21: Pilate was here addressing the crowd, not the Jewish leaders. This second time Pilate asked for an answer. But, it was not the answer her was looking to receive.22: Pilate had discovered that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Although he did not believe in the full implications of this; like his wife, he…

19: Pilate was sitting on the judgement seat. He was preparing to make some sort of decision when his wife sent a messenger to him. The Romans were very superstitious. Dreams could mean much to them. It is unclear how Piltaes’s wife determined Jesus’ innocence. She had likely heard of him, but it is more likely that the dream itself…

17: The offer for release was made to the Jewish people who were gathered there. The leaders of the Jews were already assembled. Pilate assembled an assortment of the general Jewish population of Jerusalem for this question. Thus he surely thought that they, not being biased against Jesus like their leaders were, would ask for his release.…

14: Pilate continued to try to get Jesus to say something, and possibly made accusations of his own to solicit a response. However, Jesus kept silent.Pilate was quite amazed by this silence, likely for several reasons. For one thing, as has been stated, he knew Jesus could speak, and speak well. Jesus had not been known as…

11: Pilate had been informed, of course, by the lying Jewish leadership. With him they focused upon the political threat that Jesus might pose. They surely told Pilate that Jesus claimed to be the king of the Jews. This was intended to cause Pilate to treat Jesus as a political threat and examine him as…

9: There has been much debate over the quote here made by Matthew. He says that this prophecy was made by Jeremiah. However, though Jeremiah does state things similar to it, it is plainly manifest that this is a quote from Zechariah. There are two good possibilities for reconciling this, which may even be taken together. First,…

6: It is amazing how God can work things out like he wants them. These men had scruples about anything that might be questioned from a good works standpoint, but cared nothing for matters of the heart. They would never have dreamed to throw the money away, as Judas did. This shows the condition of…

4: It must be said that there can be confessions without repentance. Confessing one’s feeling of guilt does little but to salve one’s conscience. Many have admitted to their guilt, but have failed to confess it to God and repent. Judas hoped to repair his mistake, not to be forgiven for his sin. He knew that…

1: It is likely that a portion of the Sanhedrin was not present for the middle of the night meetings. Besides, the Jewish leaders wanted to make things look as legal as possible. So, in the most rushed official trial they could put together, Jesus was officially condemned that morning.2: Jesus had to be judged…

73: This last accusation occurs ‘after awhile,’ which means it occurs closer to dawn. The other two accusations had occurred earlier in the night. Peter may have thought he was through with it, when this whole group of people came to see him.Among the group may have been the women from before, and a relative of Malchus…