What happened to Pilate?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fox
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
F

Fox

Guest
What happened to Pontius Pilate after Jesus’ execution? Did he stay a governor or did he convert or was he killed? What happened to this man? Also, do you think he thought he made a mistake executing Jesus, or he really didn’t care.
 
Vaious stories have been circulated, one being that his wife who had dreams in which our Lord came to her, converted and later he was converted. His importance in the entire scheme of things from the Roman point of view was pretty insignificant. Records of his existence were found recently both in Israel, and in Rome. With no real traditional teachings circulated universally, little is known of his life outside of a few Gnostic writers who did not write until the 6th Century.
 
In one story, Pilate is brought before Tiberius Caesar, who becomes infuriated at Pilate for his part in condemning Jesus to death, and who condemns Pilate to die a horrible death. Pilate kills himself with a knife before the execution.

You can find the story here;
newadvent.org/fathers/0812.htm
 
What happened to Pontius Pilate after Jesus’ execution? Did he stay a governor or did he convert or was he killed? What happened to this man? Also, do you think he thought he made a mistake executing Jesus, or he really didn’t care.
No one really knows. We know that he existed and that by all accounts was a pretty brutal governor. There are several writings that survive that tell stories about him, none of which have ever been verified. There is one legend that he did indeed become a Christian and in the Coptic Church I believe, he was even elevated to sainthood.

But I don’t think there is any evidence one way of the other as to what happened to him.
 
From reading the gospels, I think Pilate knew that Jesus wasn’t guilty of anything deserving the death penalty. He didn’t want to have him crucified. But the Jewish leaders behind the plot targeted his weak spot. They told him if he let Jesus free he was no ‘friend of Caesar’. If a rumor like that made it’s way to Rome, Pilate’s position or even his life might have been at risk. So he washed his hands of the whole thing and sent Jesus off to be crucified. It was legal but it wasn’t just.

Somehow Jesus would have died anyway; that was His mission. But Pilate missed his chance to take a stand for justice and be a hero. Afterwards, he may have regretted what he had done. In addition, his wife was very unhappy about it, so we know he had to deal with that.
 
In one story, Pilate is brought before Tiberius Caesar, who becomes infuriated at Pilate for his part in condemning Jesus to death, and who condemns Pilate to die a horrible death. Pilate kills himself with a knife before the execution.

You can find the story here;
newadvent.org/fathers/0812.htm
Having read that interesting story of Tiberius Caesar and Saint Veronica made me think that perhaps the Romans who held political power feared the idea that You can never silence the killing of a martyr. The Romans were well aware of the Christian influence in Judea. Though perhaps redundant to make comment,had the Romans killed an important Jewish political figure of that era it would have created a strong opposition to Roman authority adding much more conflict and unrest than the Romans wanted.

Thanks for adding the reference. First time I’ve ever read this.
 
I don’t believe anyone knows exactly what happened to Pilate, but if you look up the word,“despised” in the dictionary, his picture would be one of the ones shown.
Though it would have been great if he would have stood up for Jesus and done the right thing, I tend to be somewhat charitable towards Pilate. After all, his actions were important in the fulfillment of prophesy by having Christ put to death in order that he could be raised on the third day.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top