Some time after I posted The Spear in His Side I read through the account in John’s Gospel of Jesus trial before Pilate and the thought occurred to me, that while there may have been Jewish sources that John could have used for the accounts of Jesus trials before the High Priest, the Sanhedrin and Herod,they would fall short of giving the in depth account of the trial before Pilate. The only part of the trial that Jewish sources could report accurately would have been when Pilate consulted the people outside on the Pavement. But that does not explain the dialogue between Pilate and Jesus away from public gaze. So where did John get the details that seem to come from an eye-witness? Pilate? Highly improbable as it is extremely unlikely that the two ever met. An unnamed Roman officer or official, who might have been present, such as Cornelius? Possible, but still unlikely, especially as there is no hint from Acts Chapter 10 that Cornelius or any of his circle had witnessed Jesus’ trial before Pilate. In any case John was not present in Acts Chapter 10. Though he could have visited Caesarea subsequently. So who else would have been present? Well Jesus had just been flogged nearly to death, so he was probably dragged as much as marched into Pilate’s presence. Possibly, if not probably, he was being held up by legionaries on either side of him, who would have been members of the punishment/execution squad. If this was the case then it is likely that one of them was the man who pierced Jesus’ side. I suspect that in order to hear Jesus speaking to Pilate you would have had to be pretty close to him so the details of the conversation ruling out the possibility of an eavesdropping snooper behind a door or curtain.
For those who have not yet read my previous posts then I should explain that I suspect that the source had retired to the Roman colony of Philippi and may have been the Philippian gaoler who later in his life may have deliberately sought out John and Mary the mother of Jesus to ask for Mary’s forgiveness. In so doing he would have been able to relate many of the details of Jesus’ trials and crucifixion that other accounts left out/