you want to know who s in charge, who s the real ruler here? it s not any jewish pretenders and contenders like jesus. and the whole point of these three languages is that everybody in cosmopolitan jerusalem can understand what it means. the great irony, of course, is that, for the readers of the gospels and for christians ever since, it is, in fact, true. jesus is crucified, suffers and diepz dies under pilate. though jesus seems like he s the powerless one, his power is shown and revealed at the resurrection, so we see that the real king of the jews is, in fact, jesus, and that pilate s inscription over the cross is true. so what happened to the loyal roman prefect after jesus crucifixion? the bible tells us nothing, but thanks to josephus, we have a record of the final chapter in
before he ever entered the city on the donkey, to do whatever it took to accomplish the mission. matthew describes the whole city of jerusalem being in turmoil, with people saying, who is this? and the crowds answer, this is jesus, the prophet from nazareth. he arrives just as the city prepares for passover. passover is the largest religious event of the jewish calendar. language like king of the jews and promises of a new kingdom is very powerful, especially when people are celebrating the liberation of the jewish people from a tyrannical power. now we really can understand why the more zealotic disciples would say, let s get ready to rumble. he s going to come and kick the romans out of town. we re going to get our capital city back. jesus riding in to jerusalem through the streets on the back of a donkey isn t just simple transportation into the city.
for pilate, trouble during passover is the last thing he needs. what s going on? there s been some trouble at the temple. it s possible that pilate had heard about jesus. it s nothing to worry about on the other hand, pilate was a very busy man, and jesus was just another galilean peasant causing problems. pilate is about to discover the man before him is no ordinary criminal. it s not a big deal for a roman governor to sentence someone to die, especially for anything that sounds like treason. take that off. anyone who proclaims themself king or whose followers proclaim himself king is a direct threat to roman rule. what accusation do you bring against this man? he stirs up the people by teaching throughout all judaea.
this is a very deliberately provocative act. jesus is essentially claiming, i am the king of the jews, the expected messiah, coming from the east into jerusalem to bring new hope. anyone in authority at the time would be deeply concerned that jesus was actually trying to incite some kind of rebellion. pontius pilate is also in jerusalem, not to celebrate passover, but to keep the peace and dispense roman justice. imagine you have thousands and thousands of people coming to the same place. they re staying in tents all around 9 the city. in walks jesus with thousands of followers, and he tries to disrupt what s going on there.
have nothing to do with that innocent man. in a dream last night, i suffered much on account of him. in the ancient world, dreams are often seen as a way in which the gods communicate with humans. we have sort of the voice of god coming into the narrative at this point and declaring jesus innocent. matthew also contrasts a pagan woman, who already understands something about jesus, with the jewish chief priests who are intent on getting jesus killed. behold, the man. plaque psoriasis uncover clearer skin that can last. most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. in another study, the majority of tremfya® patients saw 90% clearer skin at 3 years.