and so administered all the power of the President, which was, as to the Jews, supreme. Which is very observable, as an eminent act of the providence of God, by which the full power of judicature in Judea was left in the hands of the resident Procurator. 6 For by this means it came to pass that Christ, who by the determinate counsel of God was to die, and by the prediction of the prophets was to suffer in a manner not prescribed by the law of Moses, should be delivered up to a foreign power, and so suffer death after the customs of that nation to whose power he was delivered. The malice of the obstinate Jews was high to accuse and prosecute him, but the power of the Jews was not so high as judicially to condemn him. For algoods of Archelaus, and to reduce served, because a procurator barely Judea into the form of a province, and as such, not armed with the power of adjoin it to Syria. Of this Coponius the Prases provincia, had not the Josephus writeth after this manner: power of the sword. As Antoninus to Κωπώνιός τε αὐτῷ (Κυρηνίῳ) συνκατα- Valerius: Procurator meus, qui vice πέμπεται, τάγματος τῶν ἱππέων, ἡγησό- Præsidis non fungebatur, exsilii tibi μενος Ἰουδαίων τῇ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἐξουσίᾳ· poenam non potuit irrogare. 1. ix. that being of the equestrian order, he Cod. de pænis. And to Heliodorus: was sent with Quirinus to govern the Jews with the supreme power. Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 1. And yet more expressly, as to the time, occasion, and extent, of his power: Tns de 'Apxeλáov xúpag sig ἐπαρχίαν περιγραφείσης, ἐπίτροπός τις ἱππικῆς παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις τάξεως, Κωπώνιος πέμπεται, μέχρι τοῦ κτείνειν λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ Καίσαρος ἐξουσίαν. Id. de Bell. Jud. 1. ii. c. 11. When those parts which were under the command of Archelaus were reduced into a province, Coponius was sent thither by the emperor, and furnished with power of life and death. For although, in the proconsular provinces, the procurator of the emperor had no power but in those things which belonged to the exchequer; yet in those provinces which were properly præsidales, the Procurator was often loco Præsidis. From whence in the ancient iuscriptions we read of the same person: Procurator et Præses Alpium, Procurator et Prases provinciarum per Orientem,' • Procurator et Præses provinciæ Sardiniæ.' It was often therefore so, that the Procurator did Præsidis partibus fungi; as Ulpian. 1. viii. de officio Proconsulis: In provinciam enim Præsidum provinciarum, nec aliter Procuratori Cæsaris hæc cognitio injungitur, quam Præsidis partibus in provincia fungatur.' And this is very necessary to be ob Procurator meus, qui vice Præsidis provinciæ non fungitur, sicut exigere poenam desertæ accusationis non potest, ita judicare ut ea inferatur sententia sua non potest.' 1. ìîì. C. Ubi Causa. This was plain in the case of Lucilius Capito, procurator of Asia Minor, who was called in question for exceeding his power, and deserted therein by Tiberius: 'Procurator Asia Lucilius Capito, accusante provincia, causam dixit magna cum asseveratione Principis, non se jus nisi in servitia et pecunias familiares dedisse. Quod si vim Prætoris usurpasset, manibusque militum usus foret, spreta in eo mandata sua, audirent socios.' Tacit. Annal. 1. iv. c. 15. And Dio upon the said example observes in general, that the procurators had no such power: Où yàp kžñv tóte toĩc τὰ αὐτοκρατορικὰ χρήματα διοικοῦσι πλέον οὐδὲν ποιεῖν, ἢ τὰς νενομισμένας προσόδους ἐκλέγειν, καὶ περὶ τῶν διαφο ρῶν ἔν τε τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἐξίσου τοῖς ἰδιώταις δικάζεσθαι. 1. Ivii. c. 23. But although the ordinary procurators had no other power, but to dispose of the revenue, and determine private causes; yet he which was vice Præsidis, had the power of the Pra ses: and such a procurator was Pontius Pilate in Judæa, as the others who preceded him also were. though the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes, "condemned him to be guilty of death;" (Mark xiv. 64.) yet they could not condemn him to die, or pronounce the sentence of death upon him, "but delivered him up unto Pilate:" and when he refusing, said unto them, "Take ye him, and judge him according to your law," they immediately returned," It is not lawful for us to put any man to death." (John xviii. 