Golgotha (1935)

In the year 786 of the Roman calendar, in Jerusalem. The Easter celebrations draw thousands of pilgrims to the Jewish capital. The Sanhedrin, a customary senate that maintains religious and judicial autonomy in Judea in the face of Roman rule, looks unfavorably on the arrival in the city of a prophet from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth. The members of the Sanhedrin fear that, bolstered by his popularity, he will proclaim himself King of the Jews. He does no such thing, but provokes their anger by driving the merchants from the temple. So they turn to Judas, one of his disciples, to have him arrested. Under the leadership of the high priests Caiaphas and Annas, the Sanhedrin sentences Jesus to death. But the sentence can be carried out only with the approval of the Roman authority, represented by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Pilate is reluctant, seeing potential disturbances to public order as an opportunity to further reduce the Sanhedrin’s influence. His wife, Claudia Procula, moved by the Nazarene’s words, urges him to show mercy. Pilate tries to rid himself of the problem by entrusting Jesus’s fate to Herod, the puppet ruler of Galilee. Herod expects a miracle-worker capable of performing a miracle on demand. No miracle comes, and, disappointed, Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate. In the meantime, the Sanhedrin has gathered its supporters, and soon a hostile crowd arrives demanding Jesus’s death. Reluctantly, Pilate has him scourged. Pilate’s soldiers take Jesus away and, after scourging him, place a crown of thorns on his head and dress him in a purple robe to mock him. While washing his hands of the matter and disavowing responsibility for the sentence, Pilate gives in to pressure from the crowd. Jesus is crucified, and on the third day, he rises from the dead.