The speaker begins by describing a man—presumably, given the poem's title, her husband Pilate. She explains that his hands are weak and effeminate. His nails are like seashells from the sea of Galilee, and he claps his hands to demand grapes. When he touches her with these hands, she flinches. She wishes she were at home in Rome, or married to someone different.
When a group from Nazareth enters Jerusalem, the speaker and her maid try to solve their boredom by putting on disguises and joining the crowd that watches the group. The speaker catches the eye of Jesus himself. He looks ugly yet talented, and as he looks back at her, she is captivated by his eyes. Then he suddenly disappears through the city gates with his followers.
The night before Jesus goes to trial, the speaker has a dream about him, in which he touches her with his hands. When this causes her pain, she sees that his hands have been pierced by nails. When she wakes up, she is torn between feelings of sexual attraction and feelings of fear.
She sends her husband a note, telling him not to harm Jesus. Then she hurries out of the house, to join the crowd gathered for Jesus's crucifixion. He wears a crown of thorns while the assembled crowd is cheering at Barabbas. In the bible, Barabbas is a thief who the crowd chooses to pardon, electing to execute Jesus instead. Pilate looks at his wife but pretends not to see her. He rolls his sleeves up, and washes his delicate hands. Others drag Jesus to the hill known as the "place of skulls." The speaker says that her maid knows what happened next.
She asks, rhetorically, whether Jesus was God, then answers her own question, saying he was not. However, she concludes, Pilate thought that he was God.
