he should be crucified, Pilate washed his hands of the matter, Jesus then had to carry his own cross to the place of execution through crowds of bystanders who wished him ill, and finally, he was nailed to a cross between two thieves in a public place of execution called Golgotha—the “Place of the Skull.”
Had he tried to escape, either from the trial or the trek to Golgotha, it would have immediately been noticed. There would have been plenty of volunteers who’d have quickly pushed him back onto his road of execution. The Gospels inform us that the Romans had abdicated all responsibility for him; they no longer cared what happened.
JUDAEA, JESUS, AND CHRISTIANITY
| Before 4 B.C. | Birth of Jesus, according to Matthew’s Gospel (2:1). |
| 4 B.C. | Death of Herod the Great. |
| A.D. 6 | Birth of Jesus, according to Luke’s Gospel (2:1-7). Census of Quirinius, Governor of Syria. |
| A.D. 27-28 | Baptism of Jesus (traditional date) in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius (Luke 3:1-23). |
| A.D. 30 | Crucifixion of Jesus, according to Catholic scholarship. |
| c. A.D. 35 | Following the marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias in c. A.D. 34, John the Baptist is executed, following the evidence in Josephus. |
| A.D. 36 | Passover—crucifixion of Jesus, according to Matthew’s timetable. |
| A.D. 36-37 | Conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus. |
| c. A.D. 44 | Execution of James, the brother of Jesus. |
| A.D. 50-52 | Paul in Corinth. Writes his first letter (to the Thessalonians). |
| A.D. 61 | Paul in Rome under house arrest. |
| c. A.D. 65 | Paul supposedly executed. |
| A.D. 66-73 | War in Judaea. The Roman army under Vespasian invades Judaea. |
| c. A.D. 55-120 | Life of Tacitus, Roman historian and senator, who mentions Christ. |
| c. A.D. 61-114 | Life of Pliny the Younger, who mentions Christ. |
| c. A.D. 115 | Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, quotes from letters of Paul. |
| c. A.D. 117-138 | Suetonius, Roman historian, mentions “Chrestus.” |
| c. A.D. 125 | Earliest known example of a Christian gospel, John 18: 31-33, Rylands Papyrus, found in Egypt. |
| c. A.D. 200 | Oldest known fragment of Paul’s letters, Chester Beatty Papyrus, found in Egypt. |
| c.A.D. 200 | Oldest virtually complete gospel (John’s), Bodmer Papyrus, found in Egypt. |
| A.D. 325 | Council of Nicaea is convened by the Roman emperor Constantine. The divinity of Jesus is made official dogma by a vote of 217 to 3. |
| A.D. 393-397 | Council of Hippo, formalizing the New Testament, is finalized at Council of Carthage. |
THE MACCABEES AND HEROD
| 401 B.C. | Rebuilding of the Jewish temple on Elephantine Island, Aswan, southern Egypt, is completed. |
| 332 B.C. | Alexander the Great invades Israel and Egypt. |
| 323 B.C. | Death of Alexander. His generals split his empire: after years of struggle, Ptolemy takes Egypt, and Seleucis takes Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Israel at first is ruled by Ptolemy. |
| 170 B.C. | The Seleucid ruler of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes, invades Judaea and Egypt. Onias III, high priest of the temple, flees to Egypt with many priests. Establishes a Jewish temple in Egypt. |
| 169 B.C. | Syrians invade Judaea a second time. Temple is looted. |
| 167 B.C. | Syrians again invade, massacre populace of Jerusalem, and rededicate the Temple to Zeus. The Temple priest, Mattathias (of the Hasmonean dynasty), and his sons begin a revolt against the Syrians. |
| 166 B.C. | Mattathias dies. His son, Judas Maccabee, takes over command. |
| 160 B.C. | Judas Maccabee is defeated and killed. His brother Jonathan takes command. |
| 152 B.C. | Jonathan is appointed high priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. |
| 143 B.C. | Jonathan is imprisoned. His brother Simon becomes high priest and ruler of Judaea. |
| 142 B.C. | Judaea becomes independent under Simon, who forms an alliance with the Romans. |
| 134 B.C. | Simon is killed. His son John Hyrcanus succeeds him as high priest and ruler of Judaea. |
| 104 B.C. | Aristobulus rules and takes the title of King of Judaea (of the Hasmonean dynasty). |
| 103-76 B.C. | Alexander Jannaeus is king and high priest of Judaea. |
| 67-63 B.C. | Aristobulus II is king and high priest of