The Crucifixion
So Pilate asked them again, “What then do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews?” Mark 15:12 · Berean Standard Bible
Pilate asks them, 'Then what do you want me to do with the one you call the King of the Jews?'
Pilate is trying to push the decision onto the crowd so it's not on him. He's looking for a way to avoid responsibility for what's about to happen.
Pilate puts the question back to the crowd.
It's a pivotal moment. Pilate gives the crowd the power to decide, not realizing they've already been coached on what to say.
Pilate asks the crowd what he should do with 'the one you call King of the Jews,' placing the decision and its consequences on them.
Pilate's phrasing 'whom you call King of the Jews' distances himself from the title while putting the crowd in an impossible position regarding their own messianic hopes.
Pilate redirects the question back to the crowd regarding Jesus' fate.
Pilate attempts to shift responsibility to the crowd, asking them to decide Jesus' fate. His political maneuvering will ultimately fail to save either Jesus or his own conscience.
10For he knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over.
11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas to them instead.
12So Pilate asked them again, “What then do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews?”
13And they shouted back, “Crucify Him!”
14“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?”
Read all of Mark 15 — Pilate washes his hands, soldiers mock the King of Kings, and darkness covers the land. The curtain in the temple tears from top to bottom.
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