John 19:4

4 Pilate went back out again and said to them, "I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime."

John 19:4 Meaning and Commentary

John 19:4

Pilate therefore went forth again
When all this was done to Jesus, Pilate went again out of the judgment hall, or however from the place where Jesus had been scourged, and ill used in the manner he was: he went a little before him unto the Jews that stood without,

and saith unto them, behold I bring him forth unto you;
that is, he had ordered him to be brought forth by the soldiers, and they were just bringing him in the sad miserable condition in which he was, that the Jews might see, with their own eyes, how he had been used:

that ye may know that I find no fault in him;
for by seeing what was done to him, how severely he had been scourged, and in what derision and contempt he had been had, and what barbarity had been exercised on him, they might know and believe, that if Pilate did all this, or allowed of it to be done to a man whom he judged innocent, purely to gratify the Jews; that had he found anything in him worthy of death, he would not have stopped here, but would have ordered the execution of him; of this they might assure themselves by his present conduct. Pilate, by his own confession, in treating, or suffering to be treated in so cruel and ignominious a manner, one that he himself could find no fault in, or cause of accusation against, was guilty of great injustice.

John 19:4 In-Context

2 The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him,
3 and approached him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.
4 Pilate went back out again and said to them, "I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime."
5 Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe. Pilate announced, "Here he is: the Man."
6 When the high priests and police saw him, they shouted in a frenzy, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate told them, "You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.