What is the meaning of John 18:39? But it is your custom • Pilate appeals to a practice familiar to the crowd: “But it is your custom” (John 18:39). • The governor shifts responsibility to them, echoing Luke 23:17 and Matthew 27:15, where the same Passover release custom is mentioned. • This appeal underscores human free choice set beside divine sovereignty—God allows people to decide, yet Proverbs 19:21 reminds us His purpose prevails. That I release to you one prisoner • The word “release” recalls Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18, where deliverance is central to Messiah’s mission. • Ironically, Pilate offers political freedom while Jesus offers eternal freedom (John 8:36; Galatians 5:1). • One prisoner symbolizes substitution: one goes free, another dies—a picture echoed in Barabbas going free while Jesus takes the penalty (2 Corinthians 5:21). At the Passover • Passover celebrates Israel’s redemption from Egypt (Exodus 12). • The timing is prophetic: the true Passover Lamb stands before them (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). • God arranged the calendar so that while lambs were being slain in the temple, the Lamb of God was being sentenced outside the palace (Hebrews 13:11-12). So then, do you want me to release • Pilate frames the question to secure a predictable “yes,” thinking Jesus harmless (Luke 23:14-15). • His rhetorical tone signals reluctance to condemn an innocent man, yet he fears unrest (John 19:12). • The crowd’s response will expose their hearts, fulfilling John 1:11—“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” To you the King of the Jews? • Pilate’s title is both political and prophetic. He means it sarcastically; God means it literally (John 19:19-22; Zechariah 9:9). • By offering “the King,” Pilate unintentionally forces the nation to choose between a violent rebel (Barabbas, Mark 15:7) and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). • Their rejection fulfills Psalm 118:22, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” summary John 18:39 shows Pilate leveraging a Passover custom to resolve Jesus’ trial, yet every phrase brims with deeper meaning. The crowd is handed a choice at the feast that celebrates deliverance: accept the true Lamb and King or cling to a fleeting, false freedom. Their rejection of Jesus secures God’s redemptive plan—one prisoner goes free, pointing to the greater release available to all who trust the crucified and risen King of the Jews. |
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