Mark 15:
12 Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Pilate thought Jesus was innocent. Why did he scourge Jesus?
Mark was succinct. Luke gave more timeline detail in 23:
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”
Some time elapsed between Pilate's decision to scourge Jesus and his decision to crucify him. He thought scourging Jesus might satisfy Jesus' enemies for blood.
John gave a blow-by-blow account in 19:
1 Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
Pilate wanted to release Jesus after the flogging. He asked Jesus' enemies to look at Jesus' pitiful state.
5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
Blood wasn't enough. They wanted death.
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
Finally, Pilate let Jesus be crucified. It was out of his hand.
Why did Pilate scourge Jesus?
Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, but there was pressure on him from the Jews to execute Jesus. Pilate thought that scourging Jesus would generate pity for him. It did not work. In the end, Jesus was crucified.
