Expert: Dean Gade - 12/31/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello, my name is James. My question is this: Was Jesus crucified, according to Joh 19:7, for blasphemy because he claimed to be God, the Son? Or was he crucified for claiming to be Christ, a king? We know that the Jews considered the terms “Son of God” and “Messiah” to mean the same thing from verses such as Joh 1:49 and Mat 26:63. And we know that the Jews thought that the coming Messiah would be a mere man from Mat 22:42-45. But in Joh 19:7 the Jews insisted to Pilate that Jesus should die “because he claimed to be the Son of God”. Joh 19:7 reads, “The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."” If we interpret this as meaning that Jesus was condemned for claiming to be Christ, a king, this would agree with Luk 23:2. But there is one huge problem with this interpretation: The Jews seemed to have said that it was their law he broke: “We have a law”. Which law in the Old Testament was it that he break, then, by claiming to be a king? Or were they really implying that they were loyal to Rome and that Jesus was breaking the Roman law which they considered as theirs? Or were they really saying that he was claiming to be the divine Son of God? Thank you for your help with this question.

ANSWER: The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus put to death because He was not the Messiah they wanted and because they feared that He would upset the Roman government. Both of these would cause them to lose the power that they had over the people.

Jesus was not the Messiah they wanted because He was not a warrior king who would rally the people against Rome and destroy Roman power over the nation which they, as the "church" leaders, wanted to rule. Their idea of a Messiah was also that He would follow their traditions and the the laws they had written(in contrast to the ones given by Moses) All this was to maintain their personal glory and power.

Their complaint to Pilate that Jesus claimed to be a king was only to rile up Pilate enough to kill Jesus and keep them in good graces with Rome.

The following passages are all pertinent to your questions:

Jn 5:18
18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jn 10:33
33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews , "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

Jn 11:47-48
"What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

Lk 5:21
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Lk 16:14
14 The Pharisees , who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.

Mk 7:6-8
6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
"'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain ;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
(ALL PASSAGES ABOVE FROM THE NIV)


There is no law in the Bible which says that anyone should be put to death for saying they were "the son of man".  Many prophets where called "son of man" by God when He spoke to them...especialy Ezekiel.

The leaders also tried to deceive Pilate and others about the "sin" of being a king.  Even Pilate had it written on the cross saying that Jesus was the "king of the Jews" and would not listen to the Jews about having it changed to be "He SAID he was the king of the Jews" as they demanded.

Keep in mind that the church leaders were more interested in themselves than God or His people who they were supposed to be leading to the Messiah/Christ (same word in Hebrew/Greek = "annointed one").  Many of them were deceptive all the time in order to maintain their status.

Lk 11:42-46

42 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

43 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

44 "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it."

45 One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also."

46 Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
NIV

If you have further question on this matter, please write again.

Dean


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply. I am in agreement with your assessment of why the Jews sought to have Jesus killed. But I am still not sure from your answer what your opinion is regarding Joh 19:7. You made reference to Joh 10:33. Do you feel then that the law they were referring to in Joh 19:7 was the one against blasphemy? You also stated, "The leaders also tried to deceive Pilate and others about the "sin" of being a king." Do you feel then that in Joh 19:7 the Jews were making reference to Jesus' claim to be king in order to have Pilate crucify him? But, if this were so, would Pilate know that the term "Son of God" was the equivalent of "King"? Thank you again for your help.

Answer
Jn. 19:7 has nothing to do with the Laws of Moses.  The accusers are speaking either about a law they had made up or just plain lying.  They imply blasphemy on the part of Jesus because He said He was the Son of God. But He WAS, so there was no blasphemy in Jesus claim to be the Son of God.  The leaders clearly knew and hated that Jesus was calling Himself the prophet, king, Messiah/Christ whom God had promised to Adam and later through Moses:

Dt 18:15-20
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die."
17 The Lord said to me: "What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." NIV

In the chapter this one (Jn.18:33),  Pilate is shown to have enough knowledge of Jesus and the charges to ask if He was a king. The phrase, "Son of God", didn't have the connotation of kingship.  Pilate was now fearful because the Jews were talking about "gods".  He was put in a position that was at least embarrassing or was put in non-debatable legal position.

Jn 18:33
33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
KJV