“That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.” (Luke 23:12)

“That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.” (Luke 23:12)

After His arrest, the trial of Jesus became a pivotal moment within our Savior’s Passion; one marked by complex, contentious, socio-political dynamics between two historical figures: Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, and Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee. Both rulers ruled (Herod over the Jewish population, Pilate over the region), but each had to navigate a delicate, volatile balance fraught with political and religious tensions, hostility, and enmity. In other words, they acknowledged and tolerated the other’s existence, but there was little respect and certainly no love-loss between the two.

On the day of our Lord’s Crucifixion, however, the two leaders managed to forge a cooperative spirit out of necessity. Pilate facing pressure from the Jewish leaders and a restless populace, saw Herod as an opportunity to shift responsibility. And by sending Jesus to Herod, Pilate not only deferred a potentially explosive decision, but pragmatic collaboration also extended a kind of “olive branch” to Herod. 

Thus, as stated in the verse above, Pilate and Herod created a friendship over Jesus’ fate out of political expediency

Fr. John