John 19: 16-24….Pilate has his opinion shouted down the years.

16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things,

Comment: Having declared Jesus guiltless, Pilate handed him over to be crucified. I suspect that his guilty conscience would not have been easily quieted! But he still made a clearly seen and heard, but ‘belated’ statement in support of his own view. In three languages he had Jesus labelled as the ‘King of the Jews’. The Jewish hierarchy complained about it, but, in this when it didn’t help, he stuck to his decision. Meanwhile his soldiers, having nailed Jesus to the cross, divided and gambled for his clothes, as had been prophesied that they would do a thousand years earlier by King David. The Bible again and again emphasises that He had no sin to be slain for, but that He died for your and my sin, introducing the possibility of effective repentance and belief.

Prayer: I kneel at Your feet, Lord Jesus.