Pontius Pilate was the Roman ruler of the Roman province of Judea, from AD 26–36. This was the time of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. It was Pontius Pilate who was the president of the court that had to decide the fate of Jesus.

Pilate was not sensitive to the Jewish religion, and harshly suppressed rebellions, even too harshly for the Emperor's tastes.

Although Pilate was no 'soft touch', he could probably have seen that the trial of Jesus was a kangaroo court set up by the Jewish priests with the single aim of causing the death of Jesus. He was not sympathetic to this, as Jesus had done nothing to plot against the Roman Empire, and that was all Pilate was concerned about. He suggested that Jesus should be spared, but gave in when a crowd looked as though it was about to turn ugly. Allowing the crucifixion of Jesus would have been the easy way of stopping trouble developing, and thus keeping things quiet in his province.