For Historians, (not Jews or Christians please)why would the Romans want Jesus killed?

Question

How much evidence is there?

Answer 1

The Jews did not kill Jesus, even according to the Christian's New Testament itself.

In Matthew 27:2, Jesus had to be given over to the authorities, Rome, to be tried by the Governor of Rome, Pontius Pilate. 64 years before Jesus was born, the Jews had lost the land of Israel to Roman rule. The Jews had no power, no authority, to put anyone to death. Jesus was crucified. The Jewish way to give the death penalty was through stoning, as everyone knows. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution, and they reserved it only for those who were seen as trying to overthrow the Roman government.

According to Matthew 27:37, the sign placed by the Romans over Jesus's head read, "Jesus Christ King of the Jews." The text of Matthew in 27:37 calls this sign, "the accusation." In other words, the crime for which Jesus was crucified was for being, or having the pretense to be, the king of the Jews, INSTEAD of the Roman emperor, and this is according to the Christian's own New Testament! (see also Matthew 27:27-29)

So why does the Christian New Testament make it appear that the Jews wanted Jesus dead? Simply because by the time that the New Testament stories about Jesus (the Gospels) were being written, from 60 C.E. onward, the Jews were in open rebellion against Rome. The Early Christians did not want to be identified with the Jews, and they did not want Rome to think that Christians worshipped a man who was crucified by the Romans. So they wrote their New Testament so as to absolve the Romans from the responsibility of putting Jesus to death. This went so far as to put words in the mouth of "the Jews," that said "the Jews" accepted responsibility for Jesus's death, and that the guilt for it would be on their childrens' heads forever! (Matthew 27:25).

Of course, this will not stop believing Christians from taking the New Testament at its word, and continuing to blame the Jews for Jesus's death.

BUT, how then can we Jews respond to such a question, "Did the Jews kill Jesus?"

The very question itself makes us respond with our own collection of questions:

Who are "the Jews" referred to in the question? Are they all Jews forever and ever? This would mean that if the people outside of the Huntsville, Texas, prison who cried FOR the death of Karla Faye Tucker (convicted of murdering her own kids i believe),were of Scottish origins, for example, then from now on all Scottish peoples, regardless of where they were at the time she was given the death penalty are guilty, forever, for her death?Remember that the people outside of the prison were not the ones, and could not have been the ones, who actually injected her with the fatal poisons. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of Jews in the world at the time of Jesus did not live in Israel, and would not have heard about any event taking place there for months after the event. News traveled so much slower then.

Lets pretend that "the Jews" back then really did kill Jesus (which they did not!). Since when are the children responsible, or culpable, for the sins of their parents? This very idea is UnBiblical! In Deuteronomy 24:16 it specifically states, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." Furthermore, in Ezekiel 18:20 it states, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." So the very idea that if Jews killed Jesus, which they did not, then the Jewish People forever is responsible for that sin is both UnBiblical and nonsense.

Answer 2

Without getting into the whole divinity aspect, Jesus being from the House of David had at least some royal background. I don't know if that had an effect or not but his increasing popularity among the people was viewed as a threat to the power base of the ruling Jewish elite and by extension to Rome.

While they might not have been happy about living under Roman rule, the Sanhedrin still had their share of power and authority over the Jewish people. Jesus and his group came into Jeruselem and started "causing trouble." He throws the money changers out of the temple and says that he can tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days. so Jesus was viewed as a troublemaker and political rival.

The Romans didn't have as big problem with Jesus as the Jewish authorities did. The Romans however, did have the death penalty where the Jews did not. So if the Jews REALLY wanted to get rid of a problem, they had to get the Romans involved. The ruling Jewish council had Jesus arrested on charges of sedition (plotting to overthrow the government - Ceasar) at night, which I am told was illegal to do at that time but I have no confirmation of that. Pilate, the Roman Prefect or Governor, did not think there was sufficient evidence of a crime and sent him the King Herod, the Jewish King, who sent him back to Pilate. In order to appease the crowds, Pilate ordered Jesus scourged but not killed. That wasn't good enough for the crowds so Pilate gave in and ordered Jesus crucified calling him the "King of the Jews".

