Church Fathers Commentary John 19:9-12

"and he entered into the Praetorium again, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore saith unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to release thee, and have power to crucify thee? Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin. Upon this Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar`s friend: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." — John 19:9-12 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Pilate, agitated with fear, began to examine Him again. He went back into the judgment hall and said to Jesus, “Where are you?” He no longer asked, “What have you done?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

For the one who had heard, To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, and, My kingdom is not from here, should have resisted and rescued Him. Instead, he had yielded to the fury of the Jews. Therefore, seeing that Pilate was asking questions without any real purpose, Jesus answered him no more. Indeed, at other times He was unwilling to give reasons or defend Himself with arguments when His works already testified so strongly for Him, thus showing that He came to His passion voluntarily.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In comparing the accounts of the different Evangelists, we find that this silence was maintained more than once: namely, before the High Priest, before Herod, and before Pilate. Thus, the prophecy concerning Him, As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth, was amply fulfilled. Indeed, He did reply to many of the questions put to Him, but where He did not reply, this comparison to the sheep shows us that His silence was not one of guilt, but of innocence; not of self-condemnation, but of compassion and a willingness to suffer for the sins of others.

St. John Chrysostom: As Jesus remained silent, Pilate then said to Him, Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you, and have power to release you? See how he condemns himself. If all depends on you, why, when you find no fault in Him, do you not acquit Him?

St. Augustine of Hippo: So Jesus answered. When He was silent, He was silent not as one who is guilty or crafty, but as a sheep. When He answered, He taught as a shepherd.

Let us hear what He taught. He teaches, as He also does through His Apostle, that there is no power but of God. He also teaches that the one who, through envy, delivers an innocent person to a higher power—who then puts that person to death out of fear of an even greater power—still sins more than that higher power itself.

God had given such power to Pilate that he was still under Caesar’s authority. Therefore, our Lord says, You could have no power at all against Me unless it were given you from above. Since that power was not so great as to give Pilate complete freedom of action, our Lord adds, Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.

The one who delivered Jesus did so from envy, while Pilate would exercise that power from fear. And though a person ought not to kill another from fear, especially an innocent person, to do so from envy is much worse. Therefore, our Lord does not say that the one who delivered Him has the sin, as if Pilate had none. Instead, He says he has the greater sin, implying that Pilate also had some.

Theophylact of Ohrid: The one who delivered Me to you refers to Judas or the multitude. When Jesus had boldly replied that Pilate could have no power over Him unless He gave Himself up and the Father consented, Pilate became even more anxious to release Him: And from then on Pilate sought to release Him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Pilate had sought to release Jesus from the beginning, so we must understand the phrase from then on to mean “for this reason”—that is, so that he would not incur guilt by putting an innocent person to death.