accused.

Now mark the baseness of their reply. The only crime on which they had
condemned Jesus to death was His claim to Deity; but it would never
have done to tell Pilate that. He would simply have laughed at them.
They must find some charge which would bring Him within the range of
the common law, and be of such a nature that Pilate must take
cognizance of it, and award death. It was not easy to find ground for
such a charge in the life of one who had so studiously threaded His way
through the snares they had often laid for Him; who had bade them
render Caesar's things to Caesar; and protested that He was neither a
ruler nor judge. Their only hope was to rest their charge on His claim
to be the Messiah, construing it as the Jews were wont to do, but as
Jesus never did, into a claim to an outward and visible royalty. They
said, therefore, as Luke informs us, "We found this man perverting the
nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself
is Christ a King."

This was quite enough to compel Pilate to institute further inquiry.
There were thousands of Jews who questioned Caesar's right to tax them,
and were willing to revolt under the lead of any man who showed himself
capable. It was certainly suspicious that such a charge should be made
by men who themselves abhorred the yoke of Rome. However, Pilate saw
that he had no alternative but to investigate the case further. He
therefore went within the palace to the inner judgment hall, summoned
Jesus before him, and said, not without a touch of sarcasm in his
tones, "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" Thou poor, worn, tear-stained
outcast, forsaken by every friend in this Thy hour of need, so great a
contrast to him who built these halls and aspired to the same
title--art thou a king?

He probably expected that Jesus would at once disclaim any such title.
But instead of doing so, instead of answering directly, our Lord
answered his question by propounding another--"Sayest thou this thing
of thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning Me?" The purport of
this question seems to have been to probe Pilate's conscience, and make
him aware of his own growing consciousness that this prisoner was too
royal in mien to be an ordinary Jewish visionary. It was as though He
said: "Dost thou use the term in the common sense, or as a soul
confronted by a greater than thyself? Do you speak by hearsay or by
conviction? Is it because the Jews have so