The Trial Of Jesus: the Enigma of the First Good Friday
S.G.F. Brandon asserts that Pontius Pilate regarded Jesus as guilty of sedition. Whether he was right is another matter.
By a strange irony of history, the surest thing known about Jesus of Nazareth is that he was executed by the Romans for sedition against their government in Judaea. The circumstances of Jesus’ birth, the length of his public ministry, and the exact content of his teaching are all matters of uncertainty, but the cause of his death is beyond doubt.
For the fact that Jesus was crucified as a rebel on the orders of Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judaea is attested by all four Gospels, and it is briefly mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus, writing early in the second century.
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