Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 19:8
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
8. that saying ] Better, this word ( logos), the charge of blasphemy.
he was the more afraid ] The message from his wife and the awe which Christ’s presence was probably inspiring had already in some degree affected him. This mysterious claim still further excites his fears. Was it the offspring of a divinity that he had so infamously handled? Comp. Mat 27:54.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8 11. Inside the Praetorium; Christ’s origin is asked and not told; the origin of authority is told unasked.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
When Pilate therefore heard that saying – That they had accused him of blasphemy. As this was not the charge on which they had arraigned him before his bar, he had not before heard it, and it now convinced him more of their malignity and wickedness.
He was the more afraid – What was the ground of his fear is not declared by the evangelist. It was probably, however, the alarm of his conscience, and the fear of vengeance if he suffered such an act of injustice to be done as to put an innocent man to death. He was convinced of his innocence. He saw more and more clearly the design of the Jews; and it is not improbable that a pagan, who believed that the gods often manifested themselves to people, dreaded their vengeance if he suffered one who claimed to be divine, and who might be, to be put to death. It is clear that Pilate was convinced that Jesus was innocent; and in this state of agitation between the convictions of his own conscience, and the clamors of the Jews, and the fear of vengeance, and the certainty that he would do wrong if he gave him up, he was thrown into this state of alarm, and resolved again to question Jesus, that he might obtain satisfaction on the subjects that agitated his mind.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 19:8-12
When Pilate therefore heard that
Pilates second interview with Christ
I.
THE STARTLED INQUIRY–on the part of Pilate (Joh 19:9).
1. Its occasion
(1) Not the outcry of the Jews for Christs death. Pilate had already twice resisted that.
(2) Not the reminder that he, a governor, ought to respect their laws.
(3) But the intimation that Christ had called Himself The Son of God (Joh 19:7).
2. Its motive
(1) Not idle curiosity or angry impatience. The situation was too solemn for the former, too critical for the latter.
(2) Not horror at the supposed blasphemy. Pilate had not so high a religious consciousness.
(3) Not alarm lest he should be accused to Tiberius. It had not come to that yet.
(4) But semi-superstitious fear, lest Jesus, whose prefer-human greatness had impressed him, should after all be the offspring of some divinity–in which case it would be far from comfortable to him to fight against the gods.
3. Its import
(1) Not to what country dost thou belong? Pilate knew this.
(2) But of what race art Thou? human or divine? Next to Is there a God? the greatest question of the day.
II. MYSTERIOUS SILENCE–On the part of Christ (Joh 19:9).
1. Predicted (Isa 53:7).
2. Becoming. The question was
(1) Irrelevant. The problem before Pilate was that of Christs guilt or innocence, not of His origin.
(2) Unnecessary. Pilate had evidence enough, and had already decided that Jesus was without crime.
(3) Insincere Pilate was not prepared to accept the answer Christ might give. He had not done so on a former occasion (Joh 18:38).
(4) Too late. Pilate was not likely now to be able to extricate himself from the net in which he had been taken.
3. Eloquent–more significant than speech it proclaimed His Divine origin.
4. Perplexing. Pilate could not understand Him.
III. ANGRY REMONSTRANCE–On the part of Pilate (Joh 19:10).
1. Offended dignity. Pilate had marvelled greatly at his prisoners taciturnity when the mob first gnashed their teeth at Him (Mat 27:14); but was not he the embodiment of imperial authority, To me dost Thou not speak? putting ruffled pride and mortified vanity into his tones. Men whose causes and arguments are weak generally take shelter behind their self importance. Men commonly stand on their dignity when they have nothing else to stand on.
2. Mean intimidation. The vicegerent of Rome could not resist telling his prisoner that His life and death were in his hands! It was the speech of a small dignitary who was a great coward.
3. Mistaken assumption. Unjust judges and persecutors have often since supposed that they held the life of Christs followers and Christs cause: but they have erred as Pilate did.
IV. DIGNIFIED CORRECTION–on the part of Christ (Joh 19:11).
1. Pride rebuked. Pilate conceived of himself as a sort of deus minor invested with at least a delegated omnipotence: Christ tells Him that both he and Caesar were simply instruments by which God worked, and in particular that he had no power over Him except as the temporary holder of the magisterial office; and that it was owing to that circumstance entirely that he had anything to do with the case.
2. Error corrected. Whatever part Pilate had to play in this momentous drama and whatever authority he had to wield, he held it not from Caesar, who himself was a vassal of the King of kings, but from above Rom 13:1; Pro 8:15). Hence the exercise of that power was determined not by such an accident as the answer that might be extracted from Christ. A great and illuminating thought for Pilate.
3. Sin qualified. Pilate and his prisoner have changed places. Pilates sin was great–against evidence, conscience, heavens warning, and Christ could say nothing to underestimate these. Only He closes not the door of hope. In the transaction there had been a greater sinner–Caiaphas. In comparison with Pilates guilt that of the High Priest was as a mountain to a feather, an ocean to a stream. Lessons:
1. The judicial blindness into which an unbelieving soul may fall (2Co 3:4)–exemplified in the Jewish nation and the priests.
2. The paralysing fear of a guilty conscience (Job 18:11)–illustrated in Pilate.
3. The real reason why the Jews rejected Christ–He was not the sort of Messiah they wanted (1Co 1:23).
4. The dignified reticence with which heaven treats mens demands for more evidence–enough having been provided to enable all in earnest to decide the attitude they shall assume towards Christ (Luk 16:29; Luk 16:31).
5. The insufferable vanity which official dignity not unfrequently inspires in small souls.
6. The necessity of remembering that the source of all power and authority is God–to whom therefore all must eventually render account Rom 14:12).
7. The different degrees of culpability attaching to different sins Mat 11:22; Mat 11:24; Luk 12:47).
8. The duty of keeping silence (Jam 1:19). (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
He was the more afraid.
Pilates fear
I. OF THE PEOPLE.
II. OF THE EMPEROR.
III. OF THE PRISONER. (S. S. Times.)
The cowardice of guilt
Men who have lost their innocence cannot preserve their courage. (Lord Clarendon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. He was the more afraid] While Jesus was accused only as a disturber of the peace of the nation, which accusation Pilate knew to be false, he knew he could deliver him, because the judgment in that case belonged to himself; but when the Jews brought a charge against him of the most capital nature, from their own laws, he then saw that he had every thing to fear, if he did not deliver Jesus to their will. The Sanhedrin must not be offended-the populace must not be irritated: from the former a complaint might be sent against him to Caesar; the latter might revolt, or proceed to some acts of violence, the end of which could not be foreseen. Pilate was certainly to be pitied: he saw what was right, and he wished to do it; but he had not sufficient firmness of mind. He did not attend to that important maxim, Fiat justitia: ruat caelum. Let justice be done, though the heavens should be dissolved. He had a vile people to govern, and it was not an easy matter to keep them quiet. Some suppose that Pilate’s fear arose from hearing that Jesus had said he was the Son of God; because Pilate, who was a polytheist, believed that it was possible for the offspring of the gods to visit mortals; and he was afraid to condemn Jesus, for fear of offending some of the supreme deities. Perhaps the question in the succeeding verse refers to this.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It should seem that the Romans permitted judgments to the Jews according to their own laws, which the Roman governor was to see executed; or else, seeing the rabble in such a heat and disorder, he feared some breaking out.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8-11. When Pilate . . . heard thissaying, he was the more afraidthe name “SONOF GOD,” thelofty sense evidently attached to it by His Jewish accusers, thedialogue he had already held with Him, and the dream of his wife (Mt27:19), all working together in the breast of the wretched man.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When Pilate therefore heard that saying,…. That Jesus had asserted himself to be the Son of God, and that the Jews had a law to put such a person to death that was guilty of such blasphemy:
