Pilate came back out and said to the Jews who were gathered there, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know that I haven’t found any basis for a charge against him.”
As soon as the chief priests and officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. I haven’t found any basis for a charge against him myself.”
“What is truth?” Pilate retorted. Then he went out again to the Jews who were gathered there. He said, “I don’t find any basis for a charge against him.
Christ also suffered once for sins. Someone who did right suffered for those who did wrong, in order to bring you to God. Jesus was put to death in the body, but he was made alive in the Spirit.
When the Roman commander and those who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and everything that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, “He had to be the Son of God!”
Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere. Instead, the crowd was starting to get angry. So he took water and washed his hands in front of them. “I’m not guilty of this man’s death,” he said. “You’re accountable for that!”
Pilate also wanted to release Jesus because he’d gotten a message from his wife while he was judging the case. The message said, “Don’t do anything to that man. He’s innocent. I had a terrible nightmare about him last night.”
A high priest like him truly meets our needs. He’s holy, blameless, and pure, and he has been lifted up high above the heavens. He’s different from people who sin.