Was the real crime that got Jesus into such hot water. Not claiming to be a king.
Pilate was willing to overlook the supposed claim to kingship. It was obvious to him that Jesus was no such threat. To either his seat as governor or to Caesar’s throne as emperor. “King of the Jews” was, technically, a rival title, but a weak one.
On the other hand,”Son of God” was a step too far for Romans who referred to Caesar as “Son of a God.” Monotheism or polytheism didn’t matter. If anything, it could only make the situation more dire. If Caesar’s basis for power was built upon his divinity, then any other claim to divinity was a threat.
For the Jews, there could be no incarnate “Son of God.”
For Romans, there could be no other “Son of a God”—any other son of any other God—besides Caesar.
And again, technically, they were correct. More right than they even could have known. Even here, at the tragic end, John is making the same point he has made since Chapter One:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:!4
