Pontius Pilate
- James Collazo
- May 24, 2019
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 15
Introduction
Pontius Pilate (Latin: Pontius Pilatus / Greek: Pontios Pilatos) was born in the Roman heartland of Italy around 3 BC. He came from the Pontii family, a well-known Samnite household from Samnium in south-central Italy. The Samnites were an ancient people who spoke Oscan, a language that later disappeared. After the Samnite Wars (341–290 BC), many Samnite families, including the Pontii, became part of Roman society. The family name Pontius was a common Oscan name. Pilate belonged to the Roman equestrian class, a group of mid-level nobles. The emperor Tiberius (r. AD 14–37) appointed him prefect of Judea, and he served in that position from about AD 26 to 36.
In 1961, Italian archaeologist Antonio Frova (1914–2007) uncovered an important inscription at Caesarea Maritima. It was a limestone block that preserved part of the name and title of Pontius Pilate. The reconstructed Latin text reads: [Dis Augustis] Tiberieum [Pon]tius Pilatus [Praef]ectus Iudaeae, which means, "Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, dedicated a Tiberieum to the Divine Augusti." Because the stone is damaged, some words appear in brackets to indicate scholarly reconstruction. The discovery makes sense, since Caesarea Maritima served as the Roman capital of Judea, while Jerusalem remained the religious center for the Jews. The inscription also shows that Pilate built a Tiberieum, a structure dedicated to Tiberius, which fits the Roman custom of honoring their rulers as divine.
Pilate in History
Both the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed state that Jesus "suffered under Pontius Pilate" (see "Confessions of Faith"). By naming Pilate, the early church emphasized that faith in Christ is grounded in real history. Pilate was the Roman governor who oversaw Jesus' trial and approved his crucifixion. Yet his conflicts with the Jewish people began long before that moment, and ancient historians recorded two major incidents that damaged his reputation.
The first incident occurred around AD 26, when Pilate ordered soldiers from Caesarea Maritima to enter Jerusalem for the winter, carrying military standards bearing the image of the emperor Tiberius (Josephus, Antiquities 18.3; Wars 2.9). These images violated Jewish law (Exod. 20:4), and a large group of protesters traveled to Caesarea demanding their removal. Pilate threatened to kill them, but they refused to yield, forcing him to withdraw the standards.
Philo of Alexandria (c. 15 BC–AD 50) described Pilate as "inflexible, stubborn, and cruel" and recorded the people's plea not to provoke a revolt or dishonor the emperor. Philo noted that Pilate feared an appeal to Rome because it might expose "his venality, his violence, his thefts, his assaults, his abusive behavior, his executions of untried prisoners, and his savage ferocity" (Embassy to Gaius 39–40).
The second conflict occurred around AD 28, when Pilate used money from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct for Jerusalem. The Jews viewed this as a misuse of funds dedicated to God (cf. Exod. 30:11–16). When crowds gathered at the Praetorium to protest, Pilate sent soldiers disguised as civilians, who attacked the protesters at his signal, killing many (Antiquities 18.3; Wars 2.9). These two events—the standards and the aqueduct—revealed Pilate's harshness and disregard for Jewish faith and life.
Pilate's downfall followed a few years later. Lucius Vitellius, the Roman governor of Syria from AD 35 to 39, removed him after he brutally crushed a Samaritan gathering on Mount Gerizim. Vitellius sent him to Rome to answer before Tiberius, but the emperor died in AD 37 before Pilate arrived. Pilate never regained his position. His removal ended his political career and showed how pride and cruelty can destroy a person's future (Antiquities 18.4).
Pilate in the Bible
In his gospel, Luke reports an earlier act of violence by Pilate: "the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices" (Luke 13:1). Yet many churchgoers view Pilate more sympathetically in the trial of Jesus. During that trial, Pilate ordered Jesus to be flogged—thirty-nine lashes with rods over his bare body (Luke 23:16, 22; John 19:1). Although this followed the Law of Moses (Deut. 25:3), the Roman soldiers added their own cruelty. They mocked Jesus as "King of the Jews," placed a crown of thorns on his head, and dressed him in a purple robe (Matt. 27:29; Mark 15:18; John 19:2–4).
Sometimes readers focus only on the Jewish leaders, the Sanhedrin, for condemning Jesus, but Pilate and his Roman soldiers were equally guilty. In truth, all people—Jew and Gentile alike—share responsibility for Jesus' death, because our sin made his sacrifice necessary (Rom. 3:22–23). Blaming one group misses the greater truth: Jesus willingly gave his life so that all nations could be forgiven and restored to God.
Matthew's description of the crowd has caused deep pain for Jewish communities: "I am innocent of this man's blood . . . It is your responsibility!" and the crowd's reply, "His blood is on us and on our children!" (Matt. 27:24–25). Throughout history, some claiming the name of Jesus—himself a Jew—have used this verse to justify anti-Jewish hatred. When director Mel Gibson filmed The Passion of the Christ (2004), Jewish anti-defamation groups asked him to remove this line; he kept it in the Aramaic dialogue but omitted it from the subtitles.
In its New Testament context, the crowd accepted the national consequences of defying Pilate but did not grasp the spiritual implications of opposing God. About forty years later, in AD 70, the Romans besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple (Matt. 24:1–2; Mark 13:1–2; Luke 21:5–6). Caiaphas expressed a similar idea when he argued that one man should die for the people (John 11:49–50; cf. 18:14). Matthew's point was to contrast the crowd's acceptance of responsibility with Pilate's attempt to refuse it—not to declare a permanent curse on all Jews (see "Auschwitz & Biblical Studies").
Even Roman historians recognized Pilate's role in Jesus' execution. Tacitus (AD 56–c. 120) wrote that "Christ, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate," and that the Christian movement soon spread from Judea to Rome (Annals 15.44).
Conclusion
The story of Pontius Pilate reminds us that the crucifixion was not the act of one man, one group, or one nation, but the result of human sin shared by all. Scripture, history, and even Rome's own records agree that Jesus suffered under a real governor at a real time. Yet the deeper truth is that Jesus' death was not an accident of politics but the fulfillment of God's plan to save the world. When we read these events, we are not called to assign blame, but to recognize our own need for the grace that Christ secured on the cross. Pilate's failure warns us of the danger of fear and compromise, while Jesus' sacrifice invites us into the mercy, forgiveness, and new life that He offers to every nation and every people.
Prayer
Blessed are you, LORD our God, King of heaven and earth. You saved us, yet we led you to Pilate's judgment hall. You gave us an inheritance, yet we crowned you with thorns. Have mercy on us, cleanse our hearts, and lead us in truth. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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