This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday in Lent, Year C. In the previous post we considered the series of admonitions and warnings that Jesus offered to the disciples, highlighting that whatever the cauldron of life brings their way, never doubt the providential care of God. And so don’t be consumed by worrying about earthly concerns, but bear fruit in what matters to God.

At the start of the gospel narrative, people bring Jesus an account of Pilate’s horrific actions among the Galileans. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus describes Pontius Pilate in two key passages in his work Antiquities of the Jews (written around 93–94 AD). His depiction presents Pilate as a harsh and insensitive ruler, often clashing with Jewish customs and provoking unrest. Josephus recounts how Pilate offended Jewish religious sensitivities by bringing Roman military standards bearing the emperor’s image into Jerusalem. This was seen as idolatrous by the Jewish people, who protested intensely. Eventually, Pilate was forced to remove the standards to avoid a larger uprising. Later, when Pilate sought to fund a new aqueduct in Jerusalem using money from the Temple treasury the Jewish populace protested. Pilate responded by sending disguised soldiers into the crowd, who violently suppressed the demonstrators, leading to many deaths.