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Pilate's Involvement with Jerusalem However, Pontius Pilate was empowered to overturn the capital punishment, and on Friday morning, One of the most important events that Pontius Pilate was apart of was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus was convicted for blasphemy and sentenced to death. Jesus was taken to Pontius Pilate for his sentencing. Before giving Jesus his sentence, Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews, and Jesus replied, “You have said so”. After this, Pilate tried in several ways to save Jesus before making him face the decision of the people. However, Pilate was unsuccessful. When the people insisted that Jesus be put to death, Pilate ordered the execution. (Microsoft) |
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Another significant occurrence in Pontius Pilate’s life
was his death. Pontius Pilate committed suicide. His
body was thrown into the Tiber, but the river had so many evil spirits that
the body was taken to Vienne and it was sunk in the Rhone, where a monument,
called Pilate's tomb, was built for him. As the same thing occurred
there, the body was again removed and it was sunk in the lake at Lausanne.
His body’s final destination was in a deep and lonely mountain pond,
which, was on a mountain called Pilatus. (Barnes) |
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When Pontius Pilate first took office in Judea trouble
started. With the intention of annoying the Jews rather than of honoring
Tiberius, he set up gold shields in Herod's palace in the Holy City. They
only had an inscription, which stated two things - the name of the dedicator
and that of the person in whose honor the dedication was made. When
the Jews heard this they chose the king’s four sons, the king’s other descendants,
and their own officials as their spokesmen and they asked Pilate to bring
down the shields and not to violate their customs. When stubborn
Pilate heard this he refused. The Jews then shouted: 'Do not cause a revolt! Do not cause a war! Do not break the peace! Disrespect done to our ancient laws brings no honor to the emperor. Do not make Tiberius an excuse for insulting our nation. He does not want any of our traditions done away with. If you say that he does, show us some decree or letter or something of the sort, so that we may cease troubling you and appeal to our master by means of an embassy. This really frustrated Pilate, because he was afraid that if they sent an embassy, they would also send other complaints, specifying his venality, his violence, his thefts, his assaults, his abusive behavior, his frequent executions of untried prisoners, and his endless rage. However, Pontius Pilate didn’t have the courage to remove the shields. He also didn’t have the desire to do anything which would please the Jews. When the Jewish officials realized that Pilate had some regret for what he had done, however he was not going to change it, they wrote a letter to Tiberius, pleading their case. Once Tiberius read this he immediately wrote a letter to Pilate telling him to remove the shields and send them to Caesarea to be dedicated in the temple of Augustus. (Lendering) |
This statue depicts Pontius Pilate condemning Jesus
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