www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Scripture and Patristic Writings The dream of Pilate's wife

Why was the dream Pilate's wife had in regards to Jesus noteworthy? Supposing Pilate had acted differently and taken her advice regarding Jesus history and our salvation would have changes dramatically. Her dream (and the choices Pilate had to make regarding that)almost seems to be an attempt to circumvent the things that had to happen, working against our salvation. Could it have been the work of Satan?

Pilate's story is very interesting.

It's my sense that the Fathers say that Christ was in complete control of when His sacrifice happened. The accounts do seem to say that He wasn't captured when He didn't want to be, and that He was in command of the situation during His passion, regardless of how it appeared to onlookers.

Perhaps then it's fair to say that even if Pilate had listened to his wife's dream and done the right thing, Christ's sacrifice would have been accomplished as He willed, but without Pilate's participation.

God seems to give Pilate several chances to do the right thing. Perhaps we could then consider if Pilate's failure was not even part of the "original plan?" My time-bound human language falls short here, but I think you see what I'm clumsily trying to get at.

It's entirely possible that Pilate could have let God's grace in, like the good thief, and refused to crucify Christ. Thereafter, perhaps the mob would have stormed the palace, Pilate could have died a martyr, and Christ then crucified by the mob - or the soldiers for fear of the mob. Or one of a million other scenarios.

This it utterly as-I-go conjecture, so I could be all wet.

If one holds to the view that Christ's death destroyed death, really, if He died a natural death, then death would have been destroyed that way--making the crucifixion of the Savior that much more heinous, because it would have been an unnecessary killing (though all killing is unnecessary.)

I'm sure if one holds to the view that Christ died as a substitute for men who sinned, then the above makes no sense, and the dream of Pilate's wife was a bizarre way to rub it in to Pilate that he would be letting the worst event in world history take place.

This is all my opinion though. I answer that the dream of Pilate's wife was there to influence Pilate to stop the killing of the Savior, because God would not want His son to get killed. I wonder if Christ would have died a natural death, though, because He was Man--all talk about if Christ suffered physical decay in the tomb aside.

Lutheran rubrics call for the reading of one the Synoptic Passions (Matthew, Mark, and Luke in a repeating three year cycle) on Palm Sunday and the reading of the Passion according to John on Good Friday.

From a quarter century of reading the words of our Lord in these various Passions I am always struck by how, in the Synoptics, Jesus has very little to say after His confrontation with the Chief Priest; and how victim-like He appears in the arrest in the garden.

By contrast, in John's Passion He is clearly in control. He confronts the rabble "Whom do you seek?". His speaking of the Divine name (I am who I am) by saying "I am He" throws them to the ground. And rather than standing mute before Pilate He spars with the governor until in exasperation he utters "what is truth?"

Well, if you are all wet, so are the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox who honour St Pontius Pilate together with his wife, St Claudia Procla on July 2nd each year.

The Ethiopians include the "Acts of Pilate" in their New Testament containing the letter of Pilate to Herod where Pilate tells him that "I did no good thing to crucify Jesus at your counsel . . ."

He goes on to say that his wife and the believing centurion took him to see Christ after the Lord's Resurrection. Pilate said that he saw Christ speaking to a crowd of about 500 people when He saw him approach. The ground began to move under him, Pilate related. Then Jesus placed His Hands on Pilate's shoulders and Pilate immediately looked for and found the marks of the nails.

"Blessed are you Pontius Pilate for in the time of your governance were fulfilled the prophecies concerning Me," Pilate heard Jesus say.

Pilate was then apparently baptized with his wife but was summoned to Rome to answer to the Emperor about the disturbances in Judea.

We know from Origen that Pilate actually did write a letter to the emperor about the trial of Christ and the events surrounding it.

Pilate was then sentenced to death for not opposing vigorously enough the leaders who clamoured for the death of the miracle-working Christ Who should have become part of the Roman civil service to serve the interests of the empire . . .

As he knelt for his beheading, Pilate was heard to say, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit . . ." As his head came off his shoulders, an Angel caught it - as his wife saw as she looked on.

St Claudia Procla then died of "happiness" that her husband had, at last, found peace.

St Procla is formally honoured in the Byzantine calendar.

I attended an Orthodox icon blessing in a private home once where there was also an Ethiopian Orthodox priest.

So I took that opportunity to ask him if he and his Church really venerated "St Pontius Pilate?"

To which he answered enthusiastically, "Yes, of course - don't you?"

Alex

Alex's telling of the Ethiopian tradition is very interesting; I never heard it before.

As I was reading through the thread, my thinking was that the account of Pilate's wife was another instance when Christ inspired and appealed to the gentiles, confirming the redemption of the entire human race.