Years ago, I visited a excavated site in the Old City of Jerusalem that was possibly the Pavement of Gabbatha mentioned in the account of the trial of Jesus prior to his crucifixion. I thought of that visit when I recently read an interesting comment by Willian Barclay:
"The scene comes to an end by saying that Pilate brought Jesus out... [at] the Pavement of Gabbatha - ... the... pavement of marble mosaic - and sat upon the judgment seat... Now the verb for to sit [in Greek] ... may mean to sit down oneself, or to seat another. Just possibly it means here that Pilate with one last mocking gesture brought Jesus out, clad in the terrible finery of the old purple robe and with his forehead girt with the crowns of thorns and the drops of blood that the thorns had wakened, and set him on the judgment seat."
This version of the incident is apparently found in several ancient texts. Barclay goes on to say:
"The apocryphal Gospel of Peter says that in the mockery, they set Jesus on the seat of judgment, and said, 'Judge justly, King of Israel.' Justin Martyr too says that " they set Jesus on the judgment seat and said, 'Give judgment for us.' It may be that Pilate jestingly caricatured Jesus as judge. If that is so, what dramatic irony is there. That which was a mockery was the truth; and one day those who had mocked Jesus as judge would meet him as judge - and would remember.
"So in this dramatic trial scene, we see the immutable majesty, the undaunted courage and the serene acceptance of the Cross of Jesus. Never was he so regal as when men did their worst to humiliate him."
(The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of John, Volume 2 pages 245-6)
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