he was the more afraid; he was afraid to put him to death, or to consent to it before; partly on account of his wife’s message to him, and partly upon a conviction of the innocence of Christ, in his own conscience: and now he was more afraid, since here was a charge brought against him he did not well understand the meaning of; and a law of theirs pretended to be violated hereby, which should he pay no regard to, might occasion a tumult, since they were already become very clamorous and noisy; and he might be the more uneasy, test the thing they charged him with asserting, should be really fact; that he was one of the gods come down in the likeness of man; or that he was some demi-god at least, or so nearly related to deity, that it might be dangerous for him to have anything to do with him this way: and in this suspicion he might be strengthened, partly from the writings of the Heathens, which speak of such sort of beings; and partly from the miracles he might have heard were performed by Jesus; and also by calling to mind what he had lately said to him, that his kingdom was not of this world, and that he was come into it to bear witness to the truth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He was the more afraid ( ). First aorist passive indicative of . He was already afraid because of his wife’s message (Mt 27:19). The claim of Jesus to deity excited Pilate’s superstitious fears.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The more afraid. “These words of the Jews produced an effect on Pilate for which they were not prepared. The saying gives strength to a dreadful presentiment which was gradually forming within him. All that he had heard related of the miracles of Jesus, the mysterious character of His person, of His words and of His conduct, the strange message which he had just received from his wife – all is suddenly explained by the term” Son of God. “Was this extraordinary man truly a divine being who had appeared on the earth ? The truth naturally presents itself to his mind in the form of pagan superstitions and mythological legends” (Godet).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “When Pilate therefore heard that saying,” (hote oun ekousen ho Pilatos touton ton logon) “Then when Pilate heard this word,” claim, or assertion that Jesus posed as the Son of God, a thing they interpreted to be blasphemy, Mat 9:3; Joh 10:33, that was punishable by a stoning death, not crucifixion, under their law, Lev 24:16.
2) “He was the more afraid;” (mallon ephobethe) “He was or came to be (to exist) more afraid,” with uncertain fear, more fearful of the political implications of his having anything to do in the matter of their controversy. He also feared having part in executing or lynching an innocent person. “Fear of man” brings a snare, and it appears that Pilate feared political pressure, what men thought, more than God, Pro 29:25; Mat 10:28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. He was the more afraid. These words may be explained in two ways. The first is, that Pilate dreaded lest some blame should be imputed to him, if a tumult arose, because he had not condemned Christ. The second is, that, after having heard the name of the Son of God, his mind was moved by religion. This second view is confirmed by what immediately follows:
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid.That is, as the verses which follow show, he was the more afraid because of his wonder who Jesus really was. He must have heard of some of the current impressions as to His life and words; he had himself heard Him claim a kingdom which is not of this world; his wifes dream (Mat. 27:19) had furnished an evil omen which the superstition of the most educated classes of the Roman empire would interpret as a message from the gods; and now the Jews speak of Him as one who claimed to be the Son of God. (Comp. Notes on the words of the Roman centurion in Mat. 27:54.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. The more afraid That is, this expression so increased the awe of his former impression as to induce the following action, that he takes Jesus into the judgment hall for examination on this specific point.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 19:8-9. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; When Pilate heard that Jesus called himself the Son of God, he was more perplexed than ever. Knowing the obstinacy of the Jews in all matters of religion, he was afraid they would make a tumult in earnest; and he might be the more reasonably alarmed on this head, as, since the beginning of his government, he had met with two remarkable instances of opposition to his authority; one, in anattempt which he made to bring the image of Caesar into Jerusalem; the other, in a design which he had formed of supplying the city with water at the expence of the sacred treasury of the temple. Or rather, the meaning of his uneasiness may be, that, when he heard this account of Jesus, he became more afraid than ever to take