Pilate went straight to the charge that mattered to Rome: was Jesus claiming to be a king? Gill says Pilate fixed on this because it was said that Jesus had given Himself out to be a king; as for matters of religion, Gill adds, Pilate took no notice of them. Barnes, on the parallel in Matthew 27:11, explains why the council framed it this way. They had condemned Jesus for blasphemy, but before the governor they "attempted to substitute a totally different accusation from that on which they had professed to find him guilty; to excite the jealousy of the Roman governor, and to procure his death on a false charge of treason against the Roman emperor." Pilate needed to know whether this prisoner was a rival to Caesar.

Jesus answered, "Thou sayest it." Barnes explains the same reply in Matthew 27:11: "thou sayest right, or thou sayest the truth." Gill paraphrases it, "it is as thou sayest, I am the King of the Jews," and notes that Jesus did not leave it without explanation, as John records: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). Pilate then told the chief priests and the people, "I find no fault in this man" (Luke 23:4). But they "were the more fierce" (Luke 23:5).

Pilate was the Roman governor of Judaea (Luke 3:1). The council brought Jesus to him because, as they told Pilate, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death" (John 18:31). A claim to be king could be treated as rebellion against Caesar; the Jews later cried out to Pilate, "whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar" (John 19:12).

The charge that Jesus forbade paying tribute was false. When asked about it in the temple, He had said, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's" (Luke 20:25). Barnes explains that Jesus acknowledged He was a king, "yet he stated fully that his kingdom was not of this world, and that therefore it could not be alleged against him as treason against the Roman emperor."

Pilate's question puts into a Roman's mouth what Luke has said from the beginning. The angel promised that God would give Jesus "the throne of his father David" and that "of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). The whole multitude of the disciples cried, "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Luke 19:38). And over the cross, the title would be written in three languages: "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Luke 23:38).

Jesus answered honestly, even though the answer could cost Him His life. He is the King, but not the kind Pilate feared. His kingdom does not rise by the sword (John 18:36), and Pilate himself, after examining Him, found "no fault in this man" (Luke 23:14).