Pilate's Wife

             Extraordinary Women of the Bible

Women in Christ's Time

Pilate's Wife

 

Pilate's Wife: Her name was thought to be "Procula or Claudia."

 

Key Scripture: Matthew 27

Her Character: Pilate’s wife was a worshipper of God and a Gentile convert to Judaism. It is commonly believed that she became a Christian after the death of Jesus Christ.

Her Sorrow: To know that her husband was sitting on the judgement seat.

Her Joy: God stirred her spirit in a dream.

Pre-Story: Pilate’s wife was a high-born, Roman citizen, well-educated and wealthy. She was married to Lucius Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Jerusalem.

We don’t know the name of Pilate’s wife or if she believed Jesus was who He claimed to be. We do know she was influential as the governor’s wife, and we can guess she must have sensed the pressure building around her husband as spiritual and emotional tensions ran high in Jerusalem on that Passover morning.

Her Story: Lucius Pontius Pilate travelled constantly, keeping an eye of each area of Judea. Judging by this story, his wife seems to have travelled with him. This may mean they were close, since life in the administrative center of Caesarea would certainly have been more comfortable for her. Perhaps he was accustomed to seek out her advice on difficult matters; educated Roman women were often quite powerful figures behind the scenes.

Judea was a difficult, rebellious part of the Roman Empire, and Pilate’s job was far from easy. Pilate would keep his job only as long as he delivered relative peace and stability in the province he governed.

It was a time of the Passover Festival in Jerusalem. The city was jam-packed with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, some of them law-abiding, some of them not. Rebellion was a constant threat, and Pilate no doubt saw Jesus of Nazareth as a potential rebel, who must be neutralized as quickly as possible.

Jesus had been betrayed, arrested, beaten and was on trial. The religious leaders and the crowd were restless to condemn Jesus to death, their motives having moved from claims of religious blasphemy to fierce political jealousy. It was up to Pilate to judge the one called the Messiah, and we sense his hesitation in the early verses of this passage. Scripture says Pilate was "greatly amazed" by Jesus’ refusal to defend Himself against the testimony brought against Him. (Matthew 27:14). He gave the people the option of releasing Jesus as the customary prisoner freed on Passover, but the crowd did not budge.

Lucius Pontius Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat before Jesus, trying to decide which prisoner to release back to the Jews. Pilate's wife sent an urgent message to her husband: "I have had a bad dream." "Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." (Matthew 27:19). After Pilate receives her message, he tells them, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." (Matt. 27:24). However, Pilate ignored his wife’s advice and condemned Jesus to death, making his own name infamous. Pilate’s wife warned him, Pilate didn’t listen.

 

Pilate’s wife is the only recorded person who spoke up against the decision to kill Jesus. she must have heard about Jesus before, as He was quite the famous figure in Jerusalem, but it is not likely that she had ever had the chance to meet Him. Her testimony of His innocence and goodness was based solely off the revelation and dream she had been given by God, and by the testimonies she must have heard from others.

 

Her Place in God's Divine Plan: Her faith and her courage strengthen us and help us to see that it isn't necessary to "see" or "meet" Jesus Christ to have a sure knowledge of His divine mission and purpose in out lives.

 

Her Challenges Along the Way: She had to go against the ruler of Roman court in order to dare to share her dream with her Husband.

 

Her Victories: Her ability to believe in and defend Jesus even though she had most likely never seen or met Him.

 

Lesson We Can Learn from Her Legacy: We need to have the courage to speak up for people we know are wrongly accused, even if that means sending our plea to highest authority in the land. When we get promptings, thoughts, dreams or visions that we can't seem to stop thinking about or worrying about then we need to act on them; We can believe in and bear witness of Jesus Christ, even if we have never seen Him. Would you have had the courage and faith to stand up for someone's innocence on the basis of a dream or a prompting you had? Especially in the face of so much hostility and anger?

 

Genealogy:

Birthplace: Galilee, Israel

Spouse: Pontius Pilate

Family: Believed to be the granddaughter of the Emperor Augusts.

*Pilate’s wife has been made a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and is called Saint Procula, Saint Claudia, or Saint Procula Claudia. Some people believe that she is the Claudia mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21.