Pontius Pilate the release of Barabbas and said of Jesus, "Crucify him!" In Matthew, Pilate responds, "Why? What evil has he done?" The crowd continued shouting, "Crucify him!" Pilate ordered a sign posted above Jesus on the cross stating "Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews" to give public notice of the legal charge against him for his crucifixion. The chief priests protested that the public charge on the sign should read that Jesus "claimed" to be King of the Jews. Pilate refused to change the posted charge, saying "What I have written, I have written." (""Quod scripsi, scripsi""). This may
Matthew 27:2 the histories of Josephus. While Jewish sources portray Pilate as a tyrannical ruler, Christian ones have long viewed him as a weak man doing evil despite his better judgement. The Gospel of Matthew follows the narrative of a weak, but decent, Pilate who is pressured into the crucifixion by the Jewish leaders. Like Matthew 27:1 this verse is built upon . Adding the word governor may link with Jesus' prediction at that he would be "dragged before governors." Governor was not Pilate's true title, according to the Pilate Stone he was officially Prefect of Judea. Josephus also refers to him