The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. As being a blasphemer, sacrilegious, and opposed to God. S. Augustine says, "See here a greater charge. It seemed but a light thing that He had aimed at sovereign power: and yet He did not falsely claim anything; for He is the Only Begotten Son of God, and is King placed by Him on the hill of Sion, and He would now give proof of both, unless, the more powerful He was, the more patient did He choose to be."
When their false accusation that they had at first contrived proved fruitless, and they established against Him no attempt at revolution or revolt against Caesar's rule (for the Lord parried these charges, saying: My Kingdom is not of this world; if my Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews), and when Pilate thereupon gave a just and impartial verdict, and did not as yet comply with their will, but said openly that He found no fault in Him, the audacious Jews completely changed their tactics, and asserted that they had a law, which condemned the Saviour to death. What law was that? That which fixes the punishment for blasphemers; for in the book called Leviticus it is recorded, that certain men, who were counted among Jews, strove together, according to the Scripture, in the camp, and that one of them made mention of the Name of God, and blessed Him, for thus saith the Scripture euphemistically, meaning that he cursed and bl...
How then when the judge said, 'Take ye him, and judge him according to your law,' did ye reply, 'It is not lawful for us to put any man to death,' while here ye fly to the law? And consider the charge, 'He made himself the Son of God.' Tell me, is this a ground of accusation, that He who performed the deeds of the Son of God should call Himself the Son of God? What then does Christ? While they held this dialogue one with the other, He held His peace, fulfilling that saying of the Prophet, that He opens not his mouth: in His humiliation His judgment was taken away. Isaiah 53:7-8, Septuagint
Then Pilate is alarmed when he hears from them, that He made Himself the Son of God, and dreads lest the assertion may possibly be true, and he should seem to transgress; but these men who had learned this, both by His deeds and words, did not shudder, but are putting Him to death for the very reasons for which they ought to have -->worshipped--> Him. On this account he no more asks Him, What have ...
