Pontius Pilate, Priests and Politics

Every year it gets to me.

At Nisan 14, when Christians worldwide gather to commemorate Jesus' death, they will revisit his last supper, the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal, his arrest, an illegal trial held secretly by religious leaders in the middle of the night and his appearance before Pontius Pilate.

And this is when the question arises yet again:

Why did Pilate wash his hands? 

The Roman governor knew the prisoner was innocent and he had already been warned by his wife to “have nothing to do with that righteous man” after her disturbing dream. Furthermore, he clearly recognised the hypocrisy and lies of Jesus' accusers who, despite the lack of evidence, hauled him before the unfortunate official in the middle of the night.

Instead of pitting Jesus against Barabbas for the crowd to choose which of them should die, or trying to appease the troublesome priests by having Jesus whipped, beaten and humiliated, why didn’t Pilate set Jesus free?

Now at last, I think I know the answer. It relates to a situation that began in Rome before Jesus was born; one that likely weighed against him in 33 C.E.

The knives came out

It was the Ides of March, 44 B.C.E. Julius Caesar was attending a meeting of the Senate at the Theatre of Pompey in Rome, when suddenly the knives came out.  Concerned that Caesar’s unprecedented power was undermining the Republic, over 60 senators had conspired to assassinate him, presenting the murder as tyrannicide. Chief amongst them were Marcus Brutus, Decimus Brutus and Gaius Cassius whose treachery led to Caesar being stabbed 23 times and the ultimate end of the Republic.

“Better a dead god than a live tyrant.”

No doubt to appease the people, in 42 B.C.E, Caesar was deified to Divus Iulius – so creating a godship for all future Emperors of Rome, beginning with his great-nephew and adopted son, Gaius Octavius Augustus. Octavius now became Divi Filius – “Son of the Divine” or “Son of God”, a title passed onto to his successor - Tiberius Claudius Nero.

"You are not a friend of Caesar!"

And herein lay the problem for Pontius Pilate. Tiberius was a brutal ruler; he did not tolerate rivals and thought nothing of throwing traitors (real or imagined) down the incredibly steep steps of the Temple of Jupiter where, according to historian Suetonius, “not a day passed without an execution.” High ranking officials, such as Roman Governors, got the 5-star treatment: A summons to the emperor’s cliffside retreat in Capri where they'd be toppled over the edge for any trace of treason!

No wonder Pilate was fearful; a factor cleverly exploited by the Jewish leaders, and one which doubtless contributed to his famous handwashing scene when Jesus – the true “Son of God” - appeared before him.

“If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar!” was the cry.

And Jesus’ fate was sealed.

See also:

Putting life into words: Seditious? The Lord's Prayer? (jacybrean.blogspot.com)

     

 

  

Seditious? The Lord's Prayer?

Since Jesus instituted the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) almost 2,000 years ago, it has been recited by billions of people – sadly, often parrot-fashion with few supplicants really having grasped what this prayer means or how courageous early Christians were to adopt it. The Roman Empire which ruled when Christ walked the earth would surely have viewed it as seditious, right from its opening address: 

"Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.” 

Caesar Augustus, who was in power when Jesus was born, was known as Augusto Patri Patrae, marking his role as Father of the Fatherland and, by extension, the entire Roman Empire including Judea and Jerusalem. Augustus was not his given name but a religious title that set him apart as someone exalted and sacred....’Sanctified’.

Jesus was certainly brave in his choice of language and never held back from speaking the truth. The next thing he asked his followers to pray for was even more contentious: 

“Let your Kingdom come.” 

Rome owned the entire ocean basin of the Mediterranean, known as Mare Nostrum - ‘Our Sea’ - and no one could forget it, largely thanks to the Empire’s incredible road network and an extremely clever propaganda campaign. Travellers couldn’t fail to realise who was responsible for this amazing step forward in human history. 

In the northern part of Rome is a heap of bricks, all that now remains of a golden milestone, erected to mark Point Zero where all roads would lead. Throughout the Empire, every mile of road had a similar marker providing 4 pieces of information: The name of the ruling Caesar; the distance from the last town; the distance to the next town; and the distance from the golden milestone in Rome. These inscriptions reinforced a clear message to allcomers - “We own you now!” 

“Give us our bread for this day.” 

