John Calvin Commentary Matthew 27:22

"Pilate saith unto them, What then shall I do unto Jesus who is called Christ? They all say, Let him be crucified." — Matthew 27:22 (ASV)

What then shall I do with Jesus? Perceiving that they are so blinded by madness that they do not hesitate, to their own great dishonor, to rescue a robber from death, Pilate resorts to another tactic to affect them deeply and bring them to their senses. He argues that Christ's death would bring disgrace upon themselves, because it had been commonly reported that Jesus was the King and the Christ. As if he had said, “If you have no compassion for the man, at least pay some regard to your own honor; for foreigners will generally think that he was put to death as a punishment for all of you.”²⁶¹

Yet even this did not lessen the fierceness of their cruelty or prevent them from showing greater opposition to the public good than private hostility to Christ. Thus, according to Mark, Pilate, in order to wound them still more deeply, says that they themselves call Jesus the King, meaning that this title was constantly used as if it were his ordinary surname.

Yet, casting aside all shame, they obstinately insist on Christ's murder, which brings disgrace upon the whole nation. The Evangelist John (John 19:15) states a reply, which the other three Evangelists do not mention: namely, that they had no king but Caesar. Thus they choose rather to be deprived of the hope of the promised redemption and to be consigned to perpetual slavery, than to receive the Redeemer whom God had offered them.

²⁶¹ “Pour vous chastier, et vous faire despit à tous;” — “to chastise you, and pour contempt on you all.”;” — “to chastise you, and pour contempt on you all.”