John 19:12

John 19:12 says, And thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him: but the Jews cried out saying, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever makers himself a king speaketh against Caesar."   Pilate was again ready to do the right thing.  He was going to release Jesus.  He had attempted to do it and still placate the Jews, but now he was ready to just do his duty and release Jesus.  When we attempt to justify doing right on the based on the actions of a mob, we are ultimately going to have to decide whether to do right or not regardless.  The Jews then accused Pilate of not being Caesar's friend if he released Jesus.  If they could not convince Pilate based on false charges, then they would appeal to him based on fear for his own safety.  If he released Jesus and a revolt broke out, he would be responsible.  If we deny Christ based on what the world may think of us or do to us, we are just like Pilate.  We are letting fear rule our lives instead of faith.  Though Jesus had said His kingdom was not of this world, His people, the Jews, were using the claim that He was going to establish an earthly kingdom to get Pilate to do what they wanted.  We need to ensure that we, as followers of Jesus, never allow fear to rule our relationship with Him.  Verse thirteen adds, When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and set down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, or in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.  Pilate, having already found no fault in Jesus, was ready to judge Him again.  Pilate was now more concerned with how Caesar would view his actions than he was the innocence of Jesus.  When people of the world today cannot convict Jesus on one lie, they will look to another.  When we as His followers allow the crowd to determine our faithfulness to Jesus, we will never be the witness we should be.  When we, like the Jews, actually work against Christ to be accepted by the crowd, there is something fundamentally wrong with our faith in Him.  We must stand for what is right, even if we stand alone.  Again, Christ is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.  We cannot say that there are areas of life where morality does not matter and truly follow Christ.