By: K. B. Napier

Pontius Pilate has had variable reviews from Christian theologians. Some absolve him from all blame; some say he was just a puppet ruler; some say he was the man responsible for the death of Christ. When we come to the Jews, some say it was all the Jews’ fault. Others, not wishing to seem anti-Semitic, claim the Jews had nothing to do with it. Yet others, thinking emotionally rather than scripturally, think that the Jews have ‘suffered enough’ (especially as the holocaust was so recent) and so it would be ‘unfair’ to blame them for the death of the Messiah. Now let us look at the pertinent facts, as given by God’s word....

Was Pilate simply caught in the middle of a political intrigue? Was he a weak-kneed Roman who feared the Jews? Did he try to absolve Christ from the charges brought against Him?

Pontius Pilate

The very name, ‘Pilate’, describes his personality (you often find this in scripture). It means ‘armed with a spear’. He became governor about five years before he judged Christ, and in that time he wreaked havoc amongst the Jews, deliberately, systematically and malevolently. If he feared anyone, it was his own emperor, not the Jews. He was cautious about invoking the anger of the Jews, because of what it could do to his career, not because he liked the Jews or because he feared them.

Before Pilate met Christ, the Jewish nation as a whole rebelled almost to the point of anarchy at least three times. This was because Pilate did whatever he wished, regardless of what the Jews thought. One of his first decisions was so outrageous to the Jews, that the whole nation came close to erupting in to civil war. He moved his garrison from Caesarea to Jerusalem. That was not the crux of the problem. The real problem was that he also moved his Roman standards, bearing the emperor’s image, in to the Holy City, thereby blaspheming the one true God of the Jews.

Massive crowds of angry Jews gathered around Pilate’s home for five days, demanding the removal of the standards. In those five days, Pilate sent undercover agents, plain-clothed soldiers, out in to the crowds. There, they sought out the leaders of the rebellion and threatened to kill them if they did not back off and cool down the other Jews. But, this merely exacerbated the situation. Seeing themselves as martyrs for their God and besieged nation, the leaders proudly accepted their proposed fate and said they would rather die! With war close at hand, Pilate at last relented and removed the standards. Pilate was no weak ruler - he was a clever strategist who played the Jews like a violin!

Not long before he met with Jesus, he had slaughtered a large number of Galileans at a feast in Jerusalem, in the outer court of the Temple. Evidently he got away with that one, because he was still at Herod’s palace when Jesus was taken captive. At a later date, he sent troops against the Samaritans (no big deal to the Jews, who hated them anyway!) and killed many. But the Samaritan leaders complained to Caesar, who recalled Pilate to Rome for questioning. The ruler of the area had to be tough, but not so foolish as to cause national unrest. Thus it was that Pilate was removed from Palestine to Rome, where he committed suicide, three years after the death of Christ.

The Notable Prisoner

In Matthew 27, verse 16, we read that Pilate thought of Jesus as a ‘notable prisoner’. Do not be fooled into thinking Pilate thereby regarded Him as merely famous. ‘Notable’ here means infamous, much as Barabbas was – a thug or killer.

Pilate’s wife warned him not to have anything to do with Jesus – she had had terrible nightmares (from God?) about this ‘notable prisoner’. Possibly this caused Pilate to step back a bit to consider his options, but we can be sure of one thing – he was not afraid to execute anyone. However, we are told (verse 24) that the vast crowd he was to address was in ‘tumult’. That is, there was a public riot and disorder. He had to think on his feet, before he had a bloodbath on his hands.

But, what had led up to this riot? Remember that the Sanhedrin had conspired to take Jesus by stealth. The chief Jews feared the people, who to this juncture loved Jesus and thought of him as a national hero, preacher from God, and healer. The ruling body hated Him for this. Jesus stole their thunder and He was too popular for their liking. Also, He threatened their very comfortable way of life. They wanted Him dead!

