He said to them, “You brought me this man and said he was turning the people against the authorities. I have questioned him in front of you, and I have found no basis for your charges against him.
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.
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.”
The Berean Jews were more reasonable than those in Thessalonica. They received Paul’s message gladly and studied the Scriptures carefully every day to see if what Paul said was true.