THE PROBLEM WITH PILATE’S QUARTERS

JOHN 18:28

The goal of the corrupt Temple leadership had long been to disable the threat of the Messiah’s immense popularity by eliminating him. When Jesus identified himself to his accusers as the Son of Man in direct fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 7:13–14), they mistakenly thought they had all the evidence needed to declare him guilty of blasphemy and worthy of death (Matt. 26:64–66). Due to political ramifications if a riot occurred, and because of religious issues related to the coming Passover, they sought action on this matter from the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. With Jesus in custody, they set off for Pilate’s headquarters. Upon arrival, they stopped short of entering for a reason.

We might expect Jesus’s civil trial to be at Pontius Pilate’s primary residence at Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean seacoast (Acts 23:33–24:1). Due to political tensions, however, the Roman governor had temporarily moved his headquarters to Jerusalem during Passover. While in the city, he stayed in the magnificent palace previously built and occupied by Herod the Great located on the northwest corner of the Upper City in Jerusalem.22 This palace of Herod the Great, the one who had tried to kill Jesus as a child, became the setting for the trial that led to Jesus’s execution as an adult.

First-century stone cups. Stone vessels were often used for drinking, eating, and storage because, according to Jewish law, stone did not transmit impurities.
© Dr. James C. Martin. The Wohl Archaeological Museum and Burnt House, Jerusalem.

Model of Herod the Great’s palace, which was later used as the Jerusalem palace for Roman governors such as Pilate.
© Dr. James C. Martin. Reproduction of the City of Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple. (See full credit on page 4.)

Although the corrupt priestly families of Sadducees (referred to in John’s Gospel as “the Jews”) were determined to see this sentence carried out quickly, they could not defile themselves in the process.23 Therefore, when they brought Jesus to Pilate’s headquarters they went no farther than the courtyard “to avoid ceremonial uncleanness” (John 18:28). This uncleanness was not related to personal hygiene but to regulations that God had put in place for Israel centuries earlier. According to Leviticus 11–15, the experiences and objects of everyday life fell into two distinct categories: those that made one ceremonially unclean and those that did not. This requirement to remain ritually clean was particularly important for the priests, who not only ate the Passover meal with their families but also offered sacrifices on behalf of the people. Any defilement at this time prohibited them from making the Passover sacrifices.24

First-century Jerusalem sewer system. Jews during this period thought of Gentile homes as cemeteries and therefore considered them unclean, because the Romans placed the remains of aborted babies in their sewers.
© Dr. James C. Martin. The Wohl Archaeological Museum and Burnt House, Jerusalem.

Therefore, the priests were very careful not to enter the domain of a Gentile, like Pilate, which would make them ritually unclean. Peter alluded to that when speaking to Gentiles: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him” (Acts 10:28). Interestingly, this uncleanness even clung to the garments that were kept in such a house. Josephus reports that the garments of the high priest were kept in the Antonia Fortress and had to be released seven days before the high festival of Passover so they could be ritually purified after being stored in that Gentile environment. Because all Gentile homes were considered unclean, Jewish law decreed that all who entered their homes became unclean. But what was true of the residence proper was not true of the courtyard.25 Consequently, when Caiaphas and his Sadducee cohorts brought Jesus to Pilate, they could not enter the palace without becoming ritually defiled. Therefore they remained in the courtyard where Pilate had his various exchanges with them until he ordered Jesus to be crucified (John 19:13–16).

Ritual purification bath (Hebrew, mikveh). Jewish law required ritual purification for those who came into contact with anything deemed unclean.