Pilate must have received reports about Our Lord before he actually met him on Good Friday, and what he had heard had satisfied him that Christ was no danger to the State.  From the outset of the trial he realised that what really lay behind it all was the hatred and envy of the chief priests.  The latter, on arriving at the Castle of Antonia – the Roman military headquarters – at once demanded Our Lord’s execution.  This punishment could not be inflicted unless due sentence had been passed by the governor on a prisoner who had been found guilty on a capital charge under Roman Law.

Therefore, in response to Pilate’s enquiry, they laid three main charges all of which were political: of being a seditious agitator; opposing the payment of tribute; and claiming to be a King.  The last accusation in particular affected the Emperor personally and was therefore too serious for Pilate to ignore.  He therefore put a straight question to Our Lord, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Our Lord’s reply was, “That is your word”, meaning that he did not accept the title of King in a political sense; and he went on to explain the other-worldly character of his Kingdom.

At the same time he suggested that the course which Pilate should adopt was to do what was right by supporting the truth as he knew it.  Pilate, however, had never been governed by moral principles, and he was not prepared to submit to them now.  Practical politics and personal prejudice were the determining factors in his conduct of affairs, and therefore he dismissed Our Lord’s suggestion with the cynical question, “What is truth?”