That was why they went to get him in the dark, like a common thief. Now, they had Jesus before the governor, and could see victory in sight. They had already drafted in liars who were willing to tell falsehoods against Jesus. Now, when the crowd was gathered, they went amongst the people and spread vicious lies and rumours. Basically, they worked the crowd into a frenzy.... something very easy to do when emotions are already high. The cry went up to free Barabbas and to kill Jesus!

Hearing all this from his podium high above the crowd, Pilate played safe, but wanted to appear honourable. He called for a bowl of fresh water (verse 24), washed his hands, and shook off the water, symbolically showing that he was not responsible for the taking of Jesus’ life. He told the crowd that he saw nothing in Jesus that warranted death.

So, with masterly cunning, he allowed the Jews to have their own way, putting the responsibility upon their own shoulders. And this the crowd accepted with chilling calculation, for they vowed that the blood of Jesus would be on their children’s heads. It should be noted that the Jews were soon to be dispersed, never to return to Israel for nearly 2000 years. In all that time they suffered gross evils, the holocaust being the latest. Was all this the result of their sin against their own Messiah?

The Jews Wanted Crucifixion

This is no idle thought. Look at the facts recorded in scripture. It was the Jewish leaders who developed a plan to kill Jesus. It was the Jews, not the Romans, who had brought crucifixion to their own land. They adapted this horrific death penalty for themselves and used it a long while before Jesus had been put to death.

Roman soldiers led by a centurion sat around the crosses whenever the worst rogues in society paid the supreme penalty, but they were only there as guards to ensure there were no excessive activities, or body-stealing. They would sit around playing games and drinking rough wine (see later) until relieved by another set of guards. This guard was there at the behest of the Jews as a Roman gesture of goodwill, to keep the peace at what was, to all intents and purposes, a recreational day out for the gory observers.

At this day out the crowds would berate and torture the people hanging on the crosses. But well before this, the night before, Jesus had gone through a vicious series of tortures at the hands of Jewish temple guards and Roman soldiers. We are told that He was ‘scourged’ (verse 26), but this was no simple hitting with a whip. No doubt He was hit with a whip that had three leather or cord thongs with bits of sharp metal attached to the ends. This would have ripped through His flesh like barbed wire, tearing lumps out and leaving gaping wounds all over His body.

But there was more to scourging than that. It included being tied down to a rack that stretched the body, itself giving excruciating pain. Then, soldiers would beat the soles of the feet with a rod, possibly a pliable thick length of reed, until the feet were raw and swollen. They would have done the same to the rest of the body, too. We are told that Jesus was beaten around the face and head until He was unrecognisable, before He had a  Roman officer’s short cape (‘scarlet robe’) put around His shoulders and a ring of sharp bramble thorns pushed on to His head, as a sick joke. His sceptre was just a reed, a length of wood. Jesus was, then, beaten to pulp before He was sent to Pilate, hardly able to stand on His already swollen feet.

Note that Jesus was put in a huge ‘common hall’ (verse 27) when this happened. That is, in the hall used by the Roman soldiers. The ‘whole band’ of soldiers was there. That is, around 600 men, all hitting and kicking and spitting, pulling out His hair and jeering and using filthy taunts. To them it was just one big laugh, something to wile away the early hours before they went to work. Note that these were no ordinary soldiers. They were the elite Praetorian Guard, something akin to our own tough SAS in training and resolve. Thus their beating would have been vicious and sustained.

Are You God?

Pilate, looking upon this Man, asked Him if He was indeed the God He claimed to be. Far from giving a non-committed answer, Jesus uttered something along the lines of “You said it!”.  That is, Jesus said He was God in a rhetorical fashion, because Pilate was not really interested in whether He was God or not. All Pilate wanted was an easy way out, and if Jesus would only admit to His claim to be God, then Pilate would have no real problem with passing judgement. As a non-Jew, Pilate could not have cared less if Jesus claimed to be God, a God he did not himself believe in. With the crowd behind his decision (which, in essence, was only the decision of the Jewish Sanhedrin), Pilate finally sent Jesus to His death.

