Church History: History In answer to Pilate's further query, "Art thou a king then? He grants himself to be a king, though not in the sense that Pilate meant. The Messiah was expected under the character of a king, Messiah the prince; and therefore, having owned to Caiaphas that he was the Christ, he would not disown to Pilate that he was king, lest he should seem inconsistent with himself. Christ's kingdom was not of this world, in which truth fails, but of that world in which truth reigns eternally. Christ's errand into the world, and his business in the world, were to bear witness to the truth. He came to reveal it, and to confirm it. By his miracles he bore witness to the truth of religion, the truth of divine revelation, and of God's perfections and providence, and the truth of his promise and covenant, that all men through him might believe. Pilate then asked another question but did not stay for an answer. He said, What is truth? and immediately went out again.
The result of both these conferences with the accusers and the prisoner is two things:
1. The judge appeared his friend, and favorable to him, for he publicly declared him innocent. If a prisoner has had a fair trial, and has been acquitted by those that are proper judges of the crime, especially if there be no cause to suspect them partial in his favor, he must be believed innocent, and his accusers are bound to concede. But our Lord Jesus, though brought in not guilty, is still run down as a malefactor, and his blood thirsted for.
2. The people appeared to be his enemies, and unyielding toward him. How fierce and outrageous they were. Pilate proposed the release of a prisoner, Barabbas, to them calmly, as worthy their mature consideration, but they resolved it in a heat, and gave their resolution with clamor and noise, and in the utmost confusion. How foolish and absurd they were, as is intimated in the short account given here of the other candidate: Now Barabbas was a robber, and therefore, a breaker of the law of God; and yet he shall be spared, rather than one who reproved the pride, avarice, and tyranny of the priests and elders. The clamor of the town is accustomed to being against robbers, yet here it is for one.7
Jesus was flogged by order of Pilate, it is probable he was flogged in the Roman manner, which was much more severe than that of the Jews. The latter never gave more than thirty-nine blows; for the law had absolutely forbidden a man to be abused, or his flesh cut in this chastisement. The common method of whipping or flogging in some places, especially that of a military kind, is a disgrace to the nation where it is done, to the laws, and to humanity. Though it was customary to scourge the person who was to be crucified, yet it appears that Pilate had another end in view by scourging our Lord. He hoped that this would have satisfied the Jews, and that he might then have dismissed Jesus. This appears from (Luke 23:16).1
They placed a crown of thorns on his head. A most unquestionable token this is, that Christ's kingdom was not of this world, when he was crowned only with thorns and briers. Herod had put upon him a purple robe, Luke 23:11; and the soldiers added this crown. It is likewise said, that they also clothed him with this robe, that is, after he had been stripped, in order to be flogged. They mocked him when they said, Hail, King of the Jews! But yet spoke a great truth, though not in their sense.
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