The story of Pontius Pilate and his involvement in the condemnation of Jesus

A controversial and tragic figure, Pontius Pilate has gone down in history as the man who condemned Jesus to death. But who was he really? Let’s uncover the truth, navigating between historical fact and the Gospel narrative.

There are many figures involved in the story of Christ’s Passion and Death. Think of Simon of Cyrene, the man who helped Jesus carry the Cross to the top of Golgotha; Dismas, one of the two thieves, forgiven at the moment of death and welcomed into Paradise; or the three devout women gathered to weep at the foot of the Cross. Other characters are mentioned in the Gospels, some in more or less detail, but one in particular has suffered a truly tragic fate over the centuries: Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea, who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, condemned Jesus to death.

The tragedy of Pontius Pilate lies in his apparent lack of awareness, in the carelessness with which he chose to leave the fate of this man—whom he considered guilty only of nonsensical ramblings—in the hands of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish judicial body, which sought Jesus’ condemnation for blasphemy.

As often happens in the Gospel narrative, however, we must consider that certain aspects of the account of Jesus’ trial are unlikely to be historically accurate but rather have a symbolic and didactic character. For instance, Pilate’s famous act of washing his hands to declare his intention of having no part in the condemnation, as described by the evangelist Matthew, is highly theatrical but almost certainly invented. Matthew writes: “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your responsibility!’” (Matthew 27:24).

This gesture, moreover, did not belong to Roman culture and almost certainly did not happen in this way. However, it connects to the next passage in the Gospel, where the evangelist has the assembled crowd say: “His blood is on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25). This is a dramatization of an already dramatic event—the trial and condemnation of a man in an era when such sentences were common, especially in an occupied territory like Judea under Roman rule.

Yet what makes the story even more tragic is the figure of Pontius Pilate himself—a man alien to Jewish culture and religion, which Jesus belonged to and from which he was condemned. Pilate was a foreigner in a foreign land, surrounded by hostility, far from his own city and way of life.

Who was Pontius Pilate?

We know very little about him, only what we read in the Gospels, apocryphal religious texts, and the historical and philosophical writings of Philo of Alexandria, Josephus Flavius, and Cornelius Tacitus. We know that he had a wife, Claudia, who had followed him to Jerusalem and, according to some traditions, later convinced him to convert to Christianity and live as a penitent to atone for his guilt regarding Jesus. According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Pilate even died as a martyr and is venerated as a saint, with his feast day celebrated on June 25.

We know he had little sympathy for Herod Antipas, the tetrarch to whom he sent Jesus to be judged. Above all, we know that he was personally chosen by Emperor Tiberius for his severity and harshness, tasked with governing with an iron fist that strategically important yet difficult land.

Born in Abruzzo or perhaps Campania, Pilate was a member of the equestrian order and had served in the army. Sent to Judea in 26 AD, he served as governor for ten years. A strict governor, he was reportedly even ruthless and entirely indifferent to the local traditions, the religion of his subjects, and the complex Jewish culture governed by strict rules. The Jewish population often rebelled against him, demanding greater respect for their traditions.

Nonetheless, he also undertook some commendable projects, such as building an aqueduct to address the chronic water shortage that plagued Jerusalem’s inhabitants. However, the fact that he confiscated part of the Temple treasury to finance it sparked another wave of discontent.

This portrait of a man so harsh as to verge on cruelty contrasts with what is written in the Gospels about his reluctance to condemn Jesus Christ to death.

What really happened after Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem?

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Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the priests were already planning to eliminate him. However, his fame, the love the people showed him, and his ever-growing following drove them to act cautiously. They could have had him assassinated, but that risked inciting a popular uprising. They needed to find a way to bring him before Pilate, who, as prefect, had the authority to sentence him to death. According to the evangelist Luke, Pilate himself saw Jesus’ teachings as a dangerous call for rebellion against Roman rule, as he had urged his followers not to pay taxes to the Emperor. Additionally, many, including the Zealots, saw in Jesus a potential military leader who could lead them in armed resistance against the occupiers.

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The trial of Jesus

Arrested with Judas’ complicity, Jesus, according to the Gospels, was taken to the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest. Tradition holds that he underwent a preliminary trial, or at least an interrogation, before the Sanhedrin—possibly that same evening, or perhaps the following morning in the Temple. The evangelists disagree on this point, while many historians agree that it was Pilate himself who ordered Jesus’ arrest.

In any case, the next day, Jesus was brought in chains before the prefect in the Praetorium and accused by members of the Sanhedrin of sedition,self-proclamation as king and Messiah, and incitement not to pay taxes to Rome. In reality, the Sanhedrin primarily considered Jesus guilty of blasphemy for equating himself with God, but this accusation would not have sufficed in Pilate’s eyes to invoke the death penalty.

After questioning Jesus, Pilate reportedly determined that the accusations were not serious enough to warrant condemnation and urged the Sanhedrin to release him. This leniency, however, contrasts with the historical figure of Pilate, known for his sternness and severity in punishing anyone who opposed Roman rule. Some scholars suggest that Pilate’s reluctance and the famous episode of washing his hands may have been a later attempt by Christian Rome to absolve itself of guilt for Jesus’ death. More realistically, Pontius Pilate likely condemned Jesus to death immediately, viewing him as a dangerous rebel.

Following the Gospel account, however, the prefect sent Jesus to the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who ruled over Galilee, Jesus’ homeland. But even Herod found no convincing reason to condemn him and sent him back to Pilate.

Pontius Pilate washes his hands

According to the Gospels, Pilate, seeing Jesus returned after his encounter with Herod, made further attempts to save him. First, he invoked the Passover amnesty, which allowed for the release of a prisoner during the feast (John 18:39). Then he proposed a punishment of flogging and subsequent release. As we know, however, the crowd, incited by the priests, demanded the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus.

At this point, according to tradition, Pontius Pilate washed his hands and had Jesus flogged, only to propose once more that the battered, humiliated man be freed. Yet again, the people called for crucifixion, and, to avoid unrest, Pilate finally relented and condemned Jesus for blasphemy.

It was the prefect himself who ordered that the inscription on the cross, the Titulus crucis, stating the reason for the condemnation, be written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

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Exile and suicide

What became of Pontius Pilate afterward? After Jesus’ condemnation, Pilate continued to govern Judea with inflexibility and severity, suppressing dissent and quelling revolts with increasing bloodshed. Eventually, the Jewish people sent a delegation to Rome, successfully petitioning the Emperor to have him removed from office. By the time Pilate returned to Rome, Caligula had become Emperor and sent him into exile in Gaul (modern France). There, the disgraced former prefect is said to have taken his own life.