Simon the Jew

We are told that Simon, a Cyrene, was ordered to carry Jesus’ cross through the streets. The Cyrene is often depicted as a black African, but he was probably not black at all. Cyrene was a Greek colony/city on the coast of North Africa that had a very large Jewish contingent. As Simon was now in Jerusalem for the Passover, it is fairly safe to suggest that he was, in fact, an Israeli Jew come back to his motherland for the festival. He was not, then, an African.

He was ordered to carry the cross (we are not really told if it was a single stake or a stake with a cross-piece) to Golgotha because Jesus was by now weak and incapable of much more physical effort. If He was commanded to walk, His feet would have been in agony, hardly able to bear His weight, let alone the extra weight of a heavy length of wood.

We do not know why Golgotha, ‘a place of a skull’, got its name. It is speculation to say that it was a small hill outside the city walls shaped like a skull. Another possibility is that there were so many executions held there, that the place was full of bones, including skulls. No-one really knows, anymore than they know the route Jesus took to His execution, or the location of His final resting place.

Jesus’ Death

Before Jesus was nailed to the cross, He was offered ‘vinegar’ and ‘gall’. The ‘vinegar’ was a very rough alcoholic sour wine that was drunk by ordinary Roman soldiers. The ‘gall’ was wormwood (a bitter herb) or myrrh, mixed with the wine to produce a quick-acting anaesthetic. It probably was not myrrh, as this was expensive. This was offered to Jesus by the soldiers, from their own drinking jugs, as a common courtesy to a man about to die. The Jews wanted Jesus dead at all costs, but the Roman soldiers had no axe to grind, they just had another batch of prisoners to kill. Even so, they had the decency – no matter how meagre - to offer Jesus, and other prisoners, some form of pain-killer. Jesus refused it, though.

After this offer of wine, Jesus was ‘crucified’ (verse 25). Crucifixion was very common at that time in many parts of the world, from Germany, through the Middle East, to India. The Jews made it their own, so it was the Jews, not the Romans, who insisted on this mode of death for Jesus. Crucifixion was used to degrade the prisoner, who hung naked. It was used only for the most despicable of prisoners. Usually, the ‘accusation’ (what a prisoner was charged with) was written on a bit of wood pinned to the upright stake.

The upright stake was put flat on the ground and the person was placed on top. The hands and feet were fixed to the wood with iron nails, but these would not have stopped the flesh tearing away under the weight of the body, so the wrists were tied to the stake with cord or leather, as a precaution. Half-way down the upright was a small protrusion of wood, like a very narrow seat. This helped to support the body. Every so often the hanging person would droop with sheer exhaustion but the pain and tearing at the hands and feet forced him to push upward to semi-sit on the wooden piece provided, until he once again dropped down with exhaustion.

The Crosses

Another common illustration is that of Jesus and the two thieves, hanging on crosses high in the air. In reality, the crosses were pushed in to a fixing-hole, and the person’s feet were literally inches from the ground. The entire cross would have been no more than about six feet tall (people were much shorter in those days anyway – maybe about five feet to five feet three). Once hanging there, the watching crowd would come up and do whatever they wished – hit them, throw missiles, kick, pull...anything to cause injury. So, it is quite possible that the crowd did the same to Jesus, as well.

The hanging person stayed that way for up to three to four days before succumbing to death. In all that time sleep would be impossible, as dizziness, cramp, burning thirst, starvation, fever, tetanus, gangrene and beatings from the crowd added to his utter misery. The arteries in the stomach and head would engorge with blood - another painful and life-threatening problem. As a supposed ‘mercy’ the Jews would break the legs of prisoners at some stage to hasten their death. As we know, Jesus died on the very first day, so He did not have this done to Him (as prophecy demanded).

Once dead, crucified bodies were left to rot on the crosses. Birds pecked out the eyes and other parts, and dogs and other animals came and ate the rest. This was because Jews would not allow a crucified body to be buried. That makes Jesus’ burial all the more special – it took a very influential man to obtain such a favour. Joseph of Arimathaea had such influence.

