Matthew 27:22

22 Pilate said to them, "What then should I do [with] Jesus, the one who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!"

Matthew 27:22 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 27:22

Pilate saith unto them
As one astonished at their choice: he could not have thought they would have asked the life of so vile a wretch, that had been guilty of such capital crimes, crimes to be abhorred by all men:

what shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?
Surely you would not have me put him to death, and that for no other reason but this, because he is called either by himself or others, Christ, or the Messiah, or the king of the Jews!

they all say unto him, let him be crucified;
which was a Roman punishment, inflicted on the meanest and worst of men; as wicked servants, thieves, robbers, and cut-throats ^F15; and so was not only a torturing and painful death, but a very shameful and ignominious one; yea, an accursed one: in this they all agreed, being instigated to it by the chief priests and elders.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F15 Lipsius de Cruce, l. 1. c. 12, 13.

Matthew 27:22 In-Context

20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Barabbas and put Jesus to death.

21 So the governor answered [and] said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas!"

22 Pilate said to them, "What then should I do [with] Jesus, the one who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!"

23 And he said, "Why? What wrong has he done?" But they began to shout even louder, saying, "Let him be crucified!"

24 So Pilate, [when he] saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but instead an uproar was developing, took water [and] washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this man. You see to [it]!"