The majority of historians don't agree
But the Roman political system at the time Jesus was dated to have died was wild. Tiberius Caesar (the emperor at the time) had a popular right hand man who he made nearly as powerful as himself, and eventually he found out this right hand man was plotting to kill him and take over his kingdom, and Tiberius literally had to go into hiding for a minute until he could defeat him. Pilate at the time was being promoted (by the right hand man) and so in order to keep his head, he had to gain Tiberius' trust and favor. The right hand man hated Jews and thought they were lesser than the Romans, so hatred of Jews would likely get you in bad graces with Tiberius, thus, in order to keep his station, Pilate felt he had to keep the Jews happy. So when the Jews come in demanding Jesus to be crucified (bc Caiaphas bribed everyone to), he felt he had no choice but to do what they wanted in order to stay in Tiberius' favor. That is why he constantly is trying to convince them that he finds no fault in Jesus. Because part of him feels conflicted bc he knows they turned him in to be punished bc of jealousy and not because Jesus did anything wrong to them. So he would have a guilty conscience for having Jesus killed but would get in trouble with Tiberius if the Jews complained. That's why he kept delaying and sending him to Herod and then finally when he turned Jesus over to be crucified, he says "I wash my hands of this".
Caption this Meme
