Pilate: "What I Have Written, I Have Written"

A Roman Ruler in the Days of the Gospels

Pilate is a Roman ruler who lived at the time of the New Testament, in an era placed at around 4 BC to AD 33 on Ussher's chronology (1650). His name runs through fifty-three verses in eleven passages, first in Matthew 27:2 and last in 1 Timothy. John names him most often, nineteen times; then Luke twelve, Mark ten, Matthew eight, Acts three, and 1 Timothy once. He is not introduced by ancestry or tribe. He simply appears, and he appears because Jesus is brought to him.

Delivered Up to Pilate

The first scene with him is a handover. "Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, bound Jesus, carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate. Pilate asked him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' He answered, 'So you say'" (Mark 15:1-2). The question is the one Pilate keeps returning to, and the answer he receives is one he cannot use.

Luke records the same exchange with its result. "Pilate asked him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' He answered him, 'So you say.' Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, 'I find no basis for a charge against this man'" (Luke 23:3-4). The examination is over almost before it begins. The verdict of the man holding the power is that there is no case.

The questioning continues elsewhere in these hours, and the record of it stands in Matthew 27:13, Mark 15:4-5, Mark 15:9, Mark 15:12, Matthew 27:17, Matthew 27:22, Luke 23:6, Luke 23:20, John 18:29, John 18:31, John 18:33, John 18:35, John 19:1, John 19:4, John 19:6, John 19:8, John 19:10, and John 19:15.

"What Is Truth?"

John preserves the sharpest moment. "Pilate therefore said to him, 'Are you a king then?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.' Pilate said to him, 'What is truth?' When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, 'I find no basis for a charge against him'" (John 18:37-38).

He asks the largest question a man can ask, and does not wait for the answer. He turns his back on the one who has just said he came into the world to testify to the truth, and walks out to announce, a second time, that the prisoner is innocent.

The Judgment Seat at The Pavement

Between the questioning there is another movement. "Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before that they were enemies with each other. Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people" (Luke 23:11-13). An old enmity ends over the person of Jesus, and the trial keeps moving.

Then the pressure lands. "At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, 'If you release this man, you aren't Caesar's friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!' When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called 'The Pavement', but in Hebrew, 'Gabbatha'" (John 19:12-13). He was seeking to release him. He sat down to judge him instead. The outcome is recorded in Mark 15:14-15, Luke 23:24, and Matthew 27:24.

One stubborn refusal remains. "The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, 'Don't write, "The King of the Jews," but, "he said, 'I am King of the Jews.' " ' Pilate answered, 'What I have written, I have written'" (John 19:21-22). The inscription is mentioned in John 19:19. The man who would not stand by his own verdict of innocence stood by his own sign.

Where He Failed

The failure is not hidden in the text, and it is not complicated. Twice by his own mouth he declared, "I find no basis for a charge against this man" (Luke 23:4; John 18:38). He was seeking to release him (John 19:12). A cry about Caesar changed his course, and he sat down on the judgment seat (John 19:13). He asked what truth is while truth stood in front of him and gave no time for the reply (John 18:37-38). Further mentions of Pilate in these hours and after stand in Luke 13:1, Luke 23:1, Luke 23:52, John 19:31, John 19:38, Matthew 27:58, Matthew 27:62, Matthew 27:65, and Mark 15:43-44.

What We Do Not Know

Scripture does not name his parents. No children are named. No tribe or people is given. He is dated for us only by Luke 3:1, and beyond his handling of Jesus the record tells us nothing of how his life ended.

The Line to Christ

Pilate is remembered by name in the preaching that follows the resurrection, in Acts 3:13, Acts 4:27, and Acts 13:28, and his name is written into 1 Timothy 6:13. The good confession was made before him, and he did not recognize it: "For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). Pilate did not listen. Yet what he wrote over the cross he would not take back, and the words stayed where he put them: The King of the Jews (John 19:19-22).