Pilate then said to them: "Take Him you, and judge Him according to your law." The Jews therefore said to him: "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death"; that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, signifying what death He should die. And they began to accuse Him, saying: "We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He is Christ the King." And Jesus stood before Pilate the Governor. And Pilate asked Him, saying: "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" And Jesus answered him and said: "Thou sayest it." And the chief priests and ancients accused Him in many things. And when He was accused He answered nothing. - Matthew 27:11,12; Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:2,3; John 18:31
1. Pilate was not deceived; he knew that more would follow. If this was all, they need not have come to him; over mere malefactors their own court had jurisdiction. Again, if they had had any definite charge they would have made it; they would not have hidden themselves behind an assumption. So he forced them further. "If that is all," he said, "it comes into your court, not mine. So take Him you, and judge Him according to your law." His device succeeded. Judgment upon a malefactor was not what they wanted; they wanted blood, and before they had realized what they were saying they revealed their secret. "It is not lawful for us to put any one to death." Now at least Pilate knew what was intended. It was a battle between him and them for the life of Jesus Christ; it was he, not Our Lord, who was upon his trial.
2. The first shot had failed; that He was a malefactor was of no avail. They must try another; they will charge Him with high treason. And the charge has three degrees: First, "We have found this man perverting our nation" He who had said: "I am come not to destroy, but to perfect." "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all other things shall be added unto you." But this was of no avail; what was their "nation" to Pilate? Then came the second: "We have found this man forbidding to give tribute to Caesar" He who, when these very Pharisees had tried to catch Him in His speech, had said: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." This charge, too, Pilate could ignore; he knew well enough whether or not Rome was being cheated of her revenue; he knew, too, who were the men against whom that charge might have been more justly preferred.
3. Then came the final accusation: "We have found this man saying He is Christ the King." "Christ" meant nothing to Pilate, except that he may have known that the ancient Kings of Israel were "anointed." But "King" did mean something. It was a word both hateful and contemptible in the Republic of Rome. It was the mark, moreover, of a barbarian. But it was also a name to suspect. As Romans hated the term, so barbarians revered it; and more than one revolt had been raised by some usurper simply taking on him self the title. About this, then, he would inquire. "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" he asked, partly in contempt, partly in curiosity, partly, perhaps, in suspicion. The answer is appallingly precise. Even Pilate himself must have been startled. "Thou sayest it. I am." Now, if Pilate pleased, he had technical ground to proceed against Our Lord; he had "heard it from His own mouth"; he needed no further evidence; yet his heart told him that for all that the man before him was not guilty.
Summary
1. The first charge of high treason.
2. The second charge of high treason.
3. The third charge of high treason.
- from The Crown of Sorrow, by Archbishop Alban Goodier