What Happened To Pontius Pilate After The Execution of Jesus?
A tale with a fork in the road
Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from the year 27 CE and 37 CE. He served under the Roman emperor Tiberius and is famously known for presiding over the trial of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel accounts found in the Bible, Pilate relented to the wishes of the Jews and ordered Jesus to be executed by crucifixion. Pilate is initially skeptical and finds little reason to have Jesus subjected to one of the harshest punishments in the Roman arsenal. Some accounts even have him ceremonially washing his hands of the incident and putting the blame on the Jewish mob that was calling for his blood.
Pontius Pilate has been a controversial figure in Christianity ever since. Some paint him as a villain. He is a symbol of Roman rule over Israel during this period. Pilate is painted as aloof, cold, and uncaring by many. Other denominations see Pilate in a more favorable light. He was even canonized as a saint in Ethiopian and Egyptian Christian traditions.
The trial and execution of Jesus took place around 33 CE, and Pilate served as governor for four years after the events that made him famous. Today, most Christians know the name Pontius Pilate even if they don’t know anything else about the man. His entire existence is tied and immortalized…
