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Home > Magazines > Bible Review > February 1994

Jesus Before Pilate

The questions of the Roman prosecutor and Jesus’ answers in the Gospel of John epitomize the conflict of the early Christian church with the representatives of the Roman government.

By Helmut Koester

For Christians February marks the beginning of Lent, during which weekly Gospel readings will follow Jesus on his way to his trial and death. The first three Gospels present comparatively brief accounts of the trial of Jesus before Pilate (Matthew 27:2, 11–23; Mark 15:1–15; Luke 23:1–4, 16–25). The Gospel of John, however, gives a much longer report of Jesus’ appearance before the Roman governor (John 18:28–40; 19:1–16). The author of the Gospel of John has reformulated an oral account in order to mirror in this trial scene the experience of Christians who had been accused before Roman authorities. The […]

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