And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
Our Lord Jesus was condemned as a blasphemer in the spiritual court, but it was the most impotent malice that could be that this court was actuated by; for, when they had condemned him, they knew they could not put him to death, and therefore took another course. I. They accused him before Pilate.
Commenting on Luke 23:1-12
And they began to accuse him,.... After they found that Pilate would not receive him as a malefactor upon their word, and delivery of him to him as such; but insisted on knowing what they had to charge him with, and what accusation they had to bring against him: saying, we have found this fellow perverting the nation; the nation of the Jews.
Verse 2. This fellow. The word fellow is not in the original. It conveys a notion of contempt, which no doubt they felt, but which is not expressed in the Greek, and which it is not proper should be expressed in the translation. It might be translated, "We found this man." Perverting the nation. That is, exciting them to sedition and tumults.