NOT GUILTY

John 19:1-6
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Jesus Sentenced to Death

1 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”


This is a portion of a prayer used in the Kairos Prison Ministry titled, “Prayer to Christ, The Prisoner.”

• “… You were cuffed and shackled, and led stumbling to court,
• You were forced to stand in front of judges and prosecutors, with no attorney to help you,
• You were accused by lying, paid witnesses,
• You were tortured with beatings, insults, and whippings,
• You had men spit in your face,
• You had sharp thorns shoved into your scalp, …”
  

And Pilate declared not once but twice, “I find him not guilty.” What a way to treat an innocent man, let alone the Son of God.