Pilate was caught: he wanted to make the best of two worlds.

Should he sentence Jesus to death? That's hard to do to a man who has impressed you so favorably ... with his innocence, with his strength, with his wisdom. But what should he do with the overwhelming opposition to Jesus? Should he, Pilate, take a stand against the majority who opposed him?

Releasing Jesus would mean an encounter with the Sanhedrin in the Jewish court, and Pilate did not want that. Sentencing Jesus would mean putting to death a man who had done nothing to deserve capital punishment. Yet there seemed to be only these who alternatives with their consequences: to defy the majority and the governing powers, or to defy his own conscience. But Pilate opted for a third alternative: to make no decision, to wash his hands o…