Jesus Our Savior

Acts of Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate (1 BC - circa AD 37) was the fifth Roman procurator of Judea (AD 26 - 36 ), under Emperor Tiberius, who sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion. The quotes below come from Justin Martyr who quotes the Acts of Pontius Pilate, a document now missing. Its existence is strongly supported by Epiphanius (Heresies 50.1), Justin Martyr (First Apology) and Tertullian (Apology).

“’At His coming the lame will leap as a deer, and the stammering tongue will clearly speak: the blind will see, and the lepers will be healed; and the dead will rise, and walk.’ And that [Jesus] did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.” First Apology 48.

‘’’They pierced my hands and my feet,’ was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were driven into His hands and feet. And. . . they cast lots for His clothes, and after they crucified Him distributed it among them. And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.’ First Apology 35.

The God-Man. We saw earlier that John 1:1 says the Word was God and John 1:14 says that the Word became flesh. 1 John 4:2-3 says the same thing in a different way. In this passage, we are told that anyone who says that Jesus did not come in the flesh is not from God. Now this verse is meaningless if all it is saying is that a man became a man. The message of 1 John 4:2-3 is that God became a man. If anyone denies that God or Jesus came in the flesh, his/her teaching is to be rejected. Phil. 2:5-7 says that God took on human flesh. Listen to Romans 1:3-4,

. . . who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. (NASB) Romans 1:3-4.

Was Jesus really a man? In order to answer this question look up the following verses and write down one or two words that reveal how human He really was.