Though Pilate must have known the Jews too well to imagine that the Sanhedrin would really hate and persecute One, whose sole crime was an anxiety to free them from the Roman power[533], he saw that the case could not be hastily put aside, involving as it did three grave charges; (i) seditious agitation, (ii) attempted prohibition of the payment of the tribute-money, and (iii) the assumption of the suspicious title of “King of the Jews.” It was clearly necessary that he should at least examine the Accused, and, as a _procurator_[534], he was bound to conduct the examination himself. Withdrawing, accordingly, with the Redeemer into the interior of the prætorium (Jn. xviii. 33), he began by enquiring, _Art thou the King of the Jews_? (Jn. xviii. 33; Mtt. xxvii. 11). To this the Holy One replied by asking the governor whether he put this question of himself, or at the suggestion of others (Jn. xviii. 34). Apparently offended at such a rejoinder, and disclaiming all communion with the prejudices of the Jews[535], Pilate responded that he was not a Jew; His own countrymen, and the ruling powers of the nation, had brought Him before his tribunal, _what had He done_? Thus interrogated the Saviour replied by an assertion of the real nature of His kingdom: _My kingdom_, said He, _is not of this world; had my kingdom been of this world, then would my servants have contended that I should not be delivered to the Jews: My kingdom is not from hence_. _Art Thou[536], then, a king?_ enquired the wondering governor. _Thou sayest it_, answered the Redeemer; _for I am a King. For this purpose was I born, and for this purpose came I into the world, that I might bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My Voice_ (Jn. xviii. 37, 38). These mysterious words from the lips of One, whose life seemed to be entirely at his mercy; this denial that He was a king in a worldly sense, and the implication that in another sense He was[537]; this declaration that the object of His birth and of His life was to bear witness to _the truth_, increased the procurator’s perplexity. _What is truth?_ he asked, partly in sadness, partly in irony, partly from a real inability to discern the connection of such an abstract matter with “the present question, with a question of life and death, with a capital charge brought by the national council before the supreme tribunal[538].” He could connect a kingdom with _power_, but not with _truth_. The only sect Pilate could have ever heard of that believed in such a kingdom was the Stoics[539], and their opinions he would naturally regard as those of visionary enthusiasts. The Accused might be a dreamer, but certainly He was not one who had done anything deserving of the sword of the civil power, and going out to the Jewish deputation standing before the gate (Jn. xviii. 38), he declared his conviction of His innocence; _he found no fault in Him_ (Lk. xxiii. 4).