In John's distinctive presentation of Jesus' trial before the Roman procurator, the following emphases should be noted:

(i) No specific accusation is made against Jesus by the Jewish leaders who simply demand a sentence on a wrong-doer from the procurator (18 :29-30).

(ii) Intense irony is found in 18 :28 where the Jewish leaders are concerned about the risk of ritual defilement to themselves before the Passover begins but are totally blind to the enormity of the crime that they are about to commit; the Roman procurator is a 'defiled instrument' that they need to use. Pilate's question of 18:38 is perhaps the most ironical passage in the whole Bible. As Pilate asks what truth is, he is totally blind to the truth of God in Jesus who stands before him (14:6).

(iii) Tension, dislike and further irony are emphasized in the confrontation between the Jewish authorities and Pilate, who tries to avoid taking any action himself (18:31, 19:4, 6, and 12). Pilate's contempt for the Jews comes out in 18:35; the Jewish leaders find Pilate's weak spot in 19: 12. There is further intense irony in the confrontation between the hatred of Jesus' accusers and the cynicism of Pilate (19 :4-16); both represent different aspects of the antagonism of the world on whose behalf Jesus is about to die.

(iv) Pilate's question of 18:33 indicates that the Jewish leaders finally accused Jesus of being the 'King of the Jews' which appeared to be a political accusation which Pilate could not safely ignore.

(v) In Jesus' replies to Pilate, two important words in this gospel are used, the world (18:36) and truth (18:37). Pilate's total inability to understand what Jesus says is made clear; he can think only in terms of earthly kingship and a worldly kingdom.

(vi) Nowhere else in the gospel does Jesus speak of 'my Kingdom' (18 :36).

Although what is presented in 18:38b-19:3 is very similar to Mark 15: 15-19, John's portrayal of Pilate in 19:4-16 is distinctive and ironical. Pilate becomes the defender of Jesus against the hostile Jews who demand his death. The Roman procurator, representative of the hated Gentile conqueror, appealed to the Jews to free the innocent one who was their true King and whom they absolutely rejected. Pilate was totally unaware of the irony of the whole terrible situation and of the confrontation which was going on between the powers of 'darkness' and 'light'. In the reply of the chief priests to Pilate that their only king was the Roman emperor (19: 15) the Jewish leaders rejected the Kingship of God which was a most important belief of their religion and history (Psalm 99: 1-5).

In 19:11 Jesus told Pilate that he had power over his prisoner only because it was given to him by God. Jesus' opponents who had handed him over to Pilate were guilty of the greater sin. '

According to John it was nearly noon on the day before the Passover began when Pilate finally agreed to the demands of the Jews that Jesus should be crucified (9: 13-16). That was the time at which the Passover Lambs would have been sacrificed for the evening Feast.