JOHN 19:15 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar.”
They cried out, 'Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!' Pilate asked them, 'Shall I crucify your king?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.' — The leaders' demand—"Away with him!" (Aire aire)—twice over, echoes the Barabbas demand. The question "Shall I crucify your king?" forces an explicit choice. The leaders' response—"We have no king but Caesar"—represents theological apostasy: the descendants of David reject all kings but Rome's. The irony reaches apex: those devoted to Torah assert allegiance to a pagan tyrant to destroy God's true king.
Church Fathers on John 19:15
The Jews thought they could alarm Pilate more by the mention of Caesar, than by telling him of their law, as they had done above; We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. So it follows. But the Jews cried out, saying, you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend; whosoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.
But how can you prove this? By His purple, His diadem, His chariot, His guards? Did He not wall; about with His twelve disciples only, and every thing mean about Him, food, dress, and habitation?
The tribunal is the seat of the judge, as the throne is the seat of the king, and the chair the seat of the doctor.
Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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