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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Crucified under Pontius Pilate
So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
(Jn 19:17–19)The story of Jesus and the future must begin in the past, and it must begin at his death. This is not the fabled past of “once upon a time” which could only yield a fictional future. This is the flesh-and-blood past in which crucifixion was a cruel form of public execution generally reserved for slaves and enemies of the Roman order. It is an era in history when the Roman legions had occupied Palestine for almost a century, and only the Senate and emperor in Rome could declare someone to be “King of the Jews.” It is during the decade (A.D. 26–36) when Pontius Pilate was the governor, charged with keeping the peace in a region that was known to be a seedbed of trouble. The title he placed over Jesus' head was not a confession of faith. It was a bitter warning to all Judea against any dreams of future revolt.
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