Sympathy for Pilate?

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The more I read of him, the more interesting I find the character of Pontius Pilate.

From a literary perspective, he is one of my favorite characters in the Passion, perhaps the only really morally grey one.

Even now I have a hard time determing how good, evil, or somewhere in between he was.

He seemed very reluctant to crucify Jesus, and only did so under considerable duress and threat (the possibility of the people rioting, and causging much damage and destruction.)

I think more likely than not, Pilate was a cold, harsh, but somewhat just and reasonable person, who saw Jesus as a distraction to be “dealt with?”

He doesn’t seem like a sympathetic person, yet I sympathize with him all the same. He came from a completely different moral/ethical culture than the Jesus and the apostles, and it seems like he didn’t really know just who or what Jesus was or why the pharisees hated Him so much.

He likely heard of Jesus, but up until then was just fine with allowing Jesus and his movement to live and exist (since contrary to some retelling of the gospel, Jesus was never about overthrowing Rome.) I always found his “What is truth?” dialogue with Christ to be very interesting and intriguing. It almost seems like he could sort of sense an idea of who He was, but just couldn’t wrap his head around it:shrug:?

It’s not for us to judge where souls go, but I think it might be possible he is in heaven now. Very like a long time in purgatory (given the other actions he likely did as governor of Judea) but I don’t really see a “full knowledge and deliberate consent” aspect to his crucifixtion of Jesus. Rather I see someone whose coldness and resolution is tempered with doubt and regret.

Any thoughs on Pilate? Do you sympathize with him, or believe he was in a somewhat disadvantaged, darkeneded position in his decision to execute Jesus? Remember if he had not Christ could not have accomplished his mission. His punishment was what Jesus volunteered for, as awful as it sounds:blush:
 
HabemusFrancis:

Excellent post. I feel almost exactly the same way.

What an interesting topic.

Mary.
 
HabemusFrancis said:
The more I read of him, the more interesting I find the character of Pontius Pilate.

From a literary perspective, he is one of my favorite characters in the Passion, perhaps the only really morally grey one.

Even now I have a hard time determing how good, evil, or somewhere in between he was.

He seemed very reluctant to crucify Jesus, and only did so under considerable duress and threat (the possibility of the people rioting, and causging much damage and destruction.)

I think more likely than not, Pilate was a cold, harsh, but somewhat just and reasonable person, who saw Jesus as a distraction to be “dealt with?”

He doesn’t seem like a sympathetic person, yet I sympathize with him all the same. He came from a completely different moral/ethical culture than the Jesus and the apostles, and it seems like he didn’t really know just who or what Jesus was or why the pharisees hated Him so much.

He likely heard of Jesus, but up until then was just fine with allowing Jesus and his movement to live and exist (since contrary to some retelling of the gospel, Jesus was never about overthrowing Rome.) I always found his “What is truth?” dialogue with Christ to be very interesting and intriguing. It almost seems like he could sort of sense an idea of who He was, but just couldn’t wrap his head around it:shrug:?

It’s not for us to judge where souls go, but I think it might be possible he is in heaven now. Very like a long time in purgatory (given the other actions he likely did as governor of Judea) but I don’t really see a “full knowledge and deliberate consent” aspect to his crucifixtion of Jesus. Rather I see someone whose coldness and resolution is tempered with doubt and regret.

Any thoughs on Pilate? Do you sympathize with him, or believe he was in a somewhat disadvantaged, darkeneded position in his decision to execute Jesus? Remember if he had not Christ could not have accomplished his mission. His punishment was what Jesus volunteered for, as awful as it sounds:blush:
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Jesus gave himself up to death. It was totally Jesus who manipulated the circumstances that caused others to sentence him to death. He could have at any time escaped the death sentence and that surely would have been what the leaders on Jerusalem had wanted.
Pilate was a cruel and harsh ruler. He had to be in order to rule the vicious Jewish sects of Palestine. The gospel writers wrote of him warmly so as to not to make an enemy of powerful Rome. I don’t think Pilate lost any sleep over the execution of Jesus.:eek:
 
I find it somewhat interesting that Anne Catherine Emmerichs’ portrayal of Pilate was almost exactly how I conceived Pilate to be. Not some tortured saint, but definitly with a conscience of some sort. Makes me think perhaps she did actually have a true vision:)!
 
When you mentioned Pilate and Purgatory it reminded me of some of the words I come up describing purgatory for different occasions:

For instance: Pork-a-tory is where pigs go when they die.
Puck-a-tory is where your hockey puck goes when you can’t find it.
Pink-a-tory is when you are condemned to stay in a Pepto pink office all day at work.
Poop-a-tory is when you have to clean up after your dog.
Punk-a-tory is when you have to deal with a bunch of punks.

Of course, I told God about it and He got a good laugh. He might relent and not make me go to Purgatory after all.
 
HabemusFrancis said:
Any thoughs on Pilate? Do you sympathize with him, or believe he was in a somewhat disadvantaged, darkeneded position in his decision to execute Jesus?
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If there is anything evident about Pilate it is that he was a pragmatic relativist.

What is truth? It was whatever would get him out of trouble both with the Jews and the Emperor.

In that sense, Truth was indeed what stood before him and assaulted his pragmatic sensibilities.

As the ultimate pragmatist, he had to agree with the Jews that the assault must end.
 
You really should read *Master and Margarita * by Mikhail Bulgakov. It’s a fascinating exploration of Pilate, human nature, cowardice, the Soviet system, and many other themes. Pilate plays a prominent role, possibly even being the main character. It’s widely regarded as one of the best books of the 20th century.
 
Pilate clearly washed his hands of the blood of Jesus. He offered several opportunities for Jesus to be set free. He found no guilt in Jesus. He spoke clearly as to where he stood. Oftentimes in life there are things that are beyond our power to control. I think of Pilate as a leader much like a parent with children who make bad choices. Sometimes you just have to let the consequences fall as they will.
 
For the record, I do not believe Pilate was a “good person.”

Part of me even thinks its a mistake for the Ethiopian Church to have him as a saint. While it is possible that he is heaven, his life isn’t one Christians should want to emulate.

It was Pilate after all who ordered Jesus to be scourged at the pillar and crowned with thorns. I definitely sense sort of a cruel lilt to his “behold the man!” presentation of Jesus to the crowd. I know he did it in a attempt to meet the pharisees “halfway” but it still seems pretty awful. It was also pilate who affixed the “INRI” to Jesus’ cross, almost like a mocking sneering epithet to what Jesus claimed to be and what people thought he was. Almost like he’s saying “there’s your king, nailed to a cross.”

Still I don’t think he was “evil.” He was a king in a very different and brutal time, whose moral orientation was not rooted in the Judaic worldview. It’s very possible (even likely) that he felt remorse for what he had done, Jesus was probably not the first person he treated poorly.

Still, I believe there is a chance he is in heaven (though probably a while spent in purgatory)
 
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