Jesus Pilate Research Paper

Pontius Pilate

In this paper I will be making the case that Pontius Pilates crucifying of Jesus was not only a political move but also an act to dominate the generally not so compliant Jewish populace of Judea. This act of domination was a Roman tactic used throughout their stay in the region and to Pontius Pilate, Jesus was a mere stepping stone on his way to complete subjugation of the indigenous peoples and to stronger alliances with the Jewish aristocracy and Herod Antipas. Pontius Pilate arrived in Judea in 26 A.D. (Maier,1) inheriting the title “Prefect” which would later be changed to “Procurator”. Upon his arrival in Judea there was obviously much room to be made for Roman leadership, in between the Jewish aristocracy (Temple Priests
Jesus Christ would make many enemies on his trip to Judea from Galilee which was notorious at the time for producing trouble makers; the word Galilean was synonymous with trouble maker. On his entrance into to the city of Jerusalem he rode a donkey which fulfills an Old Testament prophecy saying that the king of kings would come riding in on a donkey(Zeckariah 9:9). He also went around telling folks that their sins could be cleansed by praying to god anywhere, in a way Jesus was acting as if he was the church and sought to have people gather around him so they could hold service anywhere. The Temple priests and other Jewish aristocrats found Jesus to be draining their influence, If people were not going to temple, there is no way Priests could make any coin or hold any influence. This of course was not the biggest transgression made, on the same
(Luke 23:1-2) Once brought before Pilate Jesus was asked if he was king of jews, to which Jesus more or less answered yes. Pontius Pilate looked on to the crowd and said “I have no basis to charge this man.” And the crowd pleaded that his teachings stir up the people and that he was just another trouble maker from Galilee. Once learning that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, Pilate sent him away to Herod as an act of respect and a show of good will. Herod was in Jerusalem at the time making this quite convenient and not much sacrifice to Pilate. Once Jesus was in the presence of Herod, Herod was greatly pleased. Herod wanted Jesus to perform some sort of miracle or sign but Jesus abstained from answering questions, so Herod got very angry, mocked Jesus, dressed him up in an elegant robe (as if wrapping a present) and sent him back to Pontius Pilate. Since that day Herod and Pontius Pilate were friends. (Luke 23:3-11) So we can clearly see how little Jesus actually meant to Pontius Pilate or Herod, Jesus’s role appeared to be a political pawn. But we can see how Pontius is tossing Jesus around as a prize in an effort to strengthen his alliances and to appear as in control as possible. In Christian tradition this episode would be viewed as a symbol of weakness by Pilate, they view this as Pilate passing off the burden to Herod but