A Pilate Error
Posted on May 12th, 2008 | Comment on This | Read This Article »
I was listening to a sermon this afternoon on the topic of absolute truth (or Truth if you prefer). The reference was John 18:33-38 which is Jesus’ encounter with Pilate. The speaker said something that caught me off guard. He said that Pilate committed suicide three years after Jesus was crucified. I had never heard that so being my curious self, I investigated.
Pilate does not benefit from a huge amount of ancient evidence outside of the Bible. The first reference we have of him is from the historian Tacitus in one of the popular extra-biblical references to Jesus. It just says that Christ was “put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius.” There was also a stone with Pilate’s name carved in it found in the 60s which is the only archaeological evidence of Pilate with his title in the New Testament (prefect).
So why was it that Jesus tried to keep His identity a secret? We can preface this by saying that Jesus became more willing to publicly identify Himself as Messiah later in His ministry. Also remember that those He heals and commands not to speak of His identity, disregard it and tell others about Him anyways like the former leper in Mark 1:40-45.
For many years I wanted to be a spy. I even interviewed with the CIA. When I imagine a spy, I want to think James Bond and I can assure you that the reality is much different. The reality is that you live in a foreign country with a regular job, but while you are performing that job you are also performing the duties of a spy which may include networking or monitoring people. In a very similar way Christians are spies. Their main goal is to glorify God and fulfill the Great Commission, yet this is to be done under the title of accountant, consultant or teacher. Even Jesus led a double life here on earth, but was it as a carpenter?
