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It's one of those points in the calendar where there is an upsurge in religiously based WIs. And since Purim has just passed (I think), I figure Easter is an interesting point.
In the canonical Gospels, Pontius Pilate offers the crowd a choice between Jesus (Yeshua ben Yosef) and a criminal [Yeshua] Barabbas (literal translation 'Son of Abbas [Father]). When the crowd screams for Jesus' crucifixion, Pilate returns to Jesus and tells him that he [Pilate] has the power to crucify him or set him at liberty.
For one, Pilate being browbeaten by an angry mob would be a cause of immediate dismissal (according to my understanding of how Roman governing worked) and probably disgrace (although he was already in disgrace when he was sent to Judaea as I understand it), so what if he pardons Jesus?