One of the most famous legal trials in the history of humanity probably never happened. And even if it did, Jesus of Nazareth would not have had the benefit of a full legal team consisting of solicitors, barristers, and KCs. This is despite the fact that he was facing the death penalty if found guilty.
Most of us know the traditional gospel story. Jesus was arrested and brought before the Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, the leading priests, and the governors of Jerusalem. They turned him over to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who reluctantly agrees to the baying crowd’s calls to execute him.
“Crucify him, crucify him” (Mark 15:1-20).
This is an exceptionally brief overview of the trial of the Christ of faith. What this article looks at is the trial of the Jesus of history. If it happened (and we can never know for sure) who was there, why was the death sentence handed down, and what motivated the Gospel writers to dramatically change the narrative?
To answer these questions, we need to jump forward to 70 CE and the climax of the Jewish revolt against Rome, which ended in the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem.
Roman rule in Jerusalem
Pompey the Great captured Jerusalem in 63 BCE. It was never a peaceful takeover and there were numerous uprisings by the Jewish people. However, the revolt of 66-70 CE was the biggest and, arguably the most disastrous. The Judeans initially defeated the Roman legions and gained a brief period of independence. However, Rome soon returned. Emperor Titus built a wall around Jerusalem, trapping everyone inside with no access to food or water. As the population perished by the hundreds, Titus stormed the city a few days before Passover. The entire city was set alight and Roman troops slaughtered anyone they could lay their hands on. The Temple, which was the centre of Jewish religious and cultural life, was destroyed and those few who survived the massacre were forbidden from rebuilding the sacred structure.
The survivors blamed the Zealots, Sicarii, bandits, and nationalists for the disaster, and naturally, as the years went by, the Jewish people tried to distance themselves from the “revolutionary idealism that led to the war with Rome”.[1] This would have profound consequences for how the portrayal of the trial of Jesus was described in the Gospels, all of which were authored after the destruction of Jerusalem.
The trial of Jesus
Like almost everything concerning the Jesus of history we do not know exactly what happened at Jesus’s trial before Prefect Pontius Pilate. Indeed, we cannot be sure if he received an audience with Pilate at all. However, given what historians know about the type of man Pilate was, it is highly unlikely that he lifted a finger to save what he would have viewed as a provincial rabble-rouser.
We know nothing about Pilate before he arrived in Jerusalem in 26 BCE. But, thanks to the prolific record keeping of the Romans, we do know that he was a competent administrator and a viciously cruel man who exhibited a complete disdain and disregard for Jewish law and tradition.[2]
James D. Tabor writes:
“Pilate had a reputation of handling arrests without trial and ignoring legal procedures. Even if Pilate thought Jesus to be a harmless and deluded fool, he would have happily condemned him without the slightest hesitation.”[3]
When describing the trial of Jesus, Reza Aslan comments:
“It is, of course, not inconceivable that Jesus would have received a brief audience with the Roman governor…but any trial Jesus received would have been brief and perfunctory, its sole purpose to officially record the charges for which he was being executed.”[4]
The sentence
If there was a trial, Pilate would have been interested in the answer to one question only, namely, “Are you the King of the Jews”? His answer would have been recorded and the death sentence passed.
The Romans reserved the punishment of crucifixion for the crime of sedition. It was a slow, agonising death which was always carried out in public to deter others from challenging Roman authority.
The rest of the story is heartbreakingly familiar. Sharing the fate of many others previously convicted of inciting rebellion against Rome, Jesus would have been stripped naked and scourged. He would then have been forced to carry the cross beam on which he was to be crucified to Golgotha, a hill located outside the city walls. Here, surrounded by the dead and the dying, he expired after around six hours, probably from asphyxiation or organ failure.
The gap between legend and history
There are several explanations for the yawning gulf between the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s trial and probable historical facts. First and foremost, the Gospels were written to prove that Jesus was the “promised Messiah” and the authors had no desire to let facts get in the way of a good story. Secondly, the gospel writers would have been focused on distancing themselves from those who revolted against Rome, hence all traces of revolutionary zeal were expunged from the narrative. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were writing for a Roman audience, and this required Rome to be exonerated from any part in Jesus’s death.[5] Finally, and perhaps most importantly, historians of the past were not in the business of communicating facts. Instead, they wanted to portray the truth as it was known to them and others (i.e. passed down through oral tradition). Therefore, it is important to read any ancient accounts of historical events, from the Gospels to the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth through this lens.
Tragically, one of the consequences of the reimagining of the trial of Jesus has been two millennia of anti-Semitism. Of course, the authors of the Gospels could not have foreseen this, but it emphasises the importance of meticulous and accurate recordings of trial proceedings, something that we thankfully enjoy today.
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[1] Aslan, R;, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, 2013
[2] Ibid
[3] Tabor, James D;, The Jesus Dynasty, 2006
[4] Aslan, R;, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, 2013
[5] Ibid