Jesus did not hide His identity. He was the King, He is the King and He will always be the King. The job of a king is to rule; not just to claim territory, but to direct the way people live. So, because Jesus is King, He has the right to tell people how to live and who to worship; and He always tells the truth.
 
Although Pilate was the highest authority in Israel, Jesus was higher than him. Pilate thought that Jesus should listen to him, but he was wrong. If Pilate had been interested in the truth, he would have done less talking and much more listening.
 

It is impossible for followers of Jesus to read this passage and not have some sense of outrage. How dare they abuse God the Son, the King of kings and the Saviour of the world! It is a right reaction. The graphic descriptions are distressing: violent flogging with whips, long thorns rammed into Jesus’ scalp, fists and wooden poles smashing into His face. The verbal abuse was full of derision, ridiculing His claim to be the King.
 

Pilate was afraid. He feared that mishandling the ‘Jesus crisis’ might result in another religious riot and he could be recalled to Rome to lose his job and possibly his head. He also feared Jesus. Everybody knew that He claimed to be the Son of God (John 19:7). When Jesus refused to answer Pilate’s questions, the governor was scared.
 

Everything seemed to be wrong. Jesus was not a criminal; He had done nothing wrong. John wrote that He carried His own cross. Was it His cross? It was certainly the cross on which He was to be crucified, and as the Creator God, it was cut from the tree He had made. It was the cross He had chosen to bear but He did not deserve it because He would suffer for our sins, not His own.