John 19:14

John 19:14 says, And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour:  he saith unto the Jews, "Behold your King." The Jews had another reason to hurry.  It was almost Passover, and they needed Jesus crucified so it wouldn't intefere with their worship plans.  They were spending time persecuting Jesus when they should have been purging their lives of sin.  As followers of Christ, though not on the scale of what they were doing, we can be guilty of spending worship time thinking hatefully about others and doing anything but purging sin from our lives.  When we acknowledge it, all time should be a time to worship God, not to condemn and hate others.  Pilate told them to behold their King.  He was likely showing them how little of a threat Jesus was to Caesar, which showed the absurdity of their claim.  He was also saying that if they wanted Jesus as King, there He was.  Yet, though he didn't know it, Pilate was proclaiming the truth.  Jesus was their King, and all they had to do was accept Him.  Jesus may be presented to the world today by those who do not believe in Him with scorn or ridicule, but He is still King. Jesus may not be the ruler in the sense that people think He should be, but He is still King.  The world may think that they have beaten Him, but Jesus is still King.   Verse fifteen adds, But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him."  And Pilate saith unto them, "Shall I crucify your King?"  And the chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."  They did not want Jesus in their sight anymore unless He was on the cross.  They did not want to claim Him as one of their own, much less as King.  Until we see Jesus on the cross, we cannot see Him as our Savior and Lord.  We are not one of His until we accept what He did for us there.  When Pilate asked if he should crucify their King, they said away with Him and crucify Him.  May we as His people never choose the world, or even religion, over Jesus.