“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.
Pilate spoke to them for a third time and asked, “Why? What wrong has this man done? I have found no reason to have him put to death. I will have him whipped, and then I will let him go.”
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.
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.
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 God of our fathers—of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has done this, to bring glory to his servant Jesus. But you handed Jesus over to be killed. You spoke against him when he was in Pilate’s court, even though Pilate had decided to let him go.