Pilate’s Wife and the Power of Dreams

“Upon Awakening” by Elspeth Young

There are 21 stories about people receiving revelatory dreams in the Bible, but only one of these stories is about a woman– the wife of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea.

Her story is important for several reasons, one being that knowing that there is a woman in the scriptures who received revelation from God through a dream helps us remember that women today can also receive revelation through dreams. Dreams are a way that God speaks to us.

The Dream

Pilate’s wife received her dream the morning Jesus was brought by the Jews to be tried before her husband. We don’t know what she saw but it left a strong impression on her mind. Enough that, not long after waking, she sent a message to Pilate as he sat in judgment before Jesus, telling him, “Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him” (Matt. 27:19).  When Pilate received her message he took it seriously. The Romans believed in the gods sending messages  in dreams and so they did not take their dreams lightly.

After Pilate received his wife’s message he told the Jews he thought Jesus was innocent and tried to convince them not to crucify him. Pilate, as the Roman representative, was not popular in Judea and his political situation was tenuous. In fact, when Pilate refused to give into their demands, “a tumult was made” (Matt. 27:24), which means the Jews began to to riot. Seeing “he could prevail nothing” Pilate gave in to the Jews demands, but “washed his hands” and told them, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (Matt. 27:24). 

The Result

The result of Pilate’s wife dream was not the saving of Jesus Christ’s life. He was destined and foreordained to die for the sins of his people.  He had the power to lay down his life when he chose and power to take it up again (John 10:15,17). The truth is that the Romans could not have killed him, if He had not let them. So, what was the point of Pilate’s wife dream?

We see that her dream caused Pilate to doubt the Jews claims against Jesus and to see, at least to some extent, His goodness and truthfulness. It gave them the ability to stand up for something that was right, even in the face of immense political pressure. Even though Pilate was unable to stop the Jews from killing Jesus, his wife’s dream helped him see things more clearly, to see truth amid lies. There are even Christians traditions that claim that Pilate’s wife later converted and became a Christian. We don’t have any real evidence that this is true, but it is easy to see how receiving such a strong personal revelation could have impacted Pilate’s wife faith and changed her heart.

Receiving Personal Revelation

Pilate’s wife story is one of personal revelation. She didn’t need to see or meet  Jesus Christ to have a a sure knowledge of His goodness and mission. In her dream she recognized that she had been sent a divine message, and she had the faith to act upon that message and bear witness to her husband that she knew Jesus was a “just man”.

Most of us are in a similar position as Pilate’s Wife, because even though we may never see or meet Jesus Christ on this earth, we are asked to stand as witnesses for Him and to bear testimony of Him. The only way we can know for sure that Jesus is who He says He is, is to rely on the revelations we receive from God, and listen to the testimonies of those who have seen Him (like the prophets and the scriptures). It is not always easy to believe in things you have never seen and so it is vitally important that we each learn how to receive our own personal revelation. The Holy Ghost, whose job it is to bear witness of Jesus Christ, will speak to us in a variety of ways– including in dreams.

Elder Richard G. Scott in his talk, “How to obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life”. said,

“Revelation can also be given in a dream when there is an almost imperceptible transition from sleep to wakefulness. If you strive to capture the content immediately, you can record great detail, but otherwise it fades rapidly. Inspired communication in the night is generally accompanied by a sacred feeling for the entire experience. The Lord uses individuals for whom we have great respect to teach us truths in a dream because we trust them and will listen to their counsel. It is the Lord doing the teaching through the Holy Ghost. However, He may in a dream make it both easier to understand and more likely to touch our hearts by teaching us through someone we love and respect.

When it is for the Lord’s purposes, He can bring anything to our remembrance. That should not weaken our determination to record impressions of the Spirit. Inspiration carefully recorded shows God that His communications are sacred to us. Recording will also enhance our ability to recall revelation. Such recording of direction of the Spirit should be protected from loss or intrusion by others.”

Personally, my dreams tend to be more ridiculous than spiritual, and I tend not to pay much attention to them. Yet, on the other hand my husband often has spiritually significant dream, which he takes time to write down in his journal. A friend of mine also told me that she will dream the same dream over and over again for several weeks, until she comes to understand its message. While a another friend says that she has learned that when she dreams about someone specific she needs to call them and check on them, because often the things she dreamed about have some truth in them. I’ve wondered if the reason their dreams are much more spiritually rich than mine is because they take them seriously, and by writing them down or acting up on them signal to God that they are paying attention. There is probably some truth to this.

Yet I think it is also important to remember that the Holy Ghost will speak to us in whatever ways we are open and willing to receive his messages, whether that be in dreams, through the scriptures, through prayer, through nature, through symbolism or through other people. There are millions of ways that God speaks to us, and our job is to open our hearts and our eyes to receive it and then act upon– just like Pilate’s wife did.