John 19: 6-7, Religious leaders pressure Pilate
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
Jesus is to be executed for blasphemy. Pilate taunts the Jewish leaders by telling them to do it themselves, knowing that they have no authority to do so.
John 19: 8-15, No king but Caesar
When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,
9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.
10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).
14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
The Jewish leaders have a clear threat. If it gets back to Rome that Pilate has been soft on one claiming to be a king, Pilate's career, and life, might be in danger. But John also records a sad note: the Jewish leaders, supposedly waiting for a Messiah, have instead pledged allegiance to Rome.
John 19: 16, Pilate gives in
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
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