Pontius Pilate: A Character Study by William Jarod Webb

1. Pontius Pilate: A Character Study • by William Jarod Webb

2. Pilate: Lesson One Birth, Early Life and Family History & Reign - Pilate the Ambiguous • Birth Date & Death Date Unknown • Place of Birth Unknown, possibly Samnium, in central Italy • Family History: Member of the Pontius Family • Possibly a member of the Equestrian Class • Possible military service in Judea Statue of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius

3. Pilate: Lesson One Birth, Early Life and Family History & Reign - Governor of Judea • Pilate Reigned from AD 26-AD 36 • Served under Emperor Tiberius and Herod Antipas • Luke documents the birth of John the Baptist and mentions Pilate • Roman Procurator/Prefect of Judea - financial administration and supreme judicial power • Preceded by Valerius Gratus • Preceded over Jesus Trial

4. Pilate: Lesson One Birth, Early Life and Family History & Reign - The Roman Equestrian Class • Had to own property worth 400,000 sesterces • Wore a white tunic with narrow purple stripes • Was considered an aristocrat • Could serve in the Senate • Had military experience

5. Pilate: Lesson One Birth, Early Life and Family History & Reign - Ruled under Tiberius • Tiberius was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. • Born Tiberius Claudius Nero • Tiberius was one of Rome’s greatest generals • He was known to have a very gloomy personality • He did not seem interested in being Emperor

6. Pilate: Lesson Two Personality- Conflicting Actions I • Philo (Ad Gaium, 38) speaks of him as inflexible, merciless, and obstinate • In Luke 13:1-5 Pilate mingles the blood of the Galilaeans with the sacrifices • He washes his hands of Jesus • He has him scourged

7. Pilate: Lesson TwoPersonality- Conflicting Actions II • He allows his soldiers to mock him, place a crown of thorns on his head • Has soldiers to break his legs to hasten death • He allows Joseph of Armathaea to take Jesus’ body Matt 27:57-58, Mark 15:43-46, Luke 23:50-53 and John 19:38-39

8. Pilate: Lesson TwoPersonality - Pilate’s Coins • According to Joan Taylor, coins issued during Pilate’s reign to further suggest that Pilate promoted the Imperial Roman Cult and used its symbols, in part, to demonstrate to Jews his anti-religious convictions and to emphasize Roman authority. • The Imperial Roman Cult is a deviation from the ideal of the traditional Roman Republic where an elected group of Senators voted on political issues in service to the state. Rather, the Imperial Roman Cult elevated the Roman Emperor to a god-like state, one to be worshipped, and who held absolute power. In addition, the Roman State was also revered and elevated to a supernatural entity. • The simpulum was a small utensil shaped like a ladle with handle and shaft, with the top of the shaft slightly curved, and was used by priests for tasting the wine of the libations before they poured it out on the head of an animal about to be sacrificed. • The lituus was a wooden staff (or wand) with a curled end, made of a branch of either ash or hazel that had knots, and the curl was supposed to be naturally formed. The lituus was held in the right hand of the augures and was the augures’ identifying emblem. Traditionally the lituus was first used by Romulus whenRome was founded and symbolized the augures’ authority and pastoral vocation,but it was also raised to the sky when they invoked the gods and made predictions.It was used to mark out regions of the heavens when assessing the placement of sacred space on earth.

9. Pilate: Lesson Three History & Myth: Pilate’s Wife • While Pilate was sitting in the judgment hall, his wife sent him a message: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night, I suffered much on account of him." • Matthew 27:19 • Governors had been allowed to take their wives with them into their official districts, a law previously having forbidden this indulgence (Tacitus, 'Annul.,' 3:33, 34). • In the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus (ch. 2) she is said to have been a convert to Judaism. Other accounts affirm that she ultimately became a Christian • Her name, according to ecclesiastical tradition, was Claudia • Pilate and Claudia made Saints by Greek Orthodox and Coptic Churches

10. Pilate: Lesson Three History & Myth- Stone at Caesarea Martima • Inscription in Limestone found at Caesarea Maritima mentioning Pontius Pilate as prefect of Judaea and connecting him with the reign of Tiberius. • Caesarea Maritima was known simply as Caesarea. It was located about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem. • The inscription refers to him as prefect (a Praefectus civitatium) rather than procurator, which is what the Roman historian Tacitus calls him • The stone reads as follows: [DIS AUGUSTI]S TIBERIEUM [PO]NTIUS PILATUS [...PRAEF]ECTUS IUDA[EA] [...FECIT D]E[DICAVIT]

11. Conclusion and application • " According to Mark Gallie, Editor of Christianity Today, “our Lord Jesus Christ, who, as the Nicene Creed puts it with great specificity, was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried."Only when we fully grasp the historic, concrete, fleshly, and deathly nature of God as revealed in Jesus Christ—the one crucified under Pontius Pilate—can we turn the comer on the question that so plagues our age.”