this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2024
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I always figured Jesus was trying to piss everyone off and martyr himself. He showed up to Roman controlled Jerusalem, during a pilgrimage month, got the local leaders riled up, has people worshipping him and calling him king, (don't call yourself a king in a Roman province unless you wanna see what Romans do to Kings), his followers are lopping off ears, and disturbing the pax Romana. Really didn't leave Roman authorities much choice but to please the locals by taking him out.
He's sorta a Rasputin like character. Running around with prostitutes, healing the sick, great party tricks, rather hard to kill.
You should probably read the book some time. People called him king but it wasn't a title he wanted or requested; the only title he used of himself was "Son of man". He didn't request anyone to lop ears off (and in fact repeately tried to drill into people that the way forward is love) and on the one occasion it's documented he rebuked the lopper and stuck the ear back on. It was the Pharisees and Sadducees that got riled up because Jesus exposed their hypocrisy, and the local leaders originally weren't interested because they just saw it as an internal religious matter, but the P&S knew what buttons to push and that's what got JC crucified. Pilate actually said he couldn't see what Jesus had done wrong.
That's the story told by his followers decades later. He would have been an apocalyptic peasant preacher, and most of those people have some combination of narcissism and mental instability. Most likely, he got killed for exactly what the sign on his crucifix said. Whitewashing his personality came later.
It's no good reason to kill someone. The Roman Empire was a brutal place. But he probably was guilty.
If I wanted credibility or accuracy I wouldn't read the Bible. In any case, he was a cheeky lad, knew how to get martyred but make it look political.
By the way, why were Jesus's disciples and followers carrying swords? Isn't that a contradiction?
More than one ear? :D