Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 19:4-12

"And Pilate went out again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him out to you, that ye may know that I find no crime in him. Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And [Pilate] saith unto them, Behold, the man! When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify [him], crucify [him]! Pilate saith unto them, Take him yourselves, and crucify him: for I find no crime in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the more afraid; 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 19:4-12 (ASV)

1. Now the Evangelist discusses the crucifixion of Christ:

   First, the crucifixion itself.

   Second, the death of Christ: afterwards, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:28).

   Third, his burial: and after these things, Joseph of Arimathea . . . asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus (John 19:38).

   Regarding the crucifixion, he first mentions the dispute Pilate had with the Jews; second, we have the sentencing of Christ: when Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared all the more; and third, the sentence is carried out: and they took Jesus and led him out (John 19:16).

   Pilate, wanting to release Christ, began arguing with the Jews.

   First, the Evangelist shows how Pilate tried to release Christ by exhibiting him to the crowd.

   Second, by declaring his innocence: Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no cause in him.

   Regarding the first point, the Evangelist describes Jesus being shown to the crowd, and second, the effect this had: when the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

2. Three things are mentioned concerning this first point.

   First is the intention of Pilate, which was to free him. He says, Pilate therefore went out again, from the praetorium, and said to them, to the Jews who were waiting there, behold, I am bringing him out to you, for this purpose, that you may know that I find no cause in him, deserving of death. Why then, unrighteous Pilate, was there this shameful bargaining without a reason? Was it so the Jews would not believe you would release him out of partiality? What kind of partiality is it that involves giving someone such a thrashing? Or perhaps it was so that his enemies, seeing his disgrace, would gladly no longer thirst for his blood. In effect, he is saying, “If there were a reason for his death, I would condemn him just as I have scourged him. Perhaps he has committed some minor infraction of the law, which did deserve a scourging, but there was nothing deserving of death.”

3. Second, we see Christ being presented before the crowd: Jesus therefore came out, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. He was exhibited in the same robe he wore when he was mocked by the officers, in the hope that the crowd would be appeased when they saw him not respected for his authority, but entirely dishonored: for it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face (Psalms 69:7).

   This teaches us that we should be ready to undergo any kind of disrespect for the name of Jesus Christ: fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at their revilings (Isaiah 51:7).

4. Third, Christ’s exhibition is further described through the words of Pilate, Behold the man! This was spoken in a sarcastic way, as if someone so disgraced would dare to usurp a kingship. Look at the kind of person you are accusing of this! The words of the Psalm apply to him: I am a worm, and no man (Psalms 22:6). And so, if you do hate your king, spare him now because you see him dishonored. As Augustine says, “When disgrace increases, let your hatred decrease.”

5. Now we see the effect of this exhibition on the Jews. No matter how disgraced, wretched, and beaten he appeared, their hatred did not lessen but was still burning and growing.

   When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, when Jesus was brought out, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him! Their desire was so strong that they shouted this twice. And they would not be satisfied with any kind of death, but demanded the most dishonorable kind, namely crucifixion: let us condemn him to a shameful death .

   He said, when they had seen him, because the sight of the one they hated only served to incite and inflame their hearts with more hatred: the very sight of him is a burden to us .

6. Now the Evangelist shows how Pilate tried to free Christ by declaring his innocence. As a result, a disagreement arose because, first, Pilate declared the innocence of Christ, while second, the Jews repeated his guilt: we have a law, and according to the law he ought to die.

7. Regarding Christ’s innocence, Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves, and crucify him. It is as if he were saying, “I do not want to be a judge who judges unjustly. I will not crucify him. You crucify him if you want, but I find no cause in him deserving of crucifixion.” For the prince of this world is coming, and in me he has nothing (John 14:30); Jesus whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him (Acts 3:13).

8. But the Jews repeat Christ’s offense: The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die. They seemed to understand from Pilate’s response that he would not move against Christ on the charge of claiming a kingdom, although they had thought this charge would especially incline him to kill him. And since this crime was not enough to put Christ to death, the Jews thought that when Pilate said, Take him yourselves and crucify him, he was asking if they had another crime—a violation of their law—for which he could be condemned and for which they were already condemning him. Thus they say, according to the law he ought to die.

