Primary Texts: Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-19:16
Memory Verse: Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.” John 18:37-38
Introduction:
Pontius Pilate was Roman Procurator from 26 A.D. to 36 A.D. His usual residence was in Caesarea, but during the Jewish feasts He made it a point to be in Jerusalem to quickly suppress any disorder. Born in Seville, Spain, he was twice married, abandoning his first wife to marry Claudia, the daughter of Julia, the prostitute daughter of the Emperor Augustas. Due to a questionable political career as procurator, he was eventually banished by Caligula on account of his cruelty and inability to maintain order, to Vienne, Gaul. He committed suicide on a high mountain in Switzerland, now named “Mt. Pilatus” after him.
A typical Roman, stern and practical, Pilate had a contempt for religious superstitions and traditions. He tried to rule with a forceful hand to force obedience, but the management of his government lacked tact, and he soon became hated by the Jews and Romans. Once, when constructing an aqueduct to supply Jerusalem with water, he defrayed the cost from the Temple treasury, causing a tumultuous revolt, which he suppressed with severe cruelty. Just a short while before the trial of Jesus, he had put down another uprising among the people by falling on a company of Galileans in the Temple court and mingling their blood with their sacrifices, which sent a shudder of religious superstition and horror through the entire nation. Other tactless measures and acts of atrocity united the rulers of the Jews against his rule, as they repeatedly stirred the people to riot and withhold their taxes, hoping to force the Roman Emperor to replace Pontius Pilate.
This was the man from whom the Sanhedrin demanded Jesus’ death sentence. Because Pilate’s control of the Jews was weak, with each new uprising only weakening his governance, this “Jesus” problem was explosive. What could he do?
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- What important truths did Jesus reveal during His private interrogation before Pilate? John 18:32-38
- What terrible things did Jesus suffer at the command of Pilate? John 19:1-3
- What was Pilate’s original finding in judgement of Jesus, and how did the Jewish priests respond to this? John 19:4-12
- Why did Pontius Pilate send Jesus to King Herod, and what was Herod’s response? Luke 23:6-12
- What was very likely Pilate’s primary motive for offering to free the criminal, Barabbas, instead of Jesus? Matthew 27:15-18; Mark 15:6-11; Luke 23:13-19; John 18:39-40
- What did Pilate’s own wife tell him concerning Jesus of Nazareth? Matthew 27:19
- Explain what happened when Pilate offered to free either Barabbas or Jesus. Matthew 27:20-23; Mark 15:12-14; Luke 23:20-24; John 19:13-16
- Discuss the role that Pontius Pilate played in the death of Jesus Christ. Was the procurator guilty or innocent? Was there any real meaning in his symbolic handwashing to cleanse himself from guilt? Matthew 27:24-25
- Describe the brutality of Jesus’ scourging. Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:25; Isaiah 50:5-6
- What significance does the cruel beating of the Messiah have for us? Isaiah 53:4-8; Hebrews 2:10; 1 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 2:4-10