Pilate said to him, 'Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you?' — Pilate's indignation and assertion of absolute power (exousian apoluein... exousian stauröunai) represent the governor's frustration: as Rome's representative, he controls life and death. The claim to power to release Jesus echoes his earlier attempt to free him. Pilate's question reveals his incomprehension: why would the condemned remain silent before imperial authority?

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