{"id":570,"date":"2025-11-21T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=570&2025"},"modified":"2025-11-18T17:00:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T00:00:13","slug":"assuming-his-guilt-john-18-28-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/assuming-his-guilt-john-18-28-40\/","title":{"rendered":"Assuming His Guilt: John 18:28-40"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: John 18:28-40 (NIV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>28\u00a0<\/sup>Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. <sup>29\u00a0<\/sup>So Pilate came out to them and asked, \u201cWhat charges are you bringing against this man?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>30\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cIf he were not a criminal,\u201d they replied, \u201cwe would not have handed him over to you.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>31\u00a0<\/sup>Pilate said, \u201cTake him yourselves and judge him by your own law.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cBut we have no right to execute anyone,\u201d they objected. <sup>32\u00a0<\/sup>This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.<\/p> <p><sup>33\u00a0<\/sup>Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, \u201cAre you the king of the Jews?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>34\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cIs that your own idea,\u201d Jesus asked, \u201cor did others talk to you about me?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>35\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAm I a Jew?\u201d Pilate replied. \u201cYour own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>36\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said, \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>37\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYou are a king, then!\u201d said Pilate.<\/p><p>Jesus answered, \u201cYou say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>38\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWhat is truth?\u201d retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, \u201cI find no basis for a charge against him. <sup>39\u00a0<\/sup>But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release \u2018the king of the Jews\u2019?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>40\u00a0<\/sup>They shouted back, \u201cNo, not him! Give us Barabbas!\u201d Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John 18:28-40&amp;version=niv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">John 18:28-40<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>Of all the gospel writers to share about Jesus\u2019 trial before Pilate, the gospel of John includes the version that may be my favorite. Matthew and Mark both share similar, very abridged versions, while Luke goes into details about how Pilate sends Jesus to see Herod, who then sends Jesus back.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, the gospel of John is the only gospel that includes an actual conversation between Pilate and Jesus. All the other gospel writers simply include one question and one response Jesus gave. In John\u2019s gospel, we learn that there was a brief discussion, but what is amazing in this discussion is not the discussion itself, but a subtle shift ended up happening that turned Pilates focus.<\/p>\r\n<p>The passage opens with Pilate asking the Jewish leaders, \u201c<strong>What charges are you bringing against this man?<\/strong>\u201d (v. 29)<\/p>\r\n<p>The Jewish leaders sidestep the question by saying, \u201c<strong>If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 30)<\/p>\r\n<p>The Jewish leaders give no charge or accusation, but instead simply press Jesus\u2019 guilt. This simple detail is one that by itself makes this case unique. But a subtle shift happens during Jesus\u2019 conversation with Pilate, because when we read Pilate\u2019s verdict at the end of their conversation, we see something that is easy to miss.<\/p>\r\n<p>Following their conversation, Pilate comes out and addresses the crowd of Jewish leaders by saying at the end of verse 38, \u201c<strong>I find no basis for a charge against him.<\/strong>\u201d But Pilate doesn\u2019t stop there. He continues by saying, \u201c<strong>But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release \u2018the king of the Jews\u2019?<\/strong>\u201d (v. 39)<\/p>\r\n<p>Now, Jesus would have been a free person had these leaders not arrested Him, so it makes no rational sense for Pilate to offer to release Jesus as though He was a prisoner. If Jesus was unjustly arrested, then He should be released as a separate action aside from the custom of releasing a prisoner. It is in these two verses that we see the shift from Pilate believing Jesus is innocent to assuming His guilt.<\/p>\r\n<p>In this way, we come to the big realization I had when reading this passage: While Pilate eventually bends to the crowds demands for crucifixion a few verses later, in these two verses, Pilate becomes just as responsible for Jesus\u2019 death as the Jewish leaders themselves. The Jewish leaders may have been the ones to arrest Jesus, but Pilate, in assuming His guilt from His status as a prisoner when he directly says that he finds no fault in Jesus, also is just as responsible because he chose to not set Jesus free.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>In this passage Jesus\u2019 death is not only because of the Jewish leaders present, but the gentile leaders as well. In this way, both groups of humanity (Jews and Gentiles) are responsible for Jesus\u2019 death on the cross.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--570\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '570');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Of all the gospel writers to share about Jesus\u2019 trial before Pilate, the gospel of John includes the version that may be my favorite. Matthew and Mark both share similar, very abridged versions, while Luke goes into details about how Pilate sends Jesus to see Herod, who then sends Jesus back. However, the gospel of [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Assuming His Guilt: John 18:28-40 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/assuming-his-guilt-john-18-28-40\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Assuming His Guilt: John 18:28-40 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Of all the gospel writers to share about Jesus\u2019 trial before Pilate, the gospel of John includes the version that may be my favorite. 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