© 2013 Georges Donnadieu
© 2013 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
PONTIUS PILATE, fifth Roman procurator of Judea from 26 to 36 CE.
The purpose of this article is to compare THE JUDGMENT BEFORE PILATE (paper 185 of The Urantia Book) with the GOLDEN LEGEND* from which we quote the following extracts **.
… The passion of Christ was unjust: for he had not sinned, and no guile had been found in his mouth. The passion of Christ had three authors, all of whom were justly punished for their crimes. First Judas, who delivered Christ out of greed, then the Jews who delivered him out of envy, finally Pilate, who delivered him out of cowardice.
But the story of the punishment of Judas is found in the story of Saint Mathias, that of the punishment of the Jews, in the story of Saint James the Minor. As for the punishment and the whole life of Pilate, the following account is given to us by a story, which is, in truth, apocryphal:
_A certain king named Tyrus, having seduced a young girl named Pyla, the daughter of a miller named Atus, had a son by her. Pyla gave her son a name composed of her own and his father’s name, namely Pylatus. And when Pilate was three years old, his mother handed him over to the king, who gave him as a playmate to his legitimate son, who was about the same age. But the legitimate son, as he was of nobler birth than Pilate, was even more skilled than he in all the exercises of his age: so that Pilate, worn out by jealousy to the point of feeling a pain in his liver, killed his brother. When the king learned of this, he called his assembly together to consult them on what he should do with the murderer. All were of the opinion that he should put him to death; but the king, coming to his senses, did not want to double one crime with another crime, and sent his son to Rome, as a hostage for the annual tribute he owed to the empire.
Now, at the same time, there was in Rome the son of the King of France, sent in the same way as a hostage.
Pilate had him as a companion, and, seeing that he was superior to him both in morals and in talent, was jealous and killed him. And as the Romans wondered what they could do with him, they said to themselves: “A fellow who has already killed his brother and his companion can be very useful to the republic in taming its enemies!” They therefore sent him, as a judge, to the island of Pontus, whose inhabitants could not tolerate any judge. And Pilate, knowing that his life was at stake in his success, did so well, by promises and threats, by rewards and tortures, that he tamed this race, which was believed to be indomitable. In memory of which he was called Pilate the Pontian or Pontius Pilate.
Now Herod, learning of the skill of this man, invited him to come to Jerusalem, and transmitted to him his power over the Jews. But Pilate, later, obtained from Tiberius, by dint of money, to replace Herod in all his authority: which had the effect of estranging Pilate and Herod, until the day when the latter, to reconcile, sent to Pilate our Lord Jesus.
When Pilate had handed Jesus over to the Jews to be crucified, he feared that the emperor Tiberius would be offended by his condemnation of innocent blood, and, to justify himself, he sent one of his close associates to the emperor. Tiberius was suffering from a serious illness at the time. When he was told that there was a doctor in Jerusalem who, with a single word, cured all illnesses, the emperor (unaware that this doctor had just been put to death by Pilate), said to one of his close associates, named Volusian: “Go quickly beyond the seas. Tell Pilate to send me this doctor!” Volusian set off. But Pilate, frightened, asked for a delay of fourteen days.
During this time Volusianus, having met a woman named Veronica, who had known Jesus, asked him where he could find him. Veronica said to him: “Alas, Jesus was my master and my God, but Pilate, out of envy, condemned him and had him crucified!” Desolate, Volusianus said: “I regret not being able to carry out my master’s order.” Veronica: “As Jesus was always on his way to preach, and I missed his presence greatly, I went one day to a painter so that he could paint his portrait for me, on a canvas that I brought to him. Now the Lord, having met me, and having known where I was going, pressed my canvas against his face, and I saw that his image was engraved there. That if the emperor, your master, looks piously at this image, he will be healed immediately. ”
Volusien: “Can we acquire this image for gold or silver?
Véronique: “No, but one can acquire the benefit through sincere piety. I will go to Rome with you, I will show the image to Caesar, and then I will come back here!”
So it was done, and Volusian said to Tiberius: “This Jesus whom you desired to see was unjustly condemned and crucified by Pilate and the Jews. But I have brought with me a woman who has an image of Jesus, and who says that if you look at this image with devotion, you will soon recover your health. ”
Then Tiberius had silk cloths spread all the way, and had the image presented to him, and as soon as he had looked at it, he recovered his health. Pontius Pilate was then led to Rome, and Tiberius, furious, ordered that he be brought before him. But Pilate had taken the precaution of putting on the seamless tunic of our Lord: so that Tiberius, seeing it, forgot all his fury, and could not help treating him with deference.
As soon as he had dismissed him, his fury seized him again with renewed vigor: but, each time he saw him again, his fury subsided, to the great astonishment of all. Finally, on the orders of God, and perhaps on the advice of a Christian, Tiberius had Pilate stripped of his tunic, and, being able henceforth to abandon himself to his fury against him, he had him thrown into prison to await the shameful death he had reserved for him.
When Pilate learned this, he took his knife and killed himself. His corpse was tied to a large stone and thrown into the Tiber; but the evil and sordid spirits joyfully seized upon this evil and sordid body; sometimes plunging it into the water, sometimes snatching it into the air, they caused innumerable floods, storms, etc., which frightened everyone.
So the Romans removed this evil corpse from the Tiber and sent it to Vienna, in derision, to be plunged into the Rhone, because the name of Vienna comes from Via gehennae, which means: Way of the curse.
But, there again, the evil spirits began their tricks again, so much so that the inhabitants of Vienna, eager to get rid of this cursed vase, buried it in the territory of the city of Lausanne.
But the inhabitants of this city, also wanting to get rid of him, threw him into the bottom of a well surrounded by high mountains, and it is said that, even today, diabolical machinations can still be seen bubbling in this place.
Such is the story that we read in the aforementioned apocryphal history: I leave it to the reader to judge the degree of confidence it deserves. And I must add that, according to Scholastic History, Pilate was accused by the Jews, before Tiberius, of having permitted the massacre of the Innocents, and of having placed pagan images in the temples, and of having allocated to his personal use the money deposited in the boxes; all accusations which earned him exile to Lyon, where he was from, and where he died, the opprobrium of his race.
On the other hand, Eusebius and Bede in their chronicle do not speak of his exile, but only say that, overwhelmed by just calamities, he killed himself with his own hands. (p199 to 202)
* The Golden Legend of Jacques Voragine (Éd. du seuil 1998) and ** ch 52 p 198 “The Passion of Our Lord”. Blessed Jacques was born in the year 1228, in Varage, hence his Latin name: Jacobus de Varagine. Varage (or Varazze) is a charming town on the coast of Genoa, halfway between Savona and Voltri, neighboring Cogoleto, homeland of Christopher Columbus. Jacques de Voragine, preacher, Dominican, master of scholasticism (like his contemporaries Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great), was provincial prior of Lombardy and died archbishop of Genoa.
Georges Donnadieu