away his life, because he suspected it might be true. Perhaps the miracles of Christ which he had heard of, occurred to his reflection, and caused him to have some strong ideas that he was really the Son of God. Pilate therefore, resolving to act cautiously, went again into the judgment-hall, and said to Jesus, Whence art thou? ? that is, “Of what father art thou sprung? or, from what country art thou come?Art thou from Olympus, the mansion of the gods, according to the Pagan notions?” But our blessed Lord, knowing that Pilate was no competent judge of this matter, and had forfeited his right to information about it, by so cruelly using him, while he believed him to be innocent, thought proper to make no reply to this unseasonable question.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
Ver. 8. He was the more afraid ] Christ’s innocence did before triumph in Pilate’s conscience. But now, that he hears that he made himself the Son of God, he was in a mighty maze, “he was afraid,” saith the text, of lifting up his hand against God. The greatest men, if not utterly debauched and satanized, cannot but quake at the apprehension of God: and as the worms, when it thunders, wriggle into the corners of the earth; Caligula (that dared his Jove to a duel with that hemistich in Homer, , Either kill me, or I will kill thee), when it thundered, covered his eyes with his cap, running under the bed or any bench hole. (Sueton. in Calig.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. ] This charge served to increase the fear which Pilate had before: see note on ch. Joh 18:37 . The name served also to confirm the omen already furnished by the dream of his wife. That this fear was not a fear of the Jews , nor of acting unjustly , but of the Person of Jesus, is evident from what follows.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 19:8-12
8Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; 9and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” 12As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”
Joh 19:8 “when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid” Pilate’s wife had already warned him about Jesus (cf. Mat 27:19), and now the Jewish leaders were claiming that He had asserted that He was the Son of God. Pilate, being superstitious, became afraid. It was quite common for the gods of the Greek and Roman pantheon to visit humanity in human form.
Joh 19:9
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV”Where are You from”
TEV, NJB,
NIV”Where do you come from”
Pilate is not asking about Jesus’ hometown but His origin. Pilate is beginning to sense the significance of the person before him. Jesus knew from his comments in Joh 18:38 that Pilate was not interested in the truth but rather political expediency, so He did not respond.
Pilate joins a number of people who marvel at Jesus but do not understand His origin (cf. Joh 4:12; Joh 6:42; Joh 7:27-28; Joh 7:41-42; Joh 8:14; Joh 9:29-30). This is part of John’s vertical dualism. Jesus is from above and no one below can know/understand/see/hear without the Father’s touch (i.e., Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65; Joh 10:29).
“Jesus gave him no answer” Pilate must have remembered Jesus’ answer (cf. Joh 18:37)! Some see this as fulfillment of Isa 53:7.
Joh 19:10 “and I have the authority to crucify You” Pilate asserts that he has political authority of life and death, yet in the face of an unruly mob he relinquished this right to their will. Pilate’s question grammatically expected a “yes” answer.
Joh 19:11 “you would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” This is a second class conditional sentence which is called “contrary to fact.” Jesus was not intimidated by Pilate. He knew who He was and why He had come! The Bible asserts that God is behind all human authority (cf. Rom 13:1-7).
“he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” At first reading this seems to refer to Judas Iscariot (cf. Joh 6:64; Joh 6:71; Joh 13:11) but most commentators believe it refers to Caiaphas, who officially handed Jesus over to the Romans. This phrase can be understood collectively as referring to (1) the illegal Jewish leaders or (2) Jewish people as a whole (cf. Mat 21:33-46; Mar 12:1-12; Luk 20:9-19; Romans 9-11).
Joh 19:12 “Pilate made efforts to release Him” This is an imperfect tense which means repeated action in past time. He had tried several times.
“If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar” This is a third class conditional sentence which meant potential action. The Jewish leaders were threatening to report Pilate to his superiors in Rome if he did not follow through on their wishes and condemn Jesus to death. The phrase “friend of Caesar” was an idiom reflecting an honorific title bestowed by the Roman Emperor (starting with either Augustus or Vespasian).