30, 31.) The power of life and death was not in any court of the Jews, but in the Roman governor alone, as supreme; and therefore they answered him, it was " not lawful:"* not in respect of the law of Moses, which gave them both sufficient power and absolute command to punish divers offenders with death; but in relation to the Roman empire, which had taken all that dominion from them. Forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews themselves acknowledge that they lost this power; which is sufficient to shew that they had it not when our Saviour suffered and it is as true that they lost it twenty years before, at the relegation of Archelaus, and the coming of Coponius the Procurator with full power of life and · death. Wherefore our Saviour was delivered unto Pilate, as the supreme judge over the nation of the Jews, that he might pronounce the sentence of death upon him. But how this judge could be persuaded to an act of so much injustice and impiety, is not yet easy to be seen. The numerous controversies of the religion of the Jews did not concern the Roman governors, nor were they moved with the frequent quarrels arising from the different sects. Pilate knew well "it was for envy that the chief priests delivered him;” (Matt. xxvii. 18.) and when "he had examined him, he found no fault touching those things whereof they accused him.” (Luke xxiii. 14.) Three times did he challenge the nation of the Jews, "Why? what evil hath he done?" Three times did he make that clear profession, "I have found no cause of death in him." (Ibid. 22.) His own wife, admonished in a dream, "sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man:" (Matt. xxvii. 19.) and when he heard that "he I say, therefore, the Jews answered, that it was not lawful for them to put any man to death, because that power was taken out of their hands. For although St. Augustin thinks they thought it not lawful in respect of the Passover:‘Intelligendum est eos dixisse, non sibi licere interficere quenquam, propter diei festi sanctitatem, quem celebrare jam coeperant.' Tract. 14. in Ioan. and St. Cyril be of the same opinion; yet others of the ancients deliver the true cause why they apply themselves to Pilate, to be their want of power; as Ammonius_most expressly, Caten. Patr. in S. Ioan. c. xviii. p. 427.: Τίνος ἕνεκεν αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀνεῖλον, ἀλλ ̓ ἐπὶ τὸν Πιλάτον ἤγαγον ; μάλιστα μὲν τὸ πολὺ τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας ὑπετέμνετο, λοιπὸν ὑπὸ ̔Ρωμαίους τῶν πραγμάτων κειμένων: and upon those words in St. John, ibid. p. 428.: Ὡς ἐκπεσόντες τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἦσαν γὰρ ὑπὸ 'Popalovs, ElπOV TOUTO. So Theophylact: "Ayovoi avròv eiç trò pairwρov, οὐ γὰρ εἶχον αὐτοὶ ἐξουσίαν ἀνελεῖν, ἅτε τῶν πραγμάτων ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους κειμένων. Com. in Ioan. c. 18. And before him St. Chrysostom. made himself the Son of God, he was more afraid:" (John xix. 7, 8.) and yet notwithstanding these apprehensions and professions, he condemned and crucified him. Here we must look upon the nature and disposition of Pilate, which inclined and betrayed him to so foul an act. He was a man of a high, rough, untractable, and irreconcileable spirit,* as he is described by the Jews, and appeareth from the beginning of his government, when he brought the bucklers stamped with the pictures of Cæsar into Jerusalem (which was an abomination to the Jews), and could neither be moved by the blood of many, nor persuaded by the most humble applications and submissive entreaties of the whole nation, to remove them, till he received a sharp reprehension and severe command from the emperor Tiberius. After that, he seized on the Corban, that sacred treasury, and spent it upon an aqueduct : nor could all their religious and importunate petitions divert his intentions, but his resolution went through their blood to bring in water. When the Galileans came up to Jerusalem, to worship God at his own Temple, "he mingled their blood with their sacrifices." (Luke xiii. 1.) Add to this untractable and irreconcileable spirit, by which he had so often exasperated the Jews, an avaricious and rapacious disposition, which prompted him as much to please them; and we may easily perceive what moved him to condemn that person to death whom he declared innocent. The evangelist telleth us that "Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus to be crucified." (Mark xv. 15.) They accused him at Rome, for all the insolences and rapines which he had committed, and by this act he thought to pacify them.