All Christians are familiar with the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, reinforcing God and Jesus' roles as the ultimate providers. Feeding a great crowd from just 5 loaves and 2 fish eclipsed Rome’s initiative for its 55,000 citizens - free bread. Although Ceres was the official goddess of grain, it was the goddess Annona who got the credit, personifying the Emperor’s ability to supply food to the people. The bread was not particularly good - so gritty and sandy that it filed down the teeth of consumers - and there was no fish with it, but a free loaf every day was not to be sneezed at. Every April during seeding, the people showed their gratitude with a feast to the ‘Dole Annona’. 

Not everything ran smoothly, however. Mark Antony and Augustus tried to block the Dole Annona when merchants withheld grain from the emperor to create a shortage and inflate the price. Nothing has changed!

“Forgive us our debts.”

Now this was a real red light for anyone in Rome, especially at the temple of Mars Ultor. Ancient Rome had a pantheon of gods, adopting new foreign deities of captured tribes, yet there were 12 main gods – 6 male, 6 female. In Jesus’ day, Mars was a big wheel, outranked only by Jupiter, the big Daddy of them all. Mars was the father of Romulus, the Father of Rome and he had a planet named after him, because it was red – a colour that suited this angry god of war. From Mars we also get the month of March, martial law, martial arts, Field Marshalls, and the name Mark. In ancient times, Mars was depicted with a helmet/mask that strapped under the chin and sported wings of an eagle, the symbol of Rome – headgear remarkably like that worn by Marvel’s Captain America. Priests from the temple of Mars blessed all the weapons of war – a rite still practiced today.

Ultor means Avenger, an appropriate title, as Romans, far from being forgivers, were vengeful and fierce. In fact, they had a day dedicated to vengeance – the Ides of March (15th).  Not only was this an international day to Mars, but also the first day of debt collection. It was around this time of year, after the Passover, that Jesus introduced his model prayer, which put him in Jerusalem during or just after the Day of Vengeance.  

“Do not bring us into temptation.”

With 150 holy days each year, Romans had many temptations - overeating, over drinking and whatever other indulgences appealed at the time. This made life difficult for early Christians who were viewed as ‘man haters’ for not joining in these idolatrous revelries! 

Whatever resonance the Lord’s Prayer has today, it certainly addressed some of the big issues of the day and highlights Jesus' courage and that of his disciples in making it known.

Many thanks to researcher Jemison Jepson for his help with this article.

  

Sister Prism takes on Leviathan - Extract

                  Wisteria screamed as the crocodile scrambled over the edge of the pit and began chasing her round the hall. The rest of the nunjas, including Prism, fled towards the doors, slipping and sliding as they tried to elbow each other out of the way. First to the main door was Prism, of course, but when she twisted the handle, nothing happened. It was locked! She shrieked and immediately threw herself towards the back door at the other end of the hall, skidding as she went.

"That's right, Wisteria!" she cried, "Distract him!"

“I’m doing my best, Sister Prism!”  Wisteria certainly was! Running, leaping, dodging, weaving – anything to keep away from the crocodile’s jaws.

At the back door, Prism pulled the others out of her path and tried the handle. Locked!

She growled, more from rage than terror, then raced to where the so-called 'Divinity' stood in isolated splendour. She pulled it from its base and used it as a battering ram, charging again and again at the door, howling with frustration. But it was no use, the door wouldn't budge. Not an inch. All Prism and her fellow nunjas achieved were strained biceps and a few scratches on the woodwork. By now, the withdrawal symptoms were extremely unpleasant; Prism was so desperate for a brew, she was prepared to go to any lengths to get it. 

"Help! Help!" Wisteria cried, frantically zigzagging round the floor at 90 miles an hour to escape the crocodile.

"Aaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!" The bone piercing war cry came from Prism who, armed with her precious divinity, charged at the beast, her skirts flying. Whether disturbed by the noise or petrified at the sheer sight of this hellish being, Leviathan stopped chasing Wisteria and was knocked senseless by a zinging blow to the head.

"Is that any way to treat a poor dumb animal!?" Unnoticed by the nunjas, Gordon had climbed out of the pit and was standing with his rope in his hand.

"Well, well!" exclaimed Prism. "Just look what's crawled from the sewers! Get him, Sisters!"

'Flight from Fernilee' is available from Amazon and Smashword