Born on Mount Ephraim, the birth-place of Samuel, this wealthy man pleaded with Pilate to take the body for burial. No doubt, relieved it was all over, Pilate quickly granted his wish.

You might think (because it is tradition) that one thief did not attack Jesus verbally. But you would be wrong. At first, both thieves taunted and ridiculed Jesus. Even the one who later went to be with Jesus in Paradise. It is not surprising to find that those who stayed to be with Jesus were mainly the women, who followed Him around the country tending to His needs, such as food and clothing. Of particular mention are Mary Magdalene (often wickedly depicted as a prostitute, when she was really a wealthy woman from Magdala); Jesus’ aunty, Mary, mother of James and Joses; and Salome, mother of James and John.

Whilst in other texts there is reference to ‘Mary’ Jesus’ mother, the reference ought to be to ‘Miriam, mother of Jesus’, as Miriam was Jesus’ mother’s real name. The Mary who was her sister properly bore that name. Families normally did not have two children with the same name, and what we translate as ‘Mary’ can actually be translated as Miriam as well. Thus, ‘Mary’ is the name given to Jesus’ aunty, and ‘Miriam’ is the actual translation of Jesus’ mother’s name. (But, as one Bible scholar has wryly admitted – who has the courage to alter the name, after ‘Mary’ has become ingrained in the minds of so many!).

Jesus’ Death & Phenomena

Jesus died at about 12 noon. Notice that Jesus ‘yielded’ His Spirit. This means, He deliberately gave His Spirit up, of His own volition. As God, only He was able to do this. Everyone else has the spirit taken from them. At that very moment the sun stopped shining and the world was in complete darkness for three hours. There was such a violent earthquake that the rocks were split apart. These were sufficient to convince the centurion in charge of the soldiers that Jesus was Who He said He was!

Another phenomenon occurred at the moment of His death – the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. (The veil was either the one that separated the Holy place from the outer courtyard, or the one that separated the Holy place from the Holy of Holies, in which was the Ark).

This latter occurrence was important for it symbolised God’s final rejection of former things. No longer was He hidden from the people and approached only by the High Priest. Now, Jesus was the mediator and a new order was born – that of the New Testament, or new promise.

Then, on the third day, saints who were dead arose from their graves and walked in to Jerusalem, testifying to the power of the Messiah! Bear in mind that this was actual. The text is not written in a figurative manner. Can you imagine the terror of those who saw their dead relatives and friends walking and talking? Can you imagine the stone cold state of the hearts of the Jews, who continued to reject their own Messiah, even though they saw with their own eyes the resurrection power of the Lord? The truth of election must surely be fully appreciated on this occasion, for only those whose hearts were elected to be dead could stand against such awesome power!

You will note, if you read very carefully, that Jesus was, without doubt, really dead. The wording cannot sustain any other meaning. It was, again, the Jews who were behind the lies that Jesus had merely swooned, or that His body did not rise again, but was stolen (read the text). These are not modern theories – they were invented by the priests, scribes and Sanhedrin at the time! Even now, Jews believe these lies.

There is a great deal more to say about the details of the death of Jesus Christ. Hopefully, the reader will now look at the event not as an emotional and, possibly, ‘romantic’ one, but as a stark historical fact, rooted in the violence and political intrigue of the time. Jesus came at the wrong time as far as the Jewish leaders were concerned. Caesar’s governor ruled with an iron fist, but he rewarded Jewish sycophants with riches, titles and power. The last thing they wanted was a man who claimed to be their king, removing their comfortable lifestyles and living standards! So He had to die. Simple as that.

What they did not realise was that they were playing their part in God’s mighty plan of redemption, and so Jesus’ death had to occur. Nevertheless, the raw facts shown above, taken from scripture, are powerful reminders of how men can be bloodthirsty and evil in the extreme...and how God has His way no matter what men think they can do!

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© August 1999

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