† diegeλOóvTec. De Virtut. et Legat, ad Caium, p. 590. vol. ii. It was thus necessary to express the person under whom our Saviour suffered; first, That we might for ever be assured of the time in which he suffered. The enemies of Christia* So Philo testifieth of him: Hy γὰρ τὴν φύσιν ἀκαμπὴς, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ avládová áμεíλikrog. De Virtut. et Legat. ad Caium, p. 590. vol. ii. And again: Οἷα οὖν ἐγκότως ἔχων καὶ βαρύ μηνις ἄνθρωπος. Ibid. For that which is observed by Philo upon the dedication of the shields at the first entrance into his government, must needs be much more true at this time of our Saviour's passion, when he had committed so many insolences, viz. that he feared the Jews should complain of him to Tiberius : Τὸ τελευταῖον τοῦτο μάλιστα αὐτὸν ἐξετράχυνε, καταδείσαντα μὴ τῷ ὄντι πρεσβευσάμενοι καὶ τῆς ἀλλης αὐτοῦ ἐπιτροπῆς ἐξελέγξωσι τὰς ὕβρεις, τὰς ἁρπαγὰς, τὰς αἰκίας, τὰς ἐπηρείας, τοὺς ἀκρίτους καὶ ἐπαλλήλους φόνους, την ἀνήνυτον καὶ ἀργαλεωτάτην ὠμότητα Cautissime qui Symbolum tradiderunt, etiam tempus quo hæc sub Pontio Pilato gesta sunt designarunt, ne ex aliqua parte velut vaga et incerta gestorum traditio vacillaret.' Ruffinus in Expos. Symb. §. 20. Credimus itaque in eum qui sub Pontio Pilato crucifixus est et sepultus. Addendum enim erat Judicis nomen propter temporum cognitionem.' S. August. de Fide et Symb. c. 5. §. 11, Pilatus Judex erat in illo tempore ab imperatore positus in Judea, sub quo Dominus passus est; cujus mentio ad temporis significationem, non ad personæ illius pertinet dignitatem. Serm. 131. de Tempure. Irenæus speaking of St. Paul: Evangelizabat Filium Dei Christum Jesum, qui sub nity began first to unsettle the time of his passion, that thereby they might at last deny the passion itself; and the rest of their falsehood was detected by the discovery of their false chronology.* Some fixed it to the seventh year of the reign of Tiberius,† whereas it is certain Pontius Pilate was not then Procurator in Judea; and as certain that our Saviour was baptized eight years after," in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar." (Luke iii. 1.) Some of the Jews, lest the destruction of Jerusalem might seem to follow upon, and for, our Saviour's crucifixion, have removed it near threescore years more backward yet, placing his death in the beginning of Herod's reign, who was not born till towards the death of the same king. Others have removed it farther yet near twenty years,§ and so vainly tell us how he died under Aristobulus, above fifty years before his birth in Bethlehem. This they do teach their proselytes, to this end, that they may not believe so much as the least historical part of the blessed evangelists. As, therefore, they deny the time of our Saviour's passion, in design to destroy his doctrine; so, that we might establish the substance of the Gospel depending on his death, it was necessary we should retain a perfect resemblance of the time in which he died. Nor need we be ashamed that the Christian religion, which we profess, should have so known an Epocha, Pontio Pilato crucifixus est. l. v. c. 12. And to make the more certain character of time, Ignatius added to the name of Pilate that of Herod: ̓Αληθῶς ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου καὶ Ηρώδου τετράρχου καθηλωμένον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν iv oapki. Epist. ad Smyrn. c. 1. * So Eusebius detected some of those which lived not long before him: Οὐκοῦν σαφῶς ἀπελήλεγκται τὸ πλάσμα τῶν κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ὑπομνήματα χθὲς καὶ πρώην διαδεδωκότων, ἐν οἷς πρῶτος αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς παρασημειώσεως χρόνος τῶν πεπλακότων άπελéyXEL TO Yεvdos. Hist. Eccles. 