The Romans were very good at torture and gruesome ways of killing people. The idea was to create fear and they used it a lot to keep people and nations in line through brutality. Also using crucifiction as a means of death was meant to show the victim's low status in society, a criminal's death.

While Pilate may have not believed that Jesus was guilty of a crime, the modern concept of proof of guilt beyand a reasonable doubt did not exist. The Roman Governor or Prefect had the authority of Ceasar behind him and could pretty much do as he pleased as long as order was kept. Keeping Order was the biggest priority and Jesus was viewed as a threat to order and the power held by those already in power. There is a line in the book "Shogun" that says something like, "It's not treason if you win." That is why the American founding fathers were taking such a big risk with the American Revolution. If they lost, they would all be hanged and killed as traitors to the English Crown / King George.

I hope that I've kept the religion aspect out of the answer for you. It may not be exactly right but this is my understanding of it all.

Art

Answer 3

For the Romans, it was just a case of keeping the peace. They viewed Jesus as a rabble rouser, followed by fanatical crowds, who were making the local leaders, the Jews, nervous about being able to keep order and peace. The Jews did not like the Romans, but depended on the Romans to enforce the laws of the land when need be. The Romans came in handy in the case of Jesus, as the Jews had no authority to deal with Jesus in the way that they saw was necessary (execution). The Romans had no real dog in the fight, and were very leery of becoming involved in Jewish politics, but carried out the execution of Jesus reluctantly when Jewish leaders made Jesus sound like a traitor and a dangerous agitator, who rejected Roman rule and called himself "King of the Jews."

Answer 4

It's possible that the Romans would have executed Jesus for attempted insurrection. By riding into Jerusalem in that manner, Jesus was basically proclaiming himself the Messiah - and the Romans knew the Jews believed the Messiah would free them from Roman rule.

Perhaps the crucifixion was just a way of the Romans saying "not gonna' happen".

As far as evidence, beyond the gospels there really isn't any. We know there were crimes in Roman law that called for crucifixion, insurrection being one. I don't know of any cases historically where the Romans punished someone for violating Jewish law, as described in the gospels, but I suppose it may have been done for political reasons.

Answer 5

Hi, here is opinion of my husband..........

Im no historian, religious nut or rocket scientist but I reckon Jesus had a better understanding of people and was regarded as a bloke who gave inspiration and leadership to people who at that time proberly didnt have much direction in life apart from the Romans hence the possible reason that the Romans wanted him killed because basically he was stealing their authority and "thunder" (control over the people).

Answer 6

The Romans (Pontius Pilate) was acting at the request of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They were afraid of the influence that the historical figure Jesue was having on people, and used the excuse that he claimed to be the Messiah (King of the Jews) to have him executed.

Pilate wasn't really that concerned over his influence but knew he needed to keep the cooperation of the Sanhedrin if he was going to keep control of the Jewish population.

Answer 7

Jesus was a troublemaker/outlaw who went around preaching about a different kingdom. The normal custom at the timw was to execute outlaws by crucifixion. There are many ancient writings, supporting the traditions that have been passed down through generations. You just have to know where to look. Most of the writings are maintained by religious communities, not just those written by christians or jews, because of their historical significance.

Answer 8

The Romans actually didn't have much of a problem with Jesus. It was a small group ofJews that kept pushing the subject of killing him until the Roman emperor agreed.

Answer 9

Suggestions are that he was a rebel leader who organised the Jews. Although this particular leader did not organise his supporters for revolt, there were many, many who did. Jesus was one of many 'messiahs' of the time. Men who claimed divine knowledge and heritage.
Even though his supporters were not organised for armed revolt they were still dangerous to the government, like the fulan gong movement in China, or the supporters of Gandhi in India. Leaders of both movements have or were threatened by the governments at the time.

Answer 10

I think that Roman's saw his influence over people as a threat to their war-like society. After conquering other civilizations, the Romans fought amongst themselves all in the honor of the gods.