The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) · 32 of 37 · tr. American Standard Version (1901)
18:33-19:13
[18:33] Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
[18:34] Jesus answered, Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning me?
[18:35] Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
[18:36] Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
[18:37] Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
[18:38] Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find no crime in him.
[18:39] But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
[18:40] They cried out therefore again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
[19:1] Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
[19:2] And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple garment;
[19:3] and they came unto him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they struck him with their hands.
[19:4] And Pilate went out again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him out to you, that ye may know that I find no crime in him.
[19:5] Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold, the man!
[19:6] When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Take him yourselves, and crucify him: for I find no crime in him.
[19:7] The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
[19:8] When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the more afraid;
[19:9] and he entered into the Praetorium again, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
[19:10] Pilate therefore saith unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to release thee, and have power to crucify thee?
[19:11] Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.
[19:12] Upon this Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar’s friend: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
[19:13] When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment-seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Jesus' statement 'I should bear witness unto the truth' and 'every one that is of the truth heareth my voice' touches on truth as a fundamental ordering principle of reality, though it is framed soteriologically rather than cosmically.
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
Jesus' statement 'Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above' explicitly asserts that the divine actively orders the unfolding of events, including Pilate's authority and the course of the trial.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The claim that 'every one that is of the truth heareth my voice' implies a direct recognition or apprehension of truth available to those of a certain disposition, rather than knowledge mediated through ritual or moral works alone.
The doctrine that the divine or a spiritual principle takes on a specific, bounded material or bodily form — descending from an unconditioned state into individual, corporeal existence — as a discrete act rather than a diffuse pervading presence. The Christian Word made flesh, the Hindu avatara, the Egyptian pharaoh as living Horus, the Vajrayana tulku. Distinct from divine_immanence (the general claim that the divine pervades all of creation diffusely, not a specific embodiment-event) and separation_from_source (the felt exile FROM origin, the opposite motion) in describing a specific, individuated descent INTO a particular body or form.
'To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world' is a direct statement of a specific, individuated descent from an unconditioned divine state into particular corporeal existence for a defined purpose.
The phenomenon where spiritual messengers or healers are rejected by their own community due to familiarity or lack of awe.
The passage depicts Jesus being rejected and handed over for execution by his own nation and chief priests, who demand Barabbas over him and cry for his crucifixion, fitting the pattern of a spiritual messenger rejected by his own community.