The End of an Era: from Silent Film to Talkies

787 Words4 Pages
Discuss the role of Herod and Pilate in Luke's passion narrative The role of Herod and Pilate in Luke's passion narrative can be described in many different ways. Pilate often referred to as Pontius was a Roman governor of Judea during the reign of Tiberius Caesar. The people of Jerusalem did not think very highly of him, and unfortunately the feeling was mutual. He had proven his distaste for the Jews by authorizing a raid of their Temple treasury in order to build an aqueduct into the city. Herod was known as Antipas was the son of Herod the Great and brother to Herod Archelaus. His mother was a Samaritan named Malthace. He ruled over Galilee and Perea from 4 BC-39 AD. He inherited his father's political finesse. In fact, Jesus referred to him as "that fox" in Luke 13:32. Helen Bond argues that the characteristics of Pilate in Philo and Josephus is shaped by the theological concerns and that the portrait of Pilate from the gospels are more complex than the traditional views assumes. In this view Pilate was as harsh as the Jewish sources imply but sought to maintain a balance between the emperor and the concerns of the Judeans. Jensen states that “Herod Antipas has increasingly become a ‘factor of explanation and verification’ of the various presentations of his Galilee” In the trail before Pilate the Jewish leaders were planning to have Jesus killed but they required roman authority. The charges against Jesus change from the Jewish when they were religious but now they were political, they were change so that they could secure a conviction. All the crowd, high priests and scribes began to accused Jesus, saying, "We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king." And Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him, "You have said so." And Pilate said to
Open Document