by Robert W. McDonald

Created on: January 07, 2010

Even one as cynical as I will acknowledge that there is sufficient historical evidence from sources outside the gospels to accept the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was executed by crucifixion. I must, however, as a matter of honesty admit that I still question the “why” behind this crucifixion.

I take the position that there are two possible answers as to “why” Jesus was crucified: the simple reason and the eschatological reason. I will explain these in sequence,

The “simple” explanation for “why” Jesus of Nazareth was crucified is that he ran afoul of both the Jewish religious establishment and the Roman civil government which, according to the surviving historical accounts of first century Judea, was quite easy to do. My “simple scenario” is as follows:

Jesus has alienated the Sanhedrin with his sometimes stinging attacks on their supposed piety and obvious greed. Additionally, the rumor that Jesus’ followers thought that he was the long-promised messiah of the Jews had reached the Roman Procurator of Judea, a man with a reputation for “nipping trouble in the bud,” Pontius Pilate. Since it is certain that Pilate and the Sanhedrin were on speaking terms he could have regularly sought the opinions of that body on matters of who was a threat to the Pax Romana or who was just another religious crackpot. In my scenario, the Sanhedrin names Jesus as a potential threat and Pilate agrees that if Jesus is arrested by the religious authorities that the Romans will execute him.

The eschatological implications of Jesus’ crucifixion are complex and depend on one's beliefs regarding the death of Jesus of Nazareth to have been in some way “necessary” for universal salvation.

If you hold that the concept of original sin is flawed, as I do, then Jesus’ death is nothing more than just another case of an innocent man being unjustly executed after a unfair trial: Jesus of Nazareth was a good man, even a holy man, but dead is dead and end of story.

On the other hand, many see the death of Jesus to be the necessary and final act of redemption for the “Sin of Adam” and that his resurrection from the dead symbolizes that even death itself has been conquered. A relatively small school of Christian thought holds that the correct interpretation lies in a synthesis of these dialectically-opposed beliefs.

In conclusion, I maintain that the crucifixion was a real event but I also hold that the belief in the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth as being of some supernatural significance cannot be resolved by historical study alone.

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