God: The Jews accused Jesus of treason (Luke 23:2). But after interrogating Him, Pilate was certain Jesus was no threat to Rome. To demonstrate this, he presented to the Jews the bloody, beaten, and bruised Jesus (John 19:4). But instead of seeing the absurdity of their indictment, the Jews insisted Jesus be crucified. When Pilate for the third time declared Jesus’ innocence (John 19:6), the Jews charged Jesus with blasphemy. They wanted Jesus dead because He claimed to be God (John 19:7). But Jesus is God. The Jews were in reality accusing God for not being God and calling for His death. This is the nature of sin, the rejection of the Lord as God. The Jews sought a god of their own making,[1] despising the true and living God (1 Sam. 2:30; Matt. 6:24). They forsook the fountain of living waters and opted for broken cisterns (Jere. 2:13).

King: The charge of blasphemy led Pilate to ask Jesus about His heavenly origins.[2] Pilate asserted that he had authority to release or crucify, but Jesus clarified that he was only a pawn in the hand of the sovereign God (John 19:11). Pilate tried repeatedly to release Jesus but he could not, because of his fear of losing his job and even his life. Finally, he presented Jesus once again to the Jews as their king (John 19:14) and asked whether they wanted Him crucified. The Jews then gave this chilling response: “We have no king but Caesar.” This careless statement exposed their sinful hearts. They preferred Caesar over Jesus.[3] Sinners find earthly kings much easier to serve than the LORD God.

[1] Throughout her history, Israel wanted a deity other than the LORD and they repeatedly resorted to idols (Judges 2:11-13; 1 Kings 17:16; 18:18; Jere. 2:23, 27-28; Hosea 2:13). Even after their return from the Babylonian exile, they pursued a life away from the LORD (Mal. 1:6-7, 13; 2:17; 3:7, 8).

[2] Pilate asked about Jesus’ spiritual origins (John 19:9). He already knew Jesus was from Galilee (Luke 23:6).

[3] Israel did this throughout their history. They preferred Saul (1 Sam. 8:6-7; 10:18-19), Assyria (2 Kings 16:7), and Egypt (Isaiah 31:1; Jere. 2:17-19) over the LORD.