1When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. 2Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3Judas then, having taken a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were happening to him, went out and said to them, “Who are you looking for?”
5They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus said to them, “I am he.”
Judas also, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6When therefore he said to them, “I am he,” they went backward and fell to the ground.
7Again therefore he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way,” 9that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, “Of those whom you have given me, I have lost none.”
10Simon Peter therefore, having a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 11Jesus therefore said to Peter, “Put the sword into its sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not surely drink it?”
12So the detachment, the commanding officer, and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus and bound him, 13and led him to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should perish for the people.
15Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered in with Jesus into the court of the high priest; 16but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought in Peter. 17Then the maid who kept the door said to Peter, “Are you also one of this man’s disciples?”
He said, “I am not.”
18Now the servants and the officers were standing there, having made a fire of coals, for it was cold. They were warming themselves. Peter was with them, standing and warming himself.
19The high priest therefore asked Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.
20Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet. I said nothing in secret. 21Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. Behold, they know the things which I said.”
22When he had said this, one of the officers standing by slapped Jesus with his hand, saying, “Do you answer the high priest like that?”
23Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, testify of the evil; but if well, why do you beat me?”
24Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.
25Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him, “You aren’t also one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said, “I am not.”
26One of the servants of the high priest, being a relative of him whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
27Peter therefore denied it again, and immediately the rooster crowed.
28They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. It was early, and they themselves didn’t enter into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. 29Pilate therefore went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”
30They answered him, “If this man weren’t an evildoer, we wouldn’t have delivered him up to you.”
31Pilate therefore said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”
Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is illegal for us to put anyone to death,” 32that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what kind of death he should die.
33Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, called Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
34Jesus answered him, “Do you say this by yourself, or did others tell you about me?”
35Pilate answered, “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. What have you done?”
36Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.”
37Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
38Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Therefore, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
40Then they all shouted again, saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
Pontius Pilate (Πόντιος Πίλατος) is one of the most well known figures of ancient history, most of his familiarity based on his judgment of Jesus the Messiah recorded in the New Testament. Jesus' appearance before Pontius Pilate is recorded by all four Gospels (Matt 27:2; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-5; John 18:28- 19:16), but information about him also occurs in the writings of Josephus, Tertullian, Eusebius, Philo, Tacitus and Agapius of Hierapolis. For example, Tacitus says regarding Pilate:
Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.1
He has been vilified by some and canonized by others,2 considered as evil since he sentenced Jesus to death and viewed as a Christian by others who influenced Tiberius to be favorable to Christianity.3
Pilate was the fifth Roman governor of Judea, and had a troubled, and less than lustrous (undistinguished), career in that capacity. The date of his appointment and dismissal is subject to debate, but Pilate is commonly thought to have been appointed governor in A.D. 26 or 27, and removed from office in A.D. 36. He is reported to have died by suicide.
