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We journey with Christ; re - living the days of His Passion, Death and Resurrection - over these 40 days of Lent.
"Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
(John 18: 33 -38, NRSV)
Pope (emeritus) Benedict in his book Jesus of Nazareth - Holy Week reflects thus:
The image of Pilate in the Gospels presents the Roman Prefect quiet realistically as a man who could be brutal when he judged this to be in the interest of public order. Yet he also knew that Rome owed its world dominance, not least, to its tolerance of foreign divinities and to the capacity of Roman law to build peace; this is how he comes across to us during Jesus's trial.
The charge that Jesus claimed to be the king of the Jews was a serious one. Pilate knew however, that no rebel uprising had been instigated by Jesus - from the point of view of the Roman juridical and political order, which fell under his competence, there was nothing serious to hold against Jesus.
It must have astonished Pilate that Jesus' own people presented themselves to him as defenders of Rome, when the information at his disposal did not suggest the need for any action on his part.
Yet during the interrogation we suddenly arrived at a dramatic moment : Jesus's confession. To Pilate's question, " so you are a king?" He answers, "you say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."
The confession of Jesus places Pilate in an extraordinary situation - the accused claims kingship and the Kingdom. Yet he underlines the complete otherness of his kingship and even makes the particular point that must have been decisive for the Roman judge: no one is fighting for the kingship, if power is characteristic of kingship and kingdoms, there is no sign of it in Jesus' case.
In addition to the clear delimitation of his concept of kingdom, Jesus introduced a positive idea in order to explain the nature and particular character of the power of his kingship - namely truth.
We hear in the teachings of Saint Thomas - truth is in God's intellect properly and firstly; in human intellect it is present properly and derivative. God is truth itself, the sovereign and first truth.
This brings us close to what Jesus means, when he speaks of the truth - when he says that his purpose in coming into the world was to "bear witness to the truth." Bearing witness to the truth means giving priority to God and to his will over against the interest of the world and its powers.
After the interrogation, Pilate knew for certain that Jesus was no political rebel, yet Pilate seems also to have experienced a certain superstitious wariness concerning this remarkable figure. He did not exclude the possibility that gods, or at any rate, god like beings could take on human form.
Jesus's accusers obviously realize this, and so they now play off one fear against another. Against superstitious fear of a possible divine presence, they appeal to the entirely practical fear of forfeiting the emperor's favor; being removed from office, and thus plunging into a downward spiral. The declaration, "if you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend" is a threat.
In the end, concern for career proves stronger than fear of divine powers.
Mercy Chronicles is a catholic blog dedicated to the Divine Mercy
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