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 27:11 the trial before Pilate. The following exchange between Jesus and Pilate is a rare item found in all four Gospels. With variations it is also at , , and -. This second interrogation closely parallels that of the first trial before the Sanhedrin in Matthew 26. The text implies that the Jewish leaders have briefed Pilate on the accusations they have against Jesus, and here he test them himself. This is the second time in Matthew a Gentile has referred to Jesus as "King of the Jews." The previous time was the Magi from the East doing so at .