He was oppressed and harshly mistreated; still he humbly submitted, refusing to defend himself. He was led like a gentle lamb to be slaughtered. Like a silent sheep before his shearers, he didn’t even open his mouth.
From then on Pilate tried to find a way out of the situation and to set him free, but the Jewish authorities shouted him down: “If you let this man go, you’re no friend of Caesar! Anyone who declares himself a king is an enemy of the emperor!”