(March 2, 2015 at 10:28 am)Drich Wrote: He wasnt. He was looking to passify them. The jews were always on the teetering edge of revolt. They hated rome, and in 70AD they did indeed revolt, which is what cause the romans to destroy the temple, full filling the prophesy Jesus gave.
Despite your misgivings about the Historical documentation concerning pilate, it has been well established that he was on thin ice with Tiberius/Ceasar about keeping the jews under control.
So to upset the jews by setting Jesus free, because he found him innocent of the charge they accused Him of would have caused trouble for pilate. So he had Jesus flogged and crucified to placate the crowd, rather than do what was right.
Maybe part of the disagreement and confusion comes from speaking of "the Jews" when there were actually different Jewish groups with different interests?