Pilate was afraid.  He feared that mishandling the ‘Jesus crisis’ might result in another religious riot, and he would be recalled to Rome to lose his job and possibly his head.  He also feared Jesus.  Everybody knew that He claimed to be the Son of God (John 19:7).  When Jesus refused to answer Pilate’s questions, the governor was scared.

That awestruck fear was healthy in the presence of God the Son.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10).  It is the first place of reality, knowing that He is greater than us.  Yet Pilate overrode his fear by asserting his own power.  So many do that today.  It is a personal defence mechanism against submitting to the sovereignty of Jesus.  But the Lord will always have the last word.
 
Jesus had an authority about Him which became more evident when Pilate claimed to be all-powerful over Jesus.  But Jesus said, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above”.  Pilate was then filled with his own uneasy guilt.  It was as if he was the prisoner and Jesus was the judge.  And that is how it will be one day (Philippians 2:9-11).  Pilate was guilty, along with Judas Iscariot, and both of them knew it.
 
The Bible has no subsequent record of Pilate’s life.  We do not know if he repented and submitted to Jesus; or was remorseful but unrepentant like Judas.  But this narrative teaches us a lesson: however important or powerful we think we are … Jesus is greater still.  If we ever dare to accuse God, we know that it is us who are guilty, and not Him.  In the light of that, let us stop pretending about our power, and simply accept that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Any power we have is given to us, and we are accountable to Jesus for how we use it.