John 19:7

John 19:7 says, The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, for He made Himself the Son of God."  They did not listen to the judgment of Pilate, but instead stated that they had a law that said Jesus must die.  We must be careful when we base actions on what the Bible says that we don't attempt to make it justify what we want to do.  The Jews did have a law to put to death those guilty of blasphemy, but Jesus was not guilty of it.  They also had scripture that said the Messiah was coming and how He would come into the world, but they did not apply these scriptures to Christ.  They were looking to carry out their will, and to do it in the name of God. They in effect told Pilate that if he wouldn't crucify Jesus, they would.  Verse eight adds, When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid.  Pilate had thought that Jesus was being accused of claiming to be royalty, and now he understood he was accused of claiming to be a deity.  The people would not be easily persuaded to let Him go, but what if this were true.  We can understand why Pilate was afraid.  If we find ourselves in a position where we have to choose between the crowd and God, we do not need to be afraid.  We can never let fear overrule God.  Verse nine continues, And went again unto the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, "Whence art Thou? "But Jesus gave him no answer.  Pilate was again wanting to find fault with Jesus.  He did not directly ask Jesus if He were the Son of God, but only where He came from, heaven or earth.  The Romans didn't fear any army, but they feared many gods.  If Jesus were a god, then Pilate didn't want to offend Him.  Jesus didn't answer because Pilate had no understanding of the Jewish Messiah, and if Jesus had pronounced Himself any god, Pilate would have likely freed Him.  People today may want to accept Jesus as some kind of god for fear of offending Him, but we must accept Him as the only true God.  He can never be anything less.