24. Jesus was crucified as "the King of the Jews".
Ankerberg: All right, this is a real important point that keeps coming up over and over again. It came up in the Peter Jennings Special: "Why was Jesus crucified?" I mean, what was the ruckus about?
Evans: Well, He was crucified as "King of the Jews." Some have disputed that, that placard that was on the cross that said this–but I think their arguments are weak. Christians did not refer to Jesus as King of the Jews. Jews do not refer to the Messiah that way either. So where does this title come from? It’s a Roman title. That’s what Herod the Great was named by the Roman Senate.
Ankerberg: You actually debated some of the fellows in the Jesus Seminar on this topic. How did the argument go?
Evans: Well, this is always the problem the Jesus Seminar has and that’s to explain, How is it that Jesus was crucified as King of the Jews? Because you don’t crucify harmless pests, people who are wandering around saying, "Hey, we ought to love one another." People that are preaching a politically correct doctrine of egalitarianism, you ignore them; or at most, you give them a whipping and send them out of town. But being crucified as King of the Jews, what does that mean? And the only plausible explanation in context is Jesus was claiming to be Israel’s Messiah and on that charge He’s handed over to the Romans who crucify Him in their terms as King of the Jews because that’s exactly what Israel’s "Messiah" means. |
