Was Pilate The Enemy?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
    Often we blame Pontious Pilate for the death of Jesus.
As Scripture recounts, Pilate ordered Christ to be flogged and finally, to be crucified. It was within his power to do these things, as he was the Roman governer of the Judean territory, and he was dispassionate and efficient in meting out justice.
    He also was not a Christian, of course, as that term, even that idea, had not come to be in his time. Thus, he had none of the emotional connection to Jesus that we have. So, its not surprsing that Christians harbor a deep contempt for Pilate.
    But Pilate was motivated by a very different set of emotions than one might imagine. You see, he was more fearful of a Jewish revolt and keeping his head attached to his body, than he was bothered by having Jesus crucified.

 Pontius Pilate was used by God.
He was chosen to do what he did.

    Of course, WE see Jesus as the savior of mankind from sin, and the channel to our eternal life in heaven. But in His time, Jesus was seen as more of a trouble maker than Messiah.

    He constantly disobeyed and stirred up the Jewish Temple leadership (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) and they were at a fever pitch over him thumbing his nose at them (as they saw it). Because of their anger at his seeming disregard for their status as religious elite, they had, in turn, agitated the Jewish people against Jesus.

    There were, in fact, several Roman loyalist groups among the Jews - Herodists being just one named in Scripture. And these groups, urged on by the Pharisees, were going around stirring up the Jerusalem Jews against Jesus...and that spelled trouble for Pilate.

    The emperor back in Rome, Caesar, he dealt harshly with any of his territorial prelates that failed to maintain order and keep the locals under control. If they didn't, or couldn't, maintain order, it was their careers, and sometimes their head. 
    An uprising for any reason was always a threat among their subjected peoples, and Pilate knew that the Jews of Judea were ripe for rebellion.

    We sometimes have the idea that the Jews were weak pacifists. But they had good memories, and a long history of both subjugation - and fighting back.

    Starting in about the 13th century BCE, the Jews spent 430 years as slaves of the Egyptians, according to the Bible... and they won their release from that painful life thanks to God.
    No too far in the past, the Jews were then conquered and exiled to Babylon, from the early 6th century BCE to around 538 BCE. The exile only ended after the Persian Empire conquered Babylon and allowed the exiles to return and rebuild the Temple.  
    Fairly recent to Jesus' time (167–160 BCE), there was the Maccabean Uprising againt the oppressive Seleucid Empire, and its forced Hellenization (adoption of Greek culture) of the Jewish people. 

    Likewise, wars and armed conflict are mentioned all through the Old Testament, and the Jews were often among the combatants, since the Old Scripture is their story.

    So they had risen, fallen, rose again, and fought their way along throughout their history. So they weren't a people inclined to meekly roll over and accept Roman dominance.
    And Pilate was surely aware of all this, especially the Maccabean revolt.
    So as the Roman administrator of the region, he made it hard for the Jews - obedience through brute force and intimidation was his modus operandi.

His methods included:

• Military Presence and Force: Pilate had military troops that served as both a police force and a standing army to suppress dissent. He did not shy away from using force to quell protests or potential uprisings.
• Intimidation and Cruelty: Historical sources, such as the philosopher Philo of Alexandria, describe Pilate as a man of "inflexible, stubborn and cruel disposition" who was known for executing people without proper trial.
• Taxation: Roman taxes were high and increasing, as keeping people poor has always been a standard practice of control by rulers.This was typical of Roman provincial administration, but Pilate's taxation was heavy-handed and insensitivity to Jewish religious and cultural norms that made him deeply unpopular.

        So Pilate was not exactly a benevolent tyrant.
        And frankly, the Jeruslaem Jews, as a population, were sick and tired of having Rome's foot on their neck.
    Meanwhile, the temple leaders, the Pharisees and Sadduccees, lived fairly well - under Roman suffrage.

