Who Was Pontius Pilate?

Pontius Pilate played such a major role in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ that, to understand the crucifixion, you have to understand the Roman governor behind it.

Rome conquered Israel in 63 BC.  A few years later, Rome installed Herod the Great as its puppet king of the entire country.  In 4 BC, Herod died, dividing his kingdom between his three sons.  Antipas received Galilee and Peraea.  Philip received Batanea, Auranitis, and Trachonitis.  And Archelaus, only eighteen years old at the time, received Idumaea, Judea, and Samaria (together making up the province of Judea).  Antipas and Philip were capable leaders, but Archelaus proved to be crooked and cruel.  Thus, in AD 6 Rome deposed him and in his place appointed a Roman governor over the province of Judea.  Fast forward to AD 26-36, when Pontius Pilate served as the fifth governor of Judea.

As the governor of a Roman province, Pilate had 3,000 troops under his command, some stationed at his headquarters in Caesarea, and some in a fortress in Jerusalem.  He was given full control of the military and judicial administration of the province, including taxation, however without the power to raise taxes.  He visited every part of the province at least annually, hearing and deciding cases.  His salary was paid by Rome, who strictly forbid him from receiving bribes or gifts.  If he was a bad ruler, the people of his province had the right to report him to Caesar.

Pilate clearly did not want to crucify Jesus.  He knew Jesus was an innocent man and kept trying to release Him (Jn 19:12).  He tried to decline hearing the case (Jn 18:33).  Then he tried to release Jesus by pointing to his tradition of releasing a prisoner every year at Passover, but the Jews chose Barabbas over Jesus.  Next, Pilate tried to satisfy the Jews' thirst for blood by having Jesus flogged, but this did not suffice.  Finally, Pilate exclaimed, "Should I crucify your king?"  The Jews, however, were determined to see Him killed.

In the end, Pilate gave in to their demands and handed Jesus over to be crucified.  But why?  Blackmail.  The Jews told Pilate that Jesus claimed to be a king, and if he didn't condemn Jesus, then he was no friend of Caesar's.  In other words, they threatened to report him to Caesar as a traitor.  

As it turns out, Pilate was not a good ruler.  Commentator William Barclay reports three examples from Pilate's tenure as governor of Judea.  On his first visit visit to Jerusalem, Pilate's soldiers carried the Roman standards, some of which were a metal image of the Roman emperor.  Since the Roman emperor was worshiped throughout the empire, to the Jews it was the worst offense to carry the image of a false god into the holy city.  Previous Roman governors understood this and were willing to work with the Jews, but Pilate refused.  As a result, when Pilate left Jerusalem, the Jews followed all the way back to Caesarea, where they continued to protest for five days.  Finally, Pilate told the Jews to meet him in the amphitheater, where he had them surrounded with armed soldiers.  Pilate threatened to kill them then and there if they did not stop with their requests for him to stop bringing the Roman standards into the holy city.  The Jews, however, were willing and ready to die for their convictions.  They stuck out their necks and said, "Kill us."  Pilate was not willing to go to this extreme, and so he lost his first political battle with the Jews.  

In a second incident, Pilate decided to build a new aqueduct into Jerusalem.  It was much needed, however Pilate decided to pay for it by robbing the Temple treasury.  This angered the Jews, leading to protests and riots in the streets.  Pilate had his solders dress like civilians and mingle among the rioters, and at his command they turned and attacked.  Many Jews were clubbed or stabbed to death.  

Third, when Pilate stayed in Jerusalem, he resided in Herod's palace.  There he had shields made with the image of the emperor.  Once again, this offended the Jews, who saw this as the image of a false god in the holy city.  When he refused to get rid of the shields, the Jews reported him to the Roman emperor, Tiberius, who forced Pilate to remove them.  

On top of all of this, just two years before Christ's trial, Pilate's patron in Rome, Sejanus (the chief administrator of the Roman empire under Tiberius), fell out of favor and was executed.  

When you put all of this together, when the Jews brought Pilate to Jesus, he was already on thin ice with Caesar.  His job was already hanging by a threat.  He had already been reported to Caesar once, and his patron had been executed.  Pilate couldn't risk upsetting the Jews again, so when they said that releasing Jesus would be equivalent to treason against Caesar, he caved.

Pilate's own wife had a terrible dream about Jesus and warned Pilate to "have nothing to do with that righteous man (Mt 27:19)."  But when Pilate saw that a riot was starting, he washed his hands in front of the people and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood (Mt 27:24)."  Then he handed Jesus over to be crucified.

Of course, Pilate was not innocent of Christ's blood.  He sentenced Christ to death, even though he was convinced of his innocence (Mt 27:23).  But as Christ said, the Jews who handed Him over to Pilate had the greater sin (Jn 19:11; Mt 27:25).

Sources:  William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible