Transcript File - Waldroop Papers & Sermons

Pontius Pilate: A Character Study
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
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
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
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
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
Pilate: Lesson Two
Personality- 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
Pilate: Lesson Two
Personality - 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.
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
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]
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.”