Easter
History of Pontius Pilate: his Background Before Good Friday
HISTORY OF PONTIUS PILATE The Roman governor who presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his crucifixion had a complex background. The name Pontius Pilate provides two valuable clues to his background and ancestry. The family name, Pontius, was that of a prominent clan among the Samnites, hill cousins of the Latin Romans. They had almost conquered Rome in several fierce wars. The Pontii were of noble blood, but when Rome finally absorbed the Samnites, their aristocracy was demoted to the Roman equestrian or middle-class order rather than the higher senatorial order. Pilate’s praenomen, his personal name Pilatus, proves almost conclusively…
Read MoreHistory of Easter: Historical Climate
HISTORICAL CLIMATE OF EASTER As Passion Week begins next weekend, what was the historical climate of Easter Week almost 2,000 years ago surrounding the last week of the life of Jesus of Nazareth? He was a man “born to die,” not just in the normal sense but also in some special sense. Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst a torrent of turbulence: religious, political, military, social, and economical. At that time, the events in ancient Palestine are rarely linked to the larger context that controlled the province: the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, the culmination of Jesus’ career was a “tale of two cities”…
Read MoreHistory of the Players
What happened to our players AFTER the events in the Easter story?
Read MoreHistory of Good Friday
GOOD FRIDAY For centuries, pilgrims have walked the Via Dolorosa, “the way of sorrow” in Jerusalem, following the path Jesus took from the judgment seat of Pilate at the Antonia in the eastern part of the city immediately north of the Temple through several “stations of the Cross” to the ultimate location at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of the crucifixion and burial. Several years ago I walked this road, and though historically anachronistic — some of these roads did not exist during the time of Christ — nevertheless it leaves one with a profound sense…
Read MoreHistory of the Trial
THE TRIAL OF JESUS The trial of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion was actually a series of perhaps half a dozen trials, across several locations in Jerusalem, some of which are captured in the tradition of the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow, a series of locations that pilgrims take through the streets of modern Jerusalem commemorating the last hours before Jesus arrival at Golgotha. HOUSE OF ANNAS Jesus was brought before the powerful ex-high priest for a hearing prior to formal arraignment before the son-in-law Caiaphas. Jesus knowing this to be essentially a lower court inquiry…
Read MoreHistory of Maundy Thursday
MAUNDY THURSDAY Amid the bustle of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter, Maundy Thursday is easy to overlook. Few calendars label it, and some churches don’t observe it at all, though it may be the oldest of the Holy Week observances. It’s worth asking why, and how, generations of Christians have revered this day. The Middle English word “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning “command.” The reference is John 13:34: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jesus spoke those words at the Last Supper, which…
Read MoreHistory of the Sanhedrin
SANHEDRIN The Greek word sunedrion, translated “council” is referred to in the New Testament as “the Great Law-Court”, “the Court of Seventy-One”, and “the rulers and elders and scribes”. It was the supreme theocratic court of the Jews and reflected the local autonomy which the Greek and Roman powers granted the Jewish nation. Its origin can be traced back as far as 200 B.C. The council had 70 members plus the ruling high priest. Three professional groups composed the council: High priests (the acting high priest and former high priests) and members of the chief-priestly families Elders (tribal and family…
Read MoreHistory of Herod Antipas
HEROD ANTIPAS Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great (whom we met in the Christmas story) and Malthake. After his father’s death in 4 B.C. he was made tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea in Trans-Jordan. Like his father, he was a lover of great and artistic architectural works, and built the beautiful Tiberias (named after guess who), as capital of his kingdom on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (which was renamed Sea of Tiberias). He was married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia, but afterwards divorced her to the wrath of her father. Antipas…
Read MoreHistory of Pontius Pilate
PONTIUS PILATE His name provides two valuable clues to his background and ancestry. The family name, Pontius was that of a prominent clan among the Samnites, hill cousins of the Latin Romans. They had almost conquered Rome in several fierce wars. The Pontii were of noble blood, but when Rome finally absorbed the Samnites, their aristocracy was demoted to the Roman equestrian or middle-class order, rather than the senatorial order. It is Pilate’s personal name Pilatus that proves almost conclusively that he was of Samnite origin. Pilatus means “armed-with-a-javelin”. The pilum or javelin was six feet long, half wooden and…
Read MoreHistorical Climate of Easter
HISTORICAL CLIMATE OF EASTER What was the historical climate surrounding the last week of the life of Jesus of Nazareth? This man born to die, not just in the normal sense, but in some special sense, entered Jerusalem amidst a torrent of political, social and economic turbulence. The events in Palestine at this time are rarely linked to the larger context which controlled the province: the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, the culmination of Jesus’ career was really a tale of two cities – Jerusalem and Rome. In these historical notes we will examine this climate. Some of the subjects we will…
Read MoreHistory of Palm Sunday
PALM SUNDAY The week we now call Holy Week, started with Palm Sunday. Why was this week so important that three of the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) devote a full third of their contents to reporting this week, and The Fourth Gospel (John) dedicates its entire last half? Jerusalem, which had a normal population of about 50,000 at this time, had at least tripled in size because of the influx of pilgrims celebrating the Jewish holiday Passover. Early Sunday morning Jesus made his baldly public entry into the city. This was the end of all privacy and safety,…
Read MoreHistory of Easter
HISTORY OF EASTER The most joyous of Christian festivals, and one of the first celebrated by the Christians, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. The English word “Easter” corresponding to the German “Oster“, reveals the association of many Easter customs with those of the Teutonic tribes of central Europe. When Christianity reached these people it incorporated many of their “heathen” rites (of the heath) into the great Christian feast day. Easter month, corresponding to our April, was dedicated to Eostre, or Ostara, goddess of the spring. There was…
Read More