Ecce Homo! Archaeological Evidence for Pontius Pilate

During the 1800s a wave of skepticism engulfed academia which called into question the historical reliability of the Bible. Many liberal scholars doubted that the Bible could be taken seriously, because there was no hard evidence to confirm its people, places and events. All that began to change with the advent of a new field of study - archaeology. Then with each turn of the digger’s spade, the Bible was vindicated as archaeologists scored major discoveries.

For a long time, doubting Thomases weren’t sure if the Gospel writers knew what they were talking about with respect to Pontius Pilate. Bible readers know him as the Roman governor of Judea who held office from 26-36 AD. His most infamous act of cowardice occurred when he washed his hands of Jesus, capitulating to the cries of the lynch mob demanding Jesus’ crucifixion (See John 18-19). Still, some conjectured that perhaps Pilate never existed.

Then in 1961 during an excavation at Caesarea Maritima, archaeologist Antonio Frova discovered a stone tablet with the name “Pontius Pilate Prefect of Judea” inscribed upon it. Since then, it has been concluded that the site in Caesarea was a second seaside palace where Pilate stayed when he was not holed up in Herod’s opulent Jerusalem mansion. Until this inscription was found, the only record that Pilate existed was in the Gospels, and brief references by the ancient historians Josephus, Tacitus and Eusebius.[1]

                                                                     The Pilate Stone

In 2018 the New York Times reported that a seal ring was found in Jerusalem bearing the name of Pontius Pilate. Archaeologists believe that the copper alloy ring was either worn by Pilate or by one of his administrators who would use the seal to give Pilate’s authority on official documents. That same article is quoted, “for historians of the Roman period, Pilate was just one of a string of Roman officials who were sent to Judea to govern and keep the peace. Were it not for his biblical role, he would be remembered as a Roman official who didn’t do so well.”[2]

                                                                   Pilate's Seal Ring

Finally, in his recent book, The Final Days of Jesus, archaeologist Shimon Gibson (University of UNC-Charlotte) provides compelling evidence for his excavation of some ruins outside Jerusalem, as the location where Jesus was tried by Pilate. According to John 19:13, after Pilate had Jesus flogged, “he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.” In 2009 near the site of Herod’s Western Jerusalem palace, Gibson unearthed several pavement stones and a bema seat, which was a raised platform used by the Greeks and Romans to render public verdicts by judges. These ruins fit John’s description perfectly. Today, the growing consensus is that Gibson has indeed found the place where Pilate presented a bloody and beaten Jesus with the acclamation Ecco Homo! (Latin for “Behold the man”)

Gabbatha 

Today, there’s no doubt that the Bible is historically accurate as the archaeological record testifies. In fact, there has yet to be an archaeological discovery which had controverted the Bible. I think Christian apologist, Eric Metaxas, summarizes beautifully by writing:

 “It is mind boggling that after two millennia we have at last found the very place were this most impossibly consequential scene unfolded, and more extraordinary, can still see the very stones upon which the broken and bleeding prisoner stood wearing His crown of thorns. We can see the stone Bema too upon which Pilate sat, as those around shouted “Crucify Him!” We who take the Bible seriously know those crowds were standing in for us, and that the One whom they condemned forgave them, as He does us. We can see precisely were Jesus’ feet stood and where the axis of history – and eternity too – pivoted decisively, and those stones cry out still.”[3]  

-DM

---

[1] Alfred Hoerth & John McRay, Bible Archaeology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2005), 173.

[2] Palko Karasz, “Pontius Pilate’s Name Is Found on 2,000-Year-Old Ring,” New York Times, 30 November 2018 <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/world/middleeast/pontius-pilate-ring.html>

[3] Eric Metaxas, Is Atheism Dead? (Washington D.C.: Salem, 2021), 218.

God's Word, Right on Time

 

A couple years ago, a woman named Katrina in Youngstown, Ohio, grabbed her mail from the mailbox and was shocked to find a card addressed to her in her mother’s handwriting. The envelope had her mother’s return address on it. But Katrina’s mother had passed away in 2018. The postmark said, “June 20, 2015.” It was a birthday card, lost in the mail, delivered more than five years after it had been mailed. Katrina opened the card and there in her mother’s handwriting was a Bible verse: “I know the thoughts I have towards you sayeth the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil.” Katrina took it as a message from heaven and that moment totally changed her understanding of God.[1]

It never ceases to amaze how God’s Word can break into our lives unexpectedly and yet at just the right moment. Sometimes it seems as if God waits till the last second, or even delays in answering that prayer, opening that door, or getting us unstuck.

Isaiah 55:10 says, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven…so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth.” Just as melting snow and rain bring much needed water to a thirsty land, so too God’s Word floods our souls when we are a dry wasteland.

