In the whole of those events she alone used her influence in an effort to save Our Lord, but to no avail.  The combination of the chief priests and the mob proved too powerful for Pilate, in his weakness, to resist.  So they had their way.  “He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished” (NRSV, Luke 23:25).

It is impossible to over-estimate the part which personal influence played in securing Pilate’s unwilling sentence of condemnation. The influence of the chief priests upon the mob, of the ordinary individuals in the mob on one another, and then of them all on Pilate – all these led directly and remorselessly to humankind’s most evil and monstrous act: the Crucifixion of God.