1. i. c. 9. † Ἐπὶ τῆς τ τάρτης δ ̓ οὖν ὑπατείας Τιβερίου, ἣ γέγονεν ἔτους ἑβδόμου τῆς Divers of the Jews place the בשנת ג'אלפים תש"כד הנצרי נלכד ובשנת תק"לב בעץ נצלב i. e. In the year 3724 he of Nazareth was taken, Not that they thought him taken in § Others of the Jews pretend an other account, viz. that Jesus was -Vide Sepher Ju לישו בשתי ידים chasin. and so late an original. Christ came not into the world in the beginning of it, but in "the fulness of time." (Gal. iv. 4.) Secondly, It was thought necessary to include the name of Pilate in our CREED, as of one who gave a most powerful external testimony to the certainty of our Saviour's death, and the innocency of his life.* He did not only profess, to the condemnation of the Jews, that he found nothing worthy of death in Christ; but left the same written to the Gentiles of the Roman empire. Two ways he is related to have given most ample testimony to the truth: first, By an express written to Tiberius,† and by him presented to the senate; secondly, By records written in tables, of all things of moment which were acted in his government. Nota quod in Pilato et uxore in the city: and this was done either ejus, justum Dominum confitentibus, in their Acta Senatus, or Acta diurna Gentilis populi testimonium est.' S. populi; which were diligently made Hier. in Matt. xxvii. and kept at Rome. In the same manner, the governors in the provinces took care that all things worthy of remark should be written in public tables, and preserved as the Acta in their government. And agreeably to this custom, Pontius Pilate kept the memoirs of the Jewish affairs, which were therefore called Acta Pilati, in which an account was given of our blessed Saviour; and the primitive Christians did appeal unto them in their disputes with the Gentiles, as to a most undoubted testimony. Justin Martyr urged them even unto the Roman emperors: Kai ταῦτα ὅτι γέγονε, δύνασθε μαθεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου γενομένων ̓́Ακτων. Apol. ii. p. 76. And again: "Ori de Tavra ἐποίησεν, ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου γενομένων "Ακτων μαθεῖν δύνασθε. Ibid. p. 84. And in the differences between the Christians, they were cited by both parties. As the Tessaresdecatitæ alleged them for their custom of the observance of Easter, as Epiphanius testifieth of them: 'Arò Twv ̓́Ακτων δῆθεν Πιλάτου αὐχοῦσι τὴν ἀκρίβειαν εὑρηκέναι, ἐν οἷς ἐμφέρεται, τῇ πρὸ ὀκτὼ καλανδῶν ̓Απριλλίων τὸν Σωτῆρα TETOVέvai. Hæres. 50. §. 1. And Epiphanius urgeth the same Acta against them, but according to other copies: Ἔτι δὲ εὕρομεν ἀντίγραφα ἐκ τῶν (lege "Ακτων) Πιλάτου, ἐν οἷς σημαίνει, πρὸ δεκαπέντε καλανδῶν ̓Απριλλίων τὸ πάθος γεγενῆσθαι. Ibid. Though the author of the eighth homily in Pascha, under the name of St. Chrysostom, agreeth in this reading with the Tessaresdecatitæ: 'O μèv xpóvos кať ὃν ἔπαθεν ὁ Σωτὴρ οὐκ ἠγνόηται τὰ + That Pontius Pilate wrote unto Tiberius of the death and resurrection of our Saviour, is testified by Tertullian, who was best acquainted with the Roman history: Ea omnia super Christo Pilatus et ipse jam pro sua conscientia Christianus, Cæsari tum Tiberio renunciavit.' Apol. c. 21. And again: "Tiberius ergo, cujus tempore nomen Christianum in seculum introivit, annunciatum sibi ex Syria Palæstina, quæ veritatem illius (Christi) divinitatis revelarat, detulit ad Senatum cum prærogativa suffragii sui.' Ibid. c. 5. This is related by Eusebius out of Tertullian, in his Ecclesiastical History, l. ii. c. 2. and referred to the two-and-twentieth year of Tiberius in his Chron. Pilato de Christianorum dogmate ad Tiberium referente, Tiberius retulit ad Senatum, ut inter cætera sacra reciperetur.' The authority of this Express is grounded on the great reputation of Tertullian (as is observed also by the author of the Chronicon Alexandrinum, who concludes the relation with these words, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Τερτυλλιανὸς ὁ Ρωμαῖος), and the general custom by which all the governors of the provinces did give account unto the emperor of all such passages as were most remarkable: Παλαιοῦ κεκρατηκότος ἔθους τοῖς τῶν ἐθνῶν ἄρχουσι τὰ παρά σφισι καινοτομούμενα τῷ τὴν βασίλειον ἀρχὴν ἐπικρατοῦντι σημαίνειν, ὡς μηδὲν αὐτὸν διαδιδράσκοι τῶν γινομένων. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. ii. c. 2. The ancient Romans were desirous to preserve the memory of all remarkable passages which happened |