   First, they charge Christ with a crime against the law of the Jews; second, against the law of the Romans: If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend.

   In regard to the first, we see the accusation of the Jews against Christ, and second, the effect of this on Pilate: When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared all the more.

9. The crime against the Jewish law that they charged Christ with was that he made himself the Son of God, and for this he deserved death. Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal to God (John 5:18); and again, we do not stone you for a good work but for blasphemy (John 10:33).

   They always said that he made himself the Son of God, on the assumption that he was not. But this was not against the law, as Christ proved to them before (John 10:34), by citing, I say, You are gods (Psalms 82:6). For if other people, who are adopted children, can call themselves children of God without blasphemy, how much more can Christ do this, who is the Son of God by nature? But they regarded him as a liar and blasphemer, each of which deserved death, because they did not understand his eternal generation.

10. Now the Evangelist mentions the effect which the accusation of the Jews had on Pilate. First it produced fear, for when Pilate therefore had heard this saying, that is, that Christ made himself the Son of God, he feared all the more that it might be true and that it would be disastrous to proceed against him without cause. From this, we understand that the Gentiles were afraid when they heard of the betrayal of the Son of God. O Lord, I have heard your report, and was afraid (Habakkuk 3:2).

11. Second, he mentions another effect it produced: doubt and questioning. And he entered the praetorium again, and he said to Jesus, Where are you from?

    First, we have the question Pilate asked; second, the silence of Christ; and third, the reproach of Pilate.

12. In regard to the first, he says, he entered the praetorium again, struck with fear, and he said to Jesus, whom he had led back with him, Where are you from? He wished to find out whether Jesus was God, with a divine origin, or a man, with an earthly origin. This could be answered by what was said before: You are from below, I am from above (John 8:23).

13. Jesus, because he chose to, did not give an answer, so that he might show that he was unwilling to overwhelm with words or to make excuses, since he had come to suffer.

    At the same time, he is an example of patience for us and fulfilled what is found in Isaiah: like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). It says, like a sheep, to show that the silence of Jesus was not that of a man convicted of sin and aware of his evil, but the silence of a gentle person being sacrificed for the sins of others.

14. Then the Evangelist shows how Pilate reproached him for his silence, when he says that Pilate therefore said to him, Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and I have power to release you? (John 19:10).

    First, we see Pilate boasting of his power; second, we have what Christ said about this power.

15. Pilate was displeased that Jesus did not answer him and said, Do you not speak to me? With these words, he has condemned himself. For if this entire matter lay in his power, why does he not release Jesus, since he has found him without any crime? I will condemn you out of your own mouth (Luke 19:22); because you have authority among men, mortal though you are, you do what you please .

16. Pilate was boasting about his power: men who... boast of the abundance of their riches (Psalms 49:6). So our Lord corrects him, saying, You would not have any power against me, unless it had been given to you from above. As Augustine said, “When Christ was silent, he was silent like a lamb; when he spoke, he taught as a shepherd.” So, first Christ teaches Pilate about the source of his power, and second, about the greatness of his sin.

17. In regard to the first, he says, You would not have any power against me, unless it had been given to you from above. He is saying, in effect, “If you seem to have some power, you do not have this from yourself, but it has been given to you from above, from God, from whom all power comes”: by me kings reign (Proverbs 8:15). He says any power, that is, no matter how little, because Pilate had a limited power under a greater one, the power of Caesar: for I am a man under authority (Matthew 8:9).

18. Therefore, he concludes, he who delivered me to you, that is, Judas or the chief priests, has the greater sin. He says greater to indicate that both those who delivered him up to Pilate and Pilate himself were guilty of sin. But those who delivered him up had the greater sin because they delivered him up out of malice, whereas Pilate acted out of fear of a superior power.

    This refutes those heretics who say that all sins are equal, for if they were, our Lord would not have said, the greater sin. Woe to that man by whom the temptation comes! (Matthew 18:7).

19. The effect of all this was that from then on Pilate sought to release him. As we saw before, Pilate tried to release Christ from the very beginning. Thus, from then on indicates that he now sought it for another reason, that is, to avoid sinning. Or, he had tried to release him before, but from then on—from that point on—he was fully and firmly determined to release him.