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Chapter 19
10. Pilate Responsible
—[
John 19:10
quoted.] “I have power.”
By saying this, Pilate showed that he made himself responsible
[1149]
for the condemnation of Christ, for the cruel scourging, and for
the insults offered Him before any wrong was proved against Him.
Pilate had been chosen and appointed to administer justice, but he
dared not do it. Had he exercised the power that he claimed, and that
his position gave him, had he protected Christ, he would not have
been accountable for His death. Christ would have been crucified,
but Pilate would not have been held guilty (
The Review and Herald,
January 23, 1900
).
14, 15
. See
EGW comment on Matthew 27:22, 23
.
15. Last Hope Gone
—What was Christ’s grief to see the Jews
fixing their own destiny beyond redemption! He alone could compre-
hend the significance of their rejection, betrayal, and condemnation
of the Son of God. His last hope for the Jewish nation was gone.
Nothing could avert her doom. By the representatives of the nation
God was denied as their Ruler. By worlds unfallen, by the whole
heavenly universe, the blasphemous utterance was heard, “We have
no king but Caesar.” The God of heaven heard their choice. He had
given them opportunity to repent, and they would not. Forty years
afterward Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Roman power ruled
over the people. Then they had no deliverer. They had no king but
Caesar. Henceforth the Jewish nation, as a nation, was as a branch
severed from the vine—a dead, fruitless branch, to be gathered up
and burned—from land to land throughout the world, from century
to century, dead—dead in trespasses and sins—without a Saviour
(
The Youth’s Instructor, February 1, 1900
)!
15, 16
. See
EGW comment on Matthew 27:25, 26
.
16. Reactions to Jesus’ Condemnation
—Jesus, the Son of
God, was delivered to the people to be crucified. With shouts of
triumph they led the Saviour away toward Calvary. The news of His
condemnation had spread through all Jerusalem, striking terror and
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