The Motivation for the Crucifixion of Jesus :: essays research papers

The Motivation for the Crucifixion of JesusWhy was Jesus executed? In answering this doubt in historical terms, we must first look at the events leading up to his arrest and ultimately, his execution. We know that Jesus performed that symbolic gesture of cleansing the temple, by overturning the currency changers tables, and most believe that this act was symbolic of destruction, not purification. Paula Fredrickson, author of From Jesus to Christ writes Through this disruptive gesture, Jesus symbolically enacted the enpending apocalyptic destruction of the Temple&8230that Gods soil was at hand. So basically, his gesture, as Fredrickson states would have been readily understood by any Jew watching, as a statement that the Temple was about to be unmake by God, and accordingly that the present order was about to cede to the Kingdom of God.So in doing this, Jesus obviously made a lot of commonwealth mad. Most obviously were the chief priests in the temple because he did it during Pas sover (one of the holiest holidays), knowing Pontius Pilate was around for crowd control, and to announce so liberally that the freedom of their people was at hand, would incite a threat to the Roman stronghold. It is known that Pontius Pilate was not a nice guy to begin with, and he was not happy to be in Jerusalem during its most crowded time of the year. Passover is a holiday celebrating the Jews freedom from slavery, so he was there as crowd control. Paula Fredrickson states in an interview He had a reputation for crucifying untried prisoners&8230Pilate was legally responsible to be in Jerusalem when it was most crowded. He was in a bad mood already when he got into town&8230hearing that someone was a trouble maker would be enough. So all he needed to do was find someone to mastermind his frustrations out on. Enter Jesus. The priests basically handed him over to Pilate. In the gospel of Luke, the priests call Jesus a blasphemer. Was he turned over to Pilate because of their des ire to extend the peace, or was it out of jealousy that maybe Jesus knew something they didnt, or was it merely out of ignorance? There is no evidence that he committed some blasphemy, so he was handed over to Pilate for what? He was a threat to the priests stronghold over the temple, if Jesus was right, then there would be no need for them.