. A riot will get me into more trouble with Caesar.” So, in an act of self-preservation, he gives in to the demands of the myopic. This is the end for Pilate.
Pilate had asked, "What do I do then with Jesus who’s called the Christ?” That’s the question we all must answer, and the answer will determine our eternal destiny. If we confess Jesus as Lord over sin and death, we will be saved from our sin, death, judgment and hell forever. If we reject the free gift of the Lord Jesus, we will have to live, for eternity, with the consequences of our separation from God.
Pilate is a case in point. He stands before the God of eternity, and he drops out of history. He later was dismissed as governor and summoned back to Rome to answer to Tiberius Caesar for his continued failure. On his way there, Tiberius suddenly dies. Having been freed from the charges, Pilate went to Gaul which is southern France. There, according to tradition, he committed suicide.
Some say, “A loving God would not send people to hell.” But, the Lord Jesus spoke of hell more often than any other topic. Two-thirds of His parables relate to resurrection and judgment.
In Matthew 10:28, the Lord Jesus says, “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” In Luke 16:24, He quotes Hell's rich man, “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.” Words such as body, finger, and tongue reveal a physical state in which a throat longs for water and a person begs for physical relief.
The apostles said that Judas Iscariot had gone “to his own place” (Acts 1:25). The Greek word for place is topos, which means geographical location. The Lord Jesus describes heaven with the same noun: “In My Father’s house are many mansions. . . . I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Hell, like heaven, is a location, not a state of mind, not a metaphysical dimension of floating spirits, but an actual place populated by physical beings. God has quarantined a precinct in His vast universe as the depository of the hard-hearted.
The Lord Jesus incorporates the word “outside” to describe hell. “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness” (Matthew 22:13). Outside of all that is good and meaningful and substantive. Once in Hell, there will be no heaven-to-hell visits. No hell-to-heaven holiday breaks. Hell is to heaven what the edge of our universe is to earth: outside the range of a commute.
Finally, the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 10:28 says, "Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." He also says in John 3:16, "Whoever believes in him shall not perish."
