Reply #10: Yes and no... [View All]

[regnaD kciN]

I do think that the incident of the takeover of the Temple gave good reason for the (Sadduceean) Temple priests to want Jesus dead, which is of course a far cry from saying that "the Jews" as a whole wanted the same thing.

But, "why would the Romans want to kill Jesus?" Well, the fact that he was considered to possibly be the Messiah would be a good first reason. Remember that, at the time, the Messiah was considered to be the rightful King who would drive the foreign occupiers out of the land. When someone being thought of as Messiah makes a triumphal entry to Jerusalem amidst crowds of cheering supporters, and then takes over the Temple, that would be more than enough to start Roman alarm bells ringing. In fact, it would be understandable for them to see the seizing of the Temple as the signal to begin the uprising, and it probably surprised them that Jesus and his followers then left, instead of holding it as the centerpoint from which the rebellion would begin.

Both the Roman military administration and the Temple priests would have good reasons for wishing this figure from Nazareth out of the way.

By the way, even if you accept the Gospel accounts uncritically, it would be incorrect to claim that Jesus was condemned by the priestly council (which was almost certainly not the full Sanhedrin, but a hand-picked "kangaroo court" summoned at night to take care of the matter once and for all) for "blasphemy" because he "claimed to be the Messiah." As others have pointed out, that wouldn't have been a capital offense -- the Messiah was always assumed to be a normal human being called by God. What, according to the Gospels, drew the condemnation was his apparent claim to outright divinity:

Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." -- Matthew 26:64

Would claiming to be God constitute outright blasphemy? It isn't clear. But one thing's likely: before a tribunal that was already determined to render a guilty verdict, it would be as good an excuse as any.