Verse 2
And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering saith unto him, Thou sayest.
There were many details Mark omitted, such as the other charges, which the Sanhedrin alleged against Jesus, these being: that he perverted the nation, stirred up the country all the way to Galilee, etc. Mark remembered that Pilate here focused on their charge that Jesus was making himself King. Mark omitted the event of Pilate's sending Jesus to Herod.
Art thou the King of the Jews ... The deceit of the Sanhedrin was never more diabolical than here. The popular and erroneous conceit that the divine Messiah would be a literal King of Israel was their allegation, not that of Jesus. It was precisely because our Lord would not consent to be such a King that they so thoroughly hated him. If our Lord had accepted such a view of his Messiahship, the Sanhedrin would have supported him and aided him in every possible manner against the Romans.
Pilate's question centered upon the charge of greatest interest to the governor who was charged with protecting Caesar's interests. Jesus' reply has the effect of "Yes, I am the King of the Jews, but not in the sense meant by the accusers." Pilate accepted Jesus' answer as proof of his innocence.
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