The New Testament By Matthew 27 Essay

In the New Testament, Matthew 27: 11-66 is the story of Jesus being brought to trial before Pilate. This is where Pilate accused, charged and condemned Him. Many people who read this story have an opinion that Pilate is either a negative, positive or neutral figure. Pilate is the main reason as to why Jesus was crucified, therefore the way Matthew portray him can make him seem positive or negative. In a literary critique of this story, Callie Callon fights that Pilate is a negative figure. Throughout Pilate the Villain: An Alternative Reading of Matthew’s Portrayal of Pilate, the idea of Pilate being vehemently negative is very obvious. There are a few examples as to why Callon sees Pilate as strictly negative, but I do not fully agree with her points. The title of her article strictly says that Pilate is a villain, but after looking at Pilate as a literary character one must look deeper into the situation. Looking at Matthew 27: 11-66 through a literary criticism lens, it is important to put yourself inside of the story. While Callie Callon argues that Pilate is a negative figure, I argue that Pilate is a neutral figure, because he acted merely how the crowd wanted and not from his own thoughts or feelings. The first verse where Pilate represents a neutral character is Matthew 27:23, “ Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” ”
. This is when Pilate is asking the crowd what evil Jesus could have done. The crowd…