Whose Authority?

It's easy to believe that in 2021 we have a unique set of problems that no other generation can relate to. Only recently I read Seneca's "On the shortness of Life." Written two millennia ago, but you can quote it in a YouTube inspirational video with one of those uplifting background music and have lots of views.

That's why the story of Jesus and Pontius Pilate is not so different from everyday politics. Pilate had an image and the full authority of Rome to uphold, he also had to make the Priests happy. What's the life of a mere carpenter worth, however interesting this carpenter was.

What went through Pilate's mind is only something we can speculate today. That's why I recommend the story as it was told in Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita". It might be a fantastic retelling of the story, but how else can you tell it?