Caesar was a title for the Roman Emperor. It came from Julius Caesar and it was adopted by Augustus.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
saying. Greek. logos. See Mar 9:32.
the more afraid. A dreadful presentiment was growing in Pilate’s mind, due to what he may have heard of the Lord’s miracles, to His bearing throughout the trial, and to his wife’s message.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
8.] This charge served to increase the fear which Pilate had before: see note on ch. Joh 18:37. The name served also to confirm the omen already furnished by the dream of his wife. That this fear was not a fear of the Jews, nor of acting unjustly, but of the Person of Jesus, is evident from what follows.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 19:8. , the more, rather) He did not assent to the Jews as to putting Jesus to death, but rather feared lest he should sin against the Son of God.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 19:8
Joh 19:8
When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the more afraid;-The idea that he might be God made Pilate afraid. At this time came the message from Pilates wife, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. (Mat 27:19). By this Pilates fears were more aroused. [Pilate had not heard this before. Up to this time the whole accusation before him was that claiming to be Messiah, he claimed to be a king, and was therefore a rival of Caesar, and, as such, ought to die by Roman law. They realize now that this plea has failed, and so enter another, that of verse 7. He realized that Jesus was something out of the common order of men, and these words aroused in his mind a weird questioning as to who or what he might be. The fear he had felt in connection with him was now intensified.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
heard: Joh 19:13, Act 14:11-19
Reciprocal: Dan 3:25 – the Son of God Jon 1:10 – were Mat 27:27 – common hall Act 24:6 – and
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8
From his knowledge of Jewish history, referred to in the preceding verse, Pilate had some idea of the importance attached to their God. Now here was a man in his court who claimed to be the Son of that God. If such claim was true, then it might be dangerous to mistreat him. All of this in connection with his wife’s dream (Mat 27:19), filled him with uneasiness so that the record says he was the more afraid.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 19:8-9. When Pilate therefore heard this word, he was the more afraid; and he went again into the palace, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? The remarkable expression by which the Evangelist designates the language of the Jews deserves our notice,this word. It is not a mere saying that the Jews have uttered. It is a word. The Divine is in it. At the very time when they are pursuing the Lord of glory to His death, they are unconsciously impelled by a Divine power to ascribe to Him the glory that is His due. We are not indeed to suppose that Pilate felt this. But the strange awethe sense of mysterythat had come over him before is deepened in his mind. He must renew his investigation with all seriousness; and for this purpose he goes again into the palace, taking Jesus with him, and asks Him, Whence art thou? The question has certainly no reference to the place where Jesus had been born, or from which He had come to Jerusalem. It is a deeper origin that is asked after. Art Thou from this world, or from another? a man, or from the gods?
But Jesus gave him no answer. The question had not been asked in the spirit to which an answer was never refused. Pilate had no sense either of sin or need. Even had he been answered and received the answer as true, he would only have bestowed freedom upon One who sought nothing for Himself: he would not have believed. That this was the state of his mind is clearly indicated in the words next spoken by him.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Joh 19:8-12. When Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid He before feared to shed innocent blood, and now he became more afraid than ever to take his life; suspecting, probably, that the account which he heard of him might be true, and that he might be a divine person. For doubtless he had heard of some of the many miracles which Jesus had performed, and now, it seems, began to think that perhaps what had been currently reported was true, and that he really had performed the wonderful works ascribed to him. For it is very well known, that the religion which the governor professed directed him to acknowledge the existence of demi-gods and heroes, or men descended from the gods. Nay, the heathen believed that their gods themselves sometimes appeared on earth, in the form of men, Act 14:11-12. Pilate, therefore, went again into the judgment-hall Being resolved to act cautiously; and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? That is, From whom art thou descended? or what is this divine original which thou art charged with claiming? But Jesus Knowing that his innocence was already apparent, even to the conviction of Pilates conscience; gave him no answer To that question. Indeed, Pilates ordering, or allowing such cruelties to be inflicted on a person he knew to be innocent, rendered him unworthy of an answer. Then saith Pilate Marvelling at his silence, and being displeased with it; Speakest thou not unto me? Dost thou make me no reply, and not so much as speak to me in such a circumstance as this, in which thy life is so evidently concerned? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee To adjudge thee to that terrible death; and have power to release thee If I please, notwithstanding all the clamourous demands of thine enemies? Jesus answered With great calmness and mildness; Thou couldest have no power at all against me For I have done nothing to expose myself to the power of any magistrate; except it were given thee In an extraordinary way; from above From the God of heaven, whose providence I acknowledge in all these events. Some have thought that the word , from above, refers to the situation of the temple, which stood much higher than the pretorium: and that it is as if Jesus had said, I know that whatever thou dost against me, is only in consequence of the sentence passed in yonder court held above, so that their guilt is greater than thine. But though this would very well account for the connection of the latter part of this verse, I cannot think, says Dr. Doddridge, it altogether just; for had Providence permitted Pilate to seize Christ as one dangerous to Cesars dignity, he would have had as much power of putting him to death as he now had. It is therefore much more reasonable to suppose it refers to the permission of Gods providence. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee Namely, the Jewish high-priest, with his council, having far greater opportunities of being acquainted with God and his law than thou hast, and knowing, also, that I have done nothing amiss; hath the greater sin Is more blameable than thou art. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him That is, he was still further satisfied of the injustice of the prosecution, and of the innocence of Jesus, so that he endeavoured even more than before to have him released. For the reader will observe, that this was not the first attempt of Pilate to release Jesus. This evangelist himself tells us, (Joh 18:39,) that he had once before offered to release him. And the answer of the priests on this occasion corresponds thereto. They cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesars friend That is, thou art not faithful to the emperor; by which they insinuated that they would accuse him to his master, if he did not do his duty. This argument was weighty, and shook Pilates resolution to the foundation. He was frightened at the very thought of being accused to Tiberius, who in matters of government, as Tacitus and Suetonius testify, was apt to suspect the worst, and always punished the least crimes relative thereto with death. Whosoever maketh himself a king Or rather, maketh, or calleth himself king, speaketh against Cesar. So Dr. Campbell reads the clause, observing, the sentence is true, when [the word here used] is rendered king, but not when rendered a king. Judea, at that time, together with Syria, to which it was annexed, made a province of the empire. Nothing is more certain than that whoever in Judea called himself king, in the sense wherein the word was commonly understood, opposed Cesar. But it did not therefore hold, that whosoever called himself a king, opposed Cesar. For if the kingdom to which he laid claim was without the bounds of the Roman empire, the title in nowise interfered with the rights of the emperor.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
19:8 {3} When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
(3) Pilate’s conscience fights for Christ, but it immediately yields, because it is not upheld with the singular power of God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
John did not say specifically that Pilate was fearful before this verse. It seems obvious, however, that the predicament in which he found himself would have given him reason to fear. He had compromised his position as Rome’s representative by considering freeing a convicted insurrectionist named Barabbas. He had displeased the Jewish rulers by failing to hand down a guilty verdict, and he had alienated many of the Jewish people by abusing and ridiculing one of their popular heroes.
The Romans viewed certain people as demigods. They believed that their gods were super-humans. Pilate evidently understood Jesus’ claim to being God’s Son as a claim to being one of these creatures who wielded supernatural powers. If He had heard much about Jesus, He would have heard that Jesus had powers that the Greeks and Romans attributed to these divine beings. Consequently he may have begun now to fear that Jesus would take some type of revenge on him for the unjust treatment that Pilate had given Him (cf. Mat 27:19). Jesus’ uncommon poise probably unnerved Pilate further.
"In pagan mythology the Olympian deities frequently consorted with men and women, and their semi-divine offspring, such as Hercules, had appeared on the earth and performed miraculous deeds. Hardened as he was, Pilate feared lest he should offend one of these visitors. . . . If Jesus really was a supernatural being, Pilate did not wish to be responsible for mistreating him. Divine judgment would certainly be the inevitable consequence." [Note: Tenney, "John," p. 177.]