"This fellow is not our king," shouted the priests and rulers. "We have no king but Cæsar the emperor!"
Pilate tried to show the Jews that the act of putting Jesus to death was their deed, not his. He sent for a basin of water, and in presence of them all washed his hands. Then holding out his hands, he called out to the people:
"My hands are clean from this good man's blood! I tell you that he has done nothing to deserve death! This is your doing, not mine!"
"This blood be on us, and on our children who come after us," answered the Jews.
Then Pilate, sitting on his throne, gave sentence that it should be as they wished, that Barabbas, a robber and a murderer, should be set free, and that Jesus, who had done no harm, but only good, should be sent to the cross.
Denarius of Cæsar