The trail before Pilate

The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate as a criminal facing a guilty charge and the punishment for their crimes. I don't know the exact circumstance a criminal would be brought to Pilate and not to any other government official but it seems that once a criminal is brought before him, he or she would proved to be guilty by the result of Pilate's interrogations and by his own sense of judgment. In the case for Jesus, Pilate's interrogations proved Jesus to be innocent. Stott points out that "on five distinct occasions Pilate is recorded as having declared Jesus innocent." I feel that the trial by Pilate was God's way of declaring to the world that Jesus was indeed innocent. He was sinless in God's eyes and for those who do not fear God-Pilate's testimony states "I find no basis for a charge against him."(John 18:38) There was nothing in Jesus that deserved punishment-let alone the punishment by death. However, He was indeed put to death and put to death by crucifixion. It's very puzzling to me that as I follow the story unfold, I find layers of irony and unexpected outcomes that turns out as it should have turned out-according to God's will.
The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate so that Pilate- a person of power in the world would declare Jesus as guilty and worthy of punishment by death. But, they got exactly the opposite. Pilate declared Jesus to be innocent. This should have foiled the plans of the Jews to have Jesus killed. Jesus should have been set free. Pilate's interrogations found no basis for Jesus' guilt and Pilate's heart was not with the Jews to put Jesus to death. Nevertheless, Pilate's final judgment fell in the favor of the Jews. At this one might think that Jesus became a victim in the hands of evil men but verse 31 of John 18 says that "This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death He was going to die would be fulfilled." "This" meaning the trail by Pilate.
For the Jews, a trail by Pilate would fulfill their desires to have Jesus killed and whatever their insidious motives may have been, they were given what they desired. However, it was ultimately God's will that was fulfilled. Jesus knew what would happen to Him despite His innocence and He did not fight against it because He knew the will of God and chose to obey.

This story makes me want to declare that Jesus was not a victim. He suffered in the hands of evil men and He died for my sins but He was not a victim of these evil men and He is not a victim of my sins. He is God and God's precious gift to the world. It is too amazing for me to fathom the full implications of the true outcome of this trial by Pilate. This trail declared Jesus to be innocent yet He was punished by death and it is His death on the cross that declares us to be innocent though we have been guilty since birth. Surely this is not the work of men but the work of God.