new collage: mrs. pilate

"mrs. pilate"
mixed media collage (acrylic paint, vintage papers, markers, fingernail polish, gesso, found papers) on stretched canvas
gregory a. milinovich
march 2013

this week for our lenten evening series at church we talked about the little-known figure of mrs, pilate, ie, pilate's wife, who is only  mentioned in one verse in the bible, and no where else in history, it seems.  we only know that she had a troubling dream about Jesus (which seems to indicate that she probably already knew or knew of Jesus in some way), and that she risked some considerable amount by sending a message to her husband telling him about this dream and asking him to stay away from Jesus because, as she put it, he is innocent. 

pilate, of course, makes a big deal of washing his hands, as if to pretend he has nothing to do with this, but ultimately, as we've written about before, he has everything to do with this.  he is the only one with the power to sentence death, or to send the jerusalem leaders home with their tails tucked between their legs.  but the hand-washing is only a show, and you know what happens next. 

but what of mrs. pilate?  how did she know Jesus?  why was she willing to risk getting involved in this sticky situation pilate was in?  as a woman, her marriage to this provincial ruler was what gave her the clout, wealth, and social position she enjoyed.  why would she risk giving her husband a reason to divorce her, and thus remove all of this from her? 

compare her risk to the lack on one taken by joseph of arimathea and nicodemus, who, although they had considerable position and power, failed to use theirs at the appropriate time, when the sanhedrin met under cover of night.  sure, they were brave enough once Jesus was dead, but let's not give them any medals for that.  why not have the courage to stand up when it really counts?  and here i'm not really asking that question of history; i'm asking it of you and me.  what will we do with the power we have?  what will we do in the crucial moment?  (the moment is always now). 

here are the first four in the series so far....