Matthew 27:2, 13-24   ² They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?"  ¹⁴ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.  ¹⁵ Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted.  ¹⁶ At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas.   ¹⁷ So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?"  ¹⁸ For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.  ¹⁹ While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him."  ²⁰ Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.  ²¹ The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas."  ²² Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!"  ²³ Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!"  ²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves."

             Yesterday in Sunday School, Gail H. asked a question about Pilate’s life post-Jesus’ crucifixion.  I came home to do a little research on the subject, and found that there really is not that much information about Pilate other than what we have in the four Gospels.  All four of them mention him as the Governor of Judea during the time of Jesus’ death.  Beyond that, not much is out there.  In 1961 an inscription of his name and title was found in a limestone rock in Israel (see here http://www.bible-history.com/empires/pilate.html ).  Most everything about him though is simply accredited to history, with a few of it being fact, and the rest being legend. 

            Both the Jewish historians Philo and Josephus wrote about Pilate.  Below is what they had to say, which we can be for certain is fact based on their other writings and accuracy.  Besides these two accounts, lots more can be found about Pilate at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate .

            According to Philo, Pilate was "inflexible, he was stubborn, of cruel disposition. He executed troublemakers without a trial." He refers to Pilate's "venality, his violence, thefts, assaults, abusive behavior, endless executions, endless savage ferocity."

            According to Josephus, Pilate repeatedly almost caused insurrections among the Jews due to his insensitivity to Jewish customs. While Pilate's predecessors had respected Jewish customs by removing all images and effigies on their standards when entering Jerusalem, Pilate allowed his soldiers to bring them into the city at night. When the citizens of Jerusalem discovered these the following day, they appealed to Pilate to remove the ensigns of Caesar from the city. After five days of deliberation, Pilate had his soldiers surround the demonstrators threatening them with death, which they were willing to accept rather than submit to desecration of Mosaic law. Pilate finally removed the image. The incident proved to be an early example of effective resistance to tyranny by aggressive, nonviolent means.

            Josephus recounts another incident in which Pilate spent money from the Temple to build an aqueduct. When Jews again protested his actions, Pilate had soldiers hidden in the crowd of Jews while addressing them. After giving the signal, Pilate's soldiers randomly attacked, beat, and killed scores of Jews to silence their petitions.

In our prayers this week:  Catherine, Wendi, and Ann

God’s Peace,