John Calvin Commentary John 19:22

"Pilate answered, What I have written I have written." — John 19:22 (ASV)

What I have written I have written. Pilate’s firmness must be ascribed to the providence of God, for there can be no doubt that they attempted in various ways to change his resolution. Therefore, let us understand that he was held by a Divine hand, so that he remained unmoved. Pilate did not yield to the prayers of the priests and did not allow himself to be corrupted by them; but God testified, by his mouth, to the firmness and stability of the kingdom of His Son. And if, in Pilate's writing, the kingdom of Christ was shown to be so firm that it could not be shaken by all the attacks of its enemies, what value ought we to attach to the testimonies of the Prophets, whose tongues and hands God consecrated to His service?

The example of Pilate also reminds us that it is our duty to remain steady in defending the truth. A heathen refuses to retract what he has justly and properly written concerning Christ, though he did not understand or consider what he was doing. How great, then, will be our dishonor if, terrified by threatenings or dangers, we withdraw from the profession of His doctrine, which God has sealed on our hearts by His Spirit! Besides, it ought to be observed how detestable is the tyranny of the Papists, which prohibits the reading of the Gospel, and of the whole of Scripture, by the common people. Pilate, though he was a reprobate man and, in other respects, an instrument of Satan, was nevertheless, by a secret guidance, appointed to be a herald of the Gospel, so that he might publish a short summary of it in three languages. Therefore, what rank shall we assign to those who do all that they can to suppress the knowledge of it, since they show that they are worse than Pilate?