    They were, "quislings," in other words. In case the term, "quisling," is unfamilar to you, it refers to Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian fascist and Nazi collaborator who was head of a Nazi puppet government in Norway during World War II. His name became synonymous with those who sympathize and collaborate with oppressive invaders and their rule. Thus the Pharisees were basically traitors working from the middle, between their peoples and the Romans..., and their main goal was to save their own necks and keep the power the Romans allowed them.
    So they were afraid of reprisals by the Romans over any sort of civil disobedience, should discontent build among the Jewish people that they could not control. Should that happen, they would find themselves, and their powerful positions threatened.
    More death (including their own), and exile for all Jews were possible, and that was on THEIR minds.

    So Jesus was the perfect target for them, both scapegoat and religious heretic as far as they were concerned. It was these Temple elite high priests who orchestrated Jesus' death. And Pilate was the means to that end.
    As far as Pilate was concerned, Jesus was just another Jewish "rebel," and he had dealt with many of those already. So even though he judged Jesus as being no real threat, he had no personal reason to treat Our Lord with abject kindness, either.
    Pilate was a tool, really, a means to an end for the Temple leaders. They knew the governor had a personal stake in the game....and they leveraged that against him and Jesus.
    Ultimately, they twisted Pilate's arm, by threatening that the Emperor back in Rome could get wind of all these troubles and step in. 

    But there's another element to this that should resonate with us - one we often overlook  with ourm "man on fthe street" viewpoint:

    Pontius Pilate was used by God. He was chosen to do what he did.

    This was to fulfill the ancient prophecies and secure the resurrection of Christ. God ordained that Jesus be executed by Roman crucifixion (a Gentile method) rather than a Jewish stoning. This fulfilled and validated specific Scriptural prophecies.

Biblical Prophecy and Fulfillment

• The Crucifixion Method: Psalm 22 details the suffering of the Messiah, explicitly prophesying that His "hands and feet" would be pierced (Psalm 22:16). Jewish law required stoning for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16). But by handing Jesus over to the Roman governor, God ensured the fulfillment of this piercing prophecy. 
• The Lifted Up Son of Man: Jesus prophesied His manner of death, stating, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14). crucifixion on a Roman cross literally fulfilled this typology. 
• The Sufferer's Garments: In fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, the Roman soldiers executing Jesus gambled for His seamless tunic rather than tearing it (John 19:23-24).
• Guarding the Tomb: Pilate's decision to grant the Jewish leaders a Roman guard for the tomb (Matthew 27:64-66) ironically secured the resurrection. These trained guards, alongside the official Roman seal, provided indisputable witnesses that the tomb was not secretly emptied by disciples. 
  
  Sacred Tradition and The Divine Outcome

• The Emptying of Hell (Harrowing of Hell): In Sacred Christian Tradition, Pilate's judgment of Christ set into motion the harrowing of Hades. Texts like the Gospel of Nicodemus (or Acta Pilati) recount Jesus descending into the realm of the dead to break the gates of brass and liberate the righteous souls, culminating in His bodily resurrection on the third day. 
• Pilate's Involuntary Proclamation: Tradition views Pilate as an unwitting herald of God's kingdom. Pilate inscribed "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" in three languages (Hebrew, Latin, and Greek) above the cross. When religious leaders demanded he change it, Pilate prophetically declared, "What I have written, I have written" (John 19:22). He publicly affirmed Christ’s eternal kingship to the Gentile world.
• The Martyr and Saint: In Eastern Orthodox and Ethiopian Church traditions, Pilate’s profound hesitation, his wife’s prophetic dream, and his literal washing of his hands are viewed as steps toward faith. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church historically recognizes him as a saint who repented and embraced Christianity. 

    Through political expedience and the dictates of Rome, Pilate unknowingly acted as an instrument of divine providence, bringing about the sacrifice and triumph over death required for Christ's resurrection. 
    Put another way, someone was ordained to do it, and it was Pilate who was governer at the time. Just as somone was going to betray Jesus - the role of Judas Iscariot - somone had to fufill the prophecies surrounding Christs ultimate death. 
    F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American author, once observed that, ..."The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."
    With that in mind, we ask the question again, "Was Pilate the enemy?"
    I think by now you know the answer....