He had a rugged rule in Judea. Previous rulers in Judea had respected Jewish customs and sensitivities, but Pilate seemed to have little regard for them. He sneaked in images of the emperor ensigns brought into Jerusalem at night, which he finally removed due to the protests of the Jews. He, first, threatened them with death, but afterwards relented. At another time, he received a rebuke from emperor Tiberius after he had irritated the Jews to insurrection when he set up gold-coated shields in Herod’s palace, having Pilate to remove the shields to Caesarea and place them in the temple of Augustus.4
In the second episode, Pilate was not so pliable. He had appropriated funds from the temple treasury to pay for the construction of an aqueduct, to carry water to Jerusalem. Josephus does not say that this action violated Jewish law, but he does say that the indignant Jerusalemites surrounded Pilate as he heard cases, and protested angrily. Pilate, however, had taken the precaution of planting “plain-clothes” soldiers among the crowd. At the appropriate moment he signaled for them to draw their clubs and beat the protesters. Josephus says that many Jews perished, either from the blows or from being trampled in the escape. Thus, under Pilate, the Jews were reduced to fearful silence (2.177).5
His last vicious act was to have his cavalry and infantry kill a number of Samaritans who went for religious purposes to Mount Gerizim.6 After the Samaritans complained, the Roman governor of Syria, Vitellius, sent Pilate to Rome to explain himself to Tiberius, but before Pilate arrived, Tiberius had died.7 The successor to Tiberius, Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, removed Pilate from his position and exiled him to Vienne-on-Rhone. He is believed to have committed suicide while in exile during the reign of Caligula.8
Cornelius Tacitus, Annals 15.44, quoted from Early Christian Writings, http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/tacitus.html (last visited November 8, 2011). ↩︎
A. N. Sherwin-White, “Pontius Pilate,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, Ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988; 2002): “Origen described Pilate’s wife as a convert, and the Coptic church ultimately canonized Pilate himself.” Coptic should probably be understood as Ethiopic. “The Coptic Church or the Abyssinian Coptic Orthodox Church referred to in this article is the Ethiopian church, but they are sometimes confused because of their origins in Egypt. The fourth or fifth century Gospel of Nicodemus (which contains the Acts of Pilate), does not make Pilate a Christian, but depicts him as more friendly towards Jesus than any of the canonical gospels. Pilate was soon canonized by the Ethiopic churches. See Questions and Answers, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, http://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=766&catid=446 (last visited November 8, 2011). ↩︎
See discussion in Philip Schaff, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. I (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 105-06. Numerous stories arose regarding Pilate seeking to exonerate him or recognize him as a Christian. “For instance, the apocryphal Acts of Pilate recounts the trial showing that Pilate’s decision was forced upon him. Colorful embellishments bring home the point: when Jesus enters Pilate’s praetorium, the imperial standards miraculously bow down. Tertullian even speaks of Pilate as a “Christian at heart” and contributes to the legendary conversion of both Pilate and his wife (who later gains the name Procula).” Gary M. Burge, “Pilate, Pontius,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Eds. Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1988), 1694-95. The suicide is described by Eusebius (H.E. 2.7) was precipitated by his actions against the Samaritans, discussed by Arthur Cushman McGiffert, “Eusebius: Church History,” in Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1995, second printing), 110, n 13. “Pilate’s downfall occurred in the following manner. A leader of the Samaritans had promised to disclose the sacred treasures which Moses was reported to have concealed upon Mt. Gerizim, and the Samaritans came together in great numbers from all quarters. Pilate, supposing the gathering to be with rebellious purpose, sent troops against them and defeated them with great slaughter. The Samaritans complained to Vitellius, governor of Syria, who sent Pilate to Rome (36 a.d.) to answer the charges brought against him. Upon reaching Rome he found Tiberius dead and Caius upon the throne. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to defend himself, and, according to tradition, was banished to Vienne in Gaul, where a monument is still shown as Pilate’s tomb. According to another tradition he committed suicide upon the mountain near Lake Lucerne, which bears his name.” Ibid. Also see, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988; 2002). ↩︎
Philo, On The Embassy of Gaius, Book XXXVIII 299-305. See the translation of this event in Charles Duke Yonge, The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996), 784. See Paul L. Maier, “The Episode of the Golden Roman Shields at Jerusalem, Harvard Theological Review 62 (1969): 109-121. ↩︎
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.3.2. See the following for discussion of this, and other acts of Pilate: Steve Mason, Josephus and the New Testament (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1992). ↩︎
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.4.1 ↩︎
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.4.1 ↩︎
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.7: “It is worthy of note that Pilate himself, who was governor in the time of our Saviour, is reported to have fallen into such misfortunes under Caius, whose times we are recording, that he was forced to become his own murderer and executioner; and thus divine vengeance, as it seems, was not long in overtaking him. This is stated by those Greek historians who have recorded the Olympiads, together with the respective events which have taken place in each period.” Philip Schaff, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. I (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 110. ↩︎