"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews": Tax Protester or Rebel?

Back in May I wrote Jesus on the Law: Taxpayer or Illegal Tax Protester? and looked into Jesus teaching on taxes, and whether he was executed for teaching his followers not to pay taxes. Since then I have been trying to resolve this riddle: if Jesus was executed for tax resistance, why was the charge against him that was put on his cross "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"? As Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus approaches, I attempt to answer this riddle by suggesting that the charge of proclaiming himself King of the Jews incorporates both resistance to Rome's rule as well as its taxes.

I will divide this post into three parts:

1. Jesus arrest by the Jewish religious leaders
2. Jesus hearing before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious council)
3. Jesus hearing before Pilate and Herod (the Roman authorities), and execution

The Arrest

The arrest of Jesus was well organised. The Jewish religious leaders were scared of the Jewish people, so they paid Judas Iscariot to betray him and enable his arrest to take place secretly. The implication is that the Jewish religious leaders were concerned that his followers would use force to prevent his arrest. But an even stronger implication can also be drawn from the story: Jesus said "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me." Clearly Jesus was not leading a rebellion, however it appears that the Jewish religious leaders either a) were concerned that he was and/or b) wanted to portray him as such, in order to have him executed by the Roman authorities as a rebel.

Jesus rebuked Peter for using his sword to prevent his arrest:

When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Jesus hearing before the Sanhedrin

The Jewish religious leaders appear to have been the most motivated to have Jesus executed: they were the ones who arrested him, they were the ones who sought usable evidence against him, and they were the ones laying charges against him to have him executed by the Roman authorities.

Our concern here is what kind of charges they made against him, and the evidence they assembled, and their tactics to seek his conviction. Here is the record of the proceedings from Matthew:

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered.

Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

Mark records a several problems with conflicting witnesses:

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.

Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.

So it appears that they concluded their proceedings by fixing on Jesus' claim to be the Messiah, a strong charge as they interpreted their religious law, but a weak charge in terms of the Roman authorities. As we'll see, they had to stretch the meaning and significance of the term in order to secure a conviction.

Jesus hearing before Pilate and Herod

Luke presents the proceedings before Pilate and Herod as follows:

Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”

So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

A careful reading of Luke's account makes several things clear:

1. Jesus claim to be the Messiah, and a king, was construed as a rebellion against the Roman authorities, aided by the charge of opposing payment of taxes. He was specifically accused of 'He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching'.
2. Pilate summarised the charge against him as 'one who was inciting the people to rebellion'
3. Pilate did not find sufficient evidence for the charge: apparently, merely claiming to be a king without actually leading a rebellion was insufficient, compared with Barabbas who was 'in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.' (Mark 15:7). Jesus legal situation of being a claimant king under arrest and on trial appeared not to provoke the full force of the law but mockery. Jesus claim was treated as a great joke (not only on Jesus but on the Jews) for the Roman authorities, it appears, rather than a serious crime. In fact Pilate continued to seek other charges against him that would warrant his conviction for an offense that carried the death penalty.

John's account highlights the legal problem between the Jewish religious authorities and the Roman authorities: the former could not execute anyone, and the latter found insufficient basis for execution, and how the former portrayed Jesus claim to be a king in conflict with Roman law:

Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

Jesus was handed over to Roman soldiers who crucified him under the following charge:

The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Mark 15:26)

John's account provides more details about the notice and the reaction of the Jewish religious authorities:

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

This also suggests to me that perhaps claiming to be a king did not warrant the death penalty.

So, in summary, the charges against Jesus brought by his accusers were many, but the ones listed specifically, in the words of his accusers were:

• “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”
• He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching
• “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
• “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

In the words of the Roman authorities, the charges entertained against him, in the words of the authorities were:

• “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion."
• The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

It is also clear from the records that Jesus only responded to charge of being a king, and his response was to admit it, but that many times Pilate (and Herod) stated that this was insufficient for any death sentence, before yielding to the crowd.