Matthew 27:11 says, And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.  When before the governor, Jesus was asked if He were the King of the Jews.  Pilate, the governor, was still looking at this as a worldly claim.  Jesus simply answered, "Thou  sayest."   This is the question everyone has to answer individually.  We either believe that Jesus is who He says He is or we don't.  Jesus will never force anyone to believe in Him as their Savior.  Verse twelve declares, And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.  The chief priests and elders were there to make their accusations, but Jesus did not respond to them.  Nothing Jesus said was going to make a difference to them.  They had not believed His words until now, and they certainly weren't going to believe them now.  When a person, or a group of people, harden their hearts against Jesus, nothing that is said or done is going to change their minds.  We just need to pray that it isn't those who call themselves God's people who act in such a way.  In verse thirteen Pilate asks, Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?  Pilate was basically asking Jesus if He was going to answer the many things that He was being accused of.  Jesus knew that there was no need to answer, since the people, God's chosen people, were determined that He be put to death.  There comes a point where no amount of stating the truth of Christ will change the mind of someone determined to discredit Him no matter what.  Verse fourteen states, And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.  Jesus did not answer, and Pilate was left to marvel at this fact.  Marvelling at the action of Jesus is not enough.  Pilate was at the point where he personally had to make a decision about Jesus, as is every individual at some point in life.  Verse fifteen says, Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.  Pilate released a prisoner that the people chose during the feast.  Verse sixteen states, And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.  Pilate was going to offer Barabbas a noted criminal as the other choice to Jesus for release.  I believe that Pilate thought that he had a way out of the situation, thinking that the Jews would certainly choose to release Jesus instead of Barabbas.  People today still choose the evil of the world over salvation through Christ.  Verse seventeen states, Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?  Pilate gave the Jews, God's chosen people, a choice of releasing Barabas, a known criminal, or Jesus, Who was guilty of being called the Christ.  Again, I believe that Pilate thought they would certainly choose Jesus.  We today have that same choice of whether we will choose the evils of the world, or Jesus, Who is not just called the Christ, the Messiah, but in fact is the Messiah.  Verse eighteen states,  For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.  Pilate knew that Jesus had been delivered for judgment simply out of jealousy of the religious leaders.  Jesus was becoming more popular and threatening their position.  We cannot afford to attempt to discredit Jesus out of fear of losing our position or status in the world.  Verse nineteen states, When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.  When Pilate sat down in his judgment seat, his wife came to him with a warning.  She told Pilate to have nothing to do with Jesus, whom she called a just man.  She had suffered  from a troubling dream about Jesus.  God sometimes works through non believers to point out His truth.  Pilate's wife did not say she believed Jesus was Who He said He was, but simply that she was troubled by His being on trial.  We cannot simply believe that Jesus was a just man, but we must accept Him as our Savior and Lord for His gift of salvation to have any real meaning.  Verse twenty says, But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.  Given a choice between a a known criminal and Jesus, the religious leaders persuaded the crowd to ask that Berabbas, the known criminal, be set free.  It would have been bad enough if the religious leaders had allowed the crowd to persuade them, but it was even worse this way.  The lost of the world are going attempt to get those who follow Christ to betray Him and choose the things of this world, but we certainly need to make sure that we never lead the lost to choose anyone or anything above Jesus.  Verse twenty-one states, The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.  The governor asked for their choice, and the people said Barabbas.  I believe that Pilate still expected the crowd to ask for Jesus and thereby avoid condemning Him.  We cannot pass the responsibility for choosing to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord off to anyone else.  Simply by the fact that Pilate attempted to avoid making a decision about Jesus, he really rejected Him.  Each individual ultimately must decide whether to accept Jesus or not.  The crowd chose Barabbas.  Verse twenty-two says,  Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.   Pilate then asked the crowd what he should do with Jesus, and they said to crucify Him.  Pilate was still attempting to pass his responsibility on to the crowd.  The crowd, or multitude, who had just welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with honor now called for His crucifixion.  Pilate could not really pass off his responsibility toward Jesus by offering alternatives nor by allowing the crowd to decide, and neither can we.  The crowd went from adoration for Jesus to calling for His crucifixion very quickly.  They didn't understand Who Jesus was in either case.  We cannot be saved by simply following the crowd.  We must accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord no matter what the crowd may be saying about Him.  It is always an individual choice.  Verse twenty-three states, And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.  Pilate asked the crowd what evil Jesus had done.  That was really Pilate's responsibility to find out.  If we are going to make a choice about whether or not to follow Jesus, we must first decide if we believe that He is Who He says that He is, and even if we are in a large crowd crying out against Him, we must choose Jesus.  The crowd, led by the chief priests and elders, had no answer about what evil Jesus had done, but simply cried louder for His crucifixion.  Those who reject Jesus today can never do so based on Jesus having done anything wrong, but must simply reject Him because they do not believe He is Who He says He is.