Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - John 18:31
Pilate therefore said unto them, Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law. The Jews said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.Take him yourselves ... This was the first effort of Pilate to avoid sentencing Jesus. It was the equivalent of his saying, "This case is not under my jurisdiction; handle it yourselves."Not lawful for us to put any man to death ... According to Clarke, the Jews had the right of putting to death in matters of a wholly ecclesiastical... read more
Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - John 18:29
Pilate therefore went out unto them, and saith, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If this man were not an evil doer, we should not have delivered him up unto thee.The Sanhedrinists were strongly opposed to giving out the real charge on which they wished to execute Jesus, that he had testified under oath to being the divine Messiah. Their first ploy, therefore, was to avoid if possible naming any charge at all. Pilate understood the character of his... read more