The Message paraphrases Proverbs 25:11, “A word spoken at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry.” When God’s Word speaks to you personally and specifically in your moment of need it’s like it was crafted just for you, even though it was written thousands of years ago.     

Psalm 119:130 adds, “The entrance of Your words gives light.” We’ve all needed to know which direction to take at one of life’s crossroads. We fret, lose sleep and run through all the options in our mind till we are frazzled. Then God speaks and the way forward becomes clear.

What does this teach us? First, we see that God’s Word is always fresh, always true and always applicable. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “God never gives his children a promise which he does not intend them to use. There are some promises in the Bible which I have never yet used, but I am well assured that there will come times of trial and trouble when I shall find that that poor despised promise, which I thought was never meant for me, will be the only one on which I can float”[2]

Second, we see that God knows, God sees and God cares. When God’s speaks to you about a specific need in your life it shows that He is intimately involved in the tiny details. I can attest that when that timely word arrives you will feel humbled that the God of the universe spoke to you – an undeserving waif – and you feel the need for unabated praise because He’s that good. I may never receive a letter from the President, or a rich and famous celebrity, but I have One better who speaks to me - My Heavenly Father. 

Third, it shows that often we are not ready to receive truth and so God wisely withholds revelation until our spirits are teachable and we are open to His Word.

We never face a situation for which God has not supplied specific promises that provide mercy and grace to help in time of need. Are you currently facing a problem or pressure? Between the covers of your Bible, God has a specific promise to aid you. Search the Scriptures, find that promise, and focus your heart on its truth. -DM

---

[1] Desirae Gostlin, “Youngstown Woman Receives Birthday Card From Late Mother, 5 Years Later,” WLBN, December 11, 2020.  

[2] Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983), 404.

Fiery Faith

 

35 Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.                                              Hebrews 11:35-38

While awaiting execution at Newgate prison, John Hooper scribbled with a piece of coal on the wall of his cell, “Fear not death. Only in God put thy whole trust.” What were his crimes? Standing against teachings of the Catholic Church, specifically he denied the doctrine that the elements of the Lord Supper were the real body and blood of Christ.

Hooper lived during a time of political and religious turmoil that threatened to tear England apart. When staunchly Catholic Queen Mary I came to the throne in 1553, the radical Protestant views of John Hooper made him an obvious target. He was one of the first arrested in the infamous attempt of “Bloody Mary” to reverse the spread of the English Reformation.  

On August 29th, 1553, Hooper appeared before Queen Mary’s Council, where he was banished as a prisoner to the Fleet, a notorious prison known for housing people without the due process of law. Throughout his 17-month stay in the prison, judges begged Hooper to recant his heretical views and subsequently set himself free, but time and time again, John Hooper refused. Inevitably, on February 9, 1555, he was condemned to execution by burning at Gloucester.

A large crowd estimated to be 7,000 strong turned out to see Hooper die. Eyewitnesses say that Hooper prayed until soldiers began to fasten three iron shackles to him, in order so that he may not escape. Hooper refused them, saying “God will give me strength sufficient to abide the extremity of the fire without bands.”

The next forty-five minutes were excruciatingly painful, not only for the condemned, but also for gawkers. A combination of factors made kindling a roaring fire difficult. Executioners used green faggots on the pyre and the high winds blew the fire out twice! When the fire had to be relit a third time Hooper exclaimed, “For God’s love, good people, let me have more fire!”

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs records the grisly details of Hooper’s demise. As the flames licked up his body, the feet and legs of the condemned were reduced to charred stumps. Smoke turned his tongue and mouth black. The heat caused his lips to shrivel to his gums. With the blood and fat dripping from his fingers, Hooper beat his arm against his chest until it fell off, and continued to do so until his other arm fell off.  His last words were, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me! Receive my spirit!” Moments later, Hooper’s body bowed forward in lifeless surrender.

The sacrifice of men like John Hooper and the 282 other martyrs killed during Queen Mary’s reign are the reason we enjoy so many blessings we take for granted. A translation of the Bible in a language we can understand and freedom to worship without a State sponsored religion are just a couple of victories that were hard won by the martyrs. The next time you open your Bible or sit in a church pew, why not thank God that you live in such times that you can approach Him with such ease. Let John Hooper’s unwavering stance and bravery in the face of persecution inspire us to not back down when powerful people challenge our faith. For even while being consumed by flames, Hooper never gave in. We must do the same. -DM

Sources:

Jasper Ridley, Blood Mary’s Martyrs (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2001), 71-72.

Foxe’s Voices of the Martyrs (Washington D.C.: Salem, 2019), 137-138.