Jesus was handed over to Pilate by the Jewish leaders. Pilate is the regional administrator of the Roman province of Judea. According to Wikipedia, he was appointed in 26 AD, which is roughly 4-7 years before the crucifixion Jesus. Pilate was recalled to Rome in 37 AD after violently suppressing a rebellion of the Samaritan.
Interesting people who have played Pilate in modern cinema include Michael Palin (Monty Python's Life of Brian, 1979), David Bowie (The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988) and Gary Oldman (Jesus, 1999).
The Jewish leaders could not enter the palace because this would have rendered them unclean for the Passover. So, Pilate went out to meet with them.
The Jewish leaders claimed that Jesus was inciting a revolt, that he was a king, and urging discontinuing paying taxes to Caesar. They also say that they do not have the power to kill anyone. This may be true, but it did not stop them from wanting to kill the adulterous woman.
Jesus remains silent during these accusations and this silence amazes Pilate. Pilate then takes Jesus away for a private conversation.
Meanwhile, Pilate's wife tells Pilate not to have anything to do with this innocent man. She had a dream the night before about Jesus and she was really spooked.
Pilate interrogates Jesus. Jesus says a few things that might have sounded a little strange and religious, but he is otherwise innocent. Pilate sees through the charges of the Jewish leaders and think that their motivation is envy.
Pilate finds out that Jesus is from Galilee, which is an area under the jurisdiction of Herod. Herod just so happens to be in town, probably because of the Feast and the Passover. Pilate in turn sends Jesus to Herod.
Herod is happy about this because he had wanted to meet Jesus for a while. He had thought that Jesus was the resurrected John the Baptist and hoped Jesus would perform a miracle. Herod interrogates Jesus, but not privately. Instead, he allows the chief priests to listen in.
Jesus remains silent and this seems to disappoint Herod, who starts mocking Jesus. He then sends Jesus back to Pilate.
Pilate has Jesus beaten and flogged. The soldiers make a crown of thorns put them on Jesus. They also put a purple cloak on Jesus in mock homage of being a king.
Note, the Gospel of Matthew says that the robe was scarlet, while the Gospels of Mark and John say it was purple. The Gospel of Luke says it was "elegant". So, was the robe purple or scarlet? Both purple and scarlet are similar hues and there are some hues in between them that might appear purple to some people whereas might call the same hue scarlet. It might have even been purplish-scarlet.
Pilate has a custom to release one prisoner. He thinks this might be his escape. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of asking the crowd who they want released. If it were up to Pilate, he would have released Jesus. He should not have asked the crowd. But since the practice was to appease the crowd, asking the crowd what they want has logic.
The crowd is stirred up by the priests. They begin to shout for Barrabas. Barrabasis a murderer who participated in a recent revolt and is awaiting execution. Clearly, there are two separate and sufficient reasons to execute Barrabas whereas Jesus is innocent.
The crowd grows more rowdy and excited and Pilate feels he has no choice but to appease the crowd, lest a riot ensue. Presumably, Pilate thought that having Jesus flogged and beaten would be enough to appease the crowd, but it is not.
He washes his hands over a water basin to symbolize that is the crowds to decision to kill Jesus, not his.
Around noon, Pilate sends Jesus off to be crucified.
All four Gospels agree that Pilate was reluctant to execute Jesus. But nevertheless, he agrees and orders it. Does his reluctance exonerate him? Jesus himself says to Pilate that those who gave Jesus to Pilate were guilty of a greater son. (John 19:11). But nevertheless, he failed to stand up to the crowd or even pursue other options. Perhaps he could have imprisoned Jesus or delayed deciding what to do with Jesus until after Passover and when the crowds would have left.
Further, Jesus had made so many predictions that he was about to die. If this was the ordained time, then one wonders if Pilate even had the free will to let Jesus go.
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