Evil men in the Gospels

Pontius Pilate, Roman governor

Pilate, one of the worst villains in the gospels, was the Roman prefect of Judea. He had been appointed by the emperor Tiberius in 26AD. He lived in an official residence at the port of Caesarea, but went to Jerusalem at festival time – that is why he was there at the Passover festival when Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and crucified.

SPQR – the Senate and the People of Rome – a sign that summoned up the power and might of ancient Rome

It was a difficult, combustible time, and Pilate was not a diplomat. The Roman letter-writer Philo describes him as ‘a man of inflexible disposition, harsh and obdurate’.

Pilate’s behavior towards the Jewish population was if anything designed to encourage unrest and resentment. Jewish law forbad images of any kind, but when Pilate entered Jerusalem for the first time, he ordered the soldiers to carry their military standards, which bore the emperor’s image. There was an outcry against this tactless action, and Pilate eventually had to back down and remove the images from Jerusalem.

The gospels present him in a more favorable light, suggesting that he knew that Jesus was innocent but was forced to condemn him. This may be true, but it is also a fact that the gospel writers were bending over backward, as they told the story, to show the Romans in a good light. At the time they were writing, it was politically expedient to do so.

Pontius Pilate with Jesus, ‘Passion of the Christ’

Pilate’s brutal dispersion of a crowd of Samaritan pilgrims at Mount Gerizim eventually brought about his downfall. The Samaritan leaders protested to his supervisor, Vitellius, and Pilate had to return to Rome to answer for his conduct. The emperor Caligula banished Pilate to Vienne in Gaul, where he died in 41AD.

‘Pilate asked him “So you are a king?” Jesus answered “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him “What is the truth?” (John 18:37-38)

Jesus called Herod Antipas ‘that fox’

Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee for over 40 years, during the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He is famous as the ruler who killed John the Baptist, and who slid out of saving Jesus when he was on trial in Jerusalem.

Jesus called Herod Antipas ‘that fox’ – not because he was cunning, but because he was needlessly destructive

Herod Antipas was one of the few sons of Herod the Great who survived his father’s paranoia, and he did this mainly because he was lazy or clever, or possibly both – Jesus, an excellent judge of character, called him ‘that fox’. Jesus may have been referring to Herod’s cunning, but foxes were hated because they were needlessly destructive, killing more than they needed for food.

When his father died, the Romans made Antipas ruler of Galilee and the neighboring state of Perea, where the Baptist lived and preached.

Antipas’ first wife was the daughter of King Aretas IV of Nabatea. This marriage lasted for a number of years, but then Antipas fell passionately in love with a very unsuitable woman – the daughter of his dead half-brother Aristobulos who had once been married to his half-brother Herod Philip. Marriage to the widow of your brother was unlawful according to Jewish practice, and Herod and Herodias were roundly condemned when they married – notably by John the Baptist.  In the volatile political situation of the time, John’s criticism was seen as potentially rebellious, and Herod and his wife and step-daughter Salome engineered John’s execution. They probably saw it as a relatively trivial matter.

A few years later, when Antipas was in Jerusalem for Passover, a trouble-maker called Jesus of Nazareth was sent to Antipas for assessment – since the man was from Galilee, he fell under Antipas’ jurisdiction. When Jesus refused to answer his questions, Antipas mocked him and then returned him to Pilate. This was typical of his reluctance to make any decision that could be potentially dangerous to himself.

Reconstruction of the royal Palace.
Herod Antipas lived here when he was in Jerusalem.

Antipas and Herodias were miffed when the Romans made her brother Herod Agrippa a king – Herod was a ruler but not formally called ‘king’. Antipas applied to the current Roman emperor, Caligula, to be named a king, but Caligula responded by stripping Antipas of everything he owned, exiling him to Gaul and giving all his possessions to Herod Agrippa instead. To her credit, Herodias volunteered to go with her husband Antipas into exile.

‘But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. (Matthew 14:6-7)