John Calvin Commentary Matthew 27:24

"So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye [to it]." — Matthew 27:24 (ASV)

But Pilate, perceiving that he gained nothing by it. As sailors who have experienced a violent tempest at last give way and permit themselves to be carried from their proper course; so Pilate, finding himself unable to restrain the people's commotion, lays aside his judicial authority and yields to their furious outcry. Though he had long attempted to hold out, this necessity still does not excuse him, for he ought to have submitted to any amount of suffering rather than swerve from his duty.

Nor is his guilt alleviated by the childish ceremony he uses; for how could a few drops of water wash away the stain of a crime that no satisfaction of any kind could obliterate? His main objective in doing so was not to wash away his stains before God, but to exhibit to the people a Mark of abhorrence, to try if he might perhaps lead them to repent of their fury. It was as if he had employed a preface like this: “Behold, you compel me to an unrighteous murder, to which I cannot come except with trembling and horror. What then will become of you, and what dreadful vengeance of God awaits you, who are the main actors in this deed?”

But whatever Pilate’s intention might have been, God intended to testify in this manner to the innocence of His Son, so that it might be more manifest that in him our sins were condemned.

The supreme and sole Judge of the world is placed at the bar of an earthly judge, is condemned to crucifixion as a malefactor, and—what is more—is placed between two robbers, as if he had been the prince of robbers. A spectacle so revolting might, at first sight, greatly disturb the senses of men, if it were not met by this argument: that the punishment due to us was laid on Christ, so that, our guilt having now been removed, we do not hesitate to come into the presence of the Heavenly Judge.

Accordingly, the water, which was of no avail for washing away Pilate’s filth, ought to be efficacious today for a different purpose: to cleanse our eyes from every obstruction, so that, in the midst of condemnation, they may clearly perceive the righteousness of Christ.