Category Archives: Christian Origins And The Question Of God – NT Wright

Not only did Pontius Pilot have to deal with “This Jesus” he also had these other problems too ! Just interesting history…

We know of at least seven such incidents in the ten years of Pontius Pilate’s procuratorship (AD 26–36): (i)

Pilate tried to bring Roman standards into Jerusalem, but backed down after a mass protest.29 (ii)


He used money from the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct, and crushed the resistance that this action provoked.30 (iii)

He sent troops to kill some Galileans while they were offering sacrifices in the Temple, presumably because he feared a riot.31 (iv)

He captured and condemned to death the leader of an uprising that had taken place in Jerusalem, involving murder; he then released the man as a gesture of goodwill during the Passover feast.32 (v) (Barrabus)

At the same Passover, he faced a quasi-messianic movement, having some association with resistance movements; he crucified its leader along with two ordinary revolutionaries.33 (vi) (Jesus)

He provoked public opinion by placing Roman votive shields, albeit without images, in the palace at Jerusalem, which according to Philo annoyed Tiberius almost as much as it did the Jews.34 (vii)

Finally, he suppressed with particular brutality a popular (and apparently non-revolutionary) prophetic movement in Samaria. For this he was accused before the Roman legate in Syria, who had him sent back to Rome.35

Wright, N. T. (1992-01-01). New Testament People God V1: Christian Origins And The Question Of God (p. 174). Fortress Press. Kindle Edition.