Jesus Will Reign Forever – John 18:28-19:16

²⁸ Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. ²⁹ Therefore Pilate came out to them and said, “What accusation are you bringing against this Man?” ³⁰ They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not a criminal, we would not have handed Him over to you.” ³¹ So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” ³² This happened so that the word of Jesus which He said, indicating what kind of death He was going to die, would be fulfilled.

³³ Therefore Pilate entered the Praetorium again, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “You are the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me; what have You done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” ³⁷ Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” ³⁸ Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”

And after saying this, he came out again to the Jews and *said to them, “I find no grounds at all for charges in His case. ³⁹ However, you have a custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover; therefore do you wish that I release for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ So they shouted again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a rebel.

19 So Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple cloak on Him; ³ and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapped Him in the face again and again. ⁴ And then Pilate came out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that I find no grounds at all for charges in His case.” ⁵ Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” ⁶ So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for I find no grounds for charges in His case!” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

⁸ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he entered the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to Him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” ¹² As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement—but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Look, your King!” ¹⁵ So they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”

¹⁶ So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.