NT Characters: Claudia

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/claudia/">website</a>.</p><p><strong>The wife of Pilate</strong></p><ul><li><i>Note: If you haven't yet listened to the podcast on Pontius Pilate, please do so now, as this will provide helpful background information so that you may better understand Claudia.</i></li><li>What was it like to relocate because of your husband's career?</li><li>What was it like to move to a distant land?</li><li>What was it like to move where people didn't speak your language?</li></ul><p><strong>The text & Claudia's dream</strong></p><ul><li>Matthew 27:19: <i>Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream."</i></li><li>The dream was Thursday night / Friday morning of the Passion Week.</li><li>Some early Christians said that her dream was sent by God to help her become a Christian.</li><li>Others suggested that this was a scheme of Satan to thwart the crucifixion.</li><li>In fact, God spoke through dreams to several other people in the course of biblical history. In particular, <i>non-believers </i>to whom he spoke include:<ul><li>Pharaoh (Genesis 40-41)</li><li>Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2)</li><li>Xerxes (Esther 6:1)</li><li>The list is not exhaustive; the Lord spoke to many believers and non-believers alike, though it is not easy to discern whether or to what extent he still speaks to us by this means in our time.</li></ul></li></ul><p><strong>In later legend:</strong></p><ul><li>Orthodox saint!</li><li>4th C. <i>Acts of Pilate </i>-- more elaborate. She appears in the earlier 2nd C. literature also.</li><li>These documents tended to paint Christianity and Rome as relating positively. That is, they may have propaganda.</li><li>Could she have become a Christian? In Acts we see several upper-class women responding to the gospel, so it cannot be ruled out. Yet there is no direct evidence for this speculation.</l