John 18:33–40

³³Then Pilate went back inside the palace and called Jesus to him and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus said, “Is that your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵Pilate answered, “I am not one of you. It was your own people and their leading priests who handed you over to me. What have you done wrong?”

³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it belonged to this world, my servants would have fought to keep me from being given over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷Pilate said, “So you are a king!”

Jesus answered, “You are the one saying I am a king. This is why I was born and came into the world: to tell people the truth. And everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me.”

³⁸Pilate said, “What is truth?” After he said this, he went out to the crowd again and said to them, “I find nothing against this man. ³⁹But it is your custom that I free one prisoner to you at Passover time. Do you want me to free the ‘king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “No, not him! Let Barabbas go free!” (Barabbas was a robber.)