As the Roman prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate had the last word on pretty much everything—which is to say, he could have saved Jesus from being crucified, if that was what he wished to do. And judging by the gospel accounts, it’s clearly what he would have preferred to do.

For starters, after interrogating Jesus at some length, Pilate came to the conclusion that he had not really done anything wrong. “I find no crime here,” he bluntly told the chief priests. Maybe the man had committed a religious faux pas here and there or stepped on a few too many Pharisaic toes. But that was of little concern to Pilate. Frankly, he had neither the time nor the inclination to become entangled in what he considered to be a meaningless turf war among the leaders of the Sanhedrin.

Moreover, the last thing Pilate needed—especially at Passover—was to stir up a hornet’s nest by making a martyr out of some wannabe Messiah. “You’re the ones who have a problem with him,” he said to the chief priests. “Settle it yourselves.”

But this was not something that was going to settle down; and it quickly became apparent that, if Pilate set Jesus free, an even nastier hornet’s nest would be stirred up. So, eventually, he gave up, and gave in, and ordered the man’s execution.

At one point during the trial, Pilate had boasted of being practically omnipotent with regard to Jesus’ fate. “Do you not know that I have the power to release you, and the power to crucify you?” he shouted.

However, in reality, Pilate is basically powerless here; and everyone—including, perhaps, ol’ Pontius himself—knew it. He orders a basin to be filled with water, so that he can symbolically wash his hands of the whole dirty affair. But the truth of the matter is that, washed or unwashed, Pilate’s hands were tied.

The one thing that he had always prided himself on was having the last word. But in this instance, he doesn’t even get that. Jesus has the final word … and he delivers it from the cross, of all places. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

With those words, Jesus shifted the entire context of his death. Up to that moment, it looked to everyone as if his life was being taken from him. But by saying what he did, in that final dying breath, Jesus’ life was removed from the hands of his accusers altogether. He—and he alone—is the one commending his spirit to God … not the chief priests, not Caiaphas, not even Pontius Pilate.

Simply put, those who occasionally speculate about who is to blame for unjustly taking Jesus’ life have missed the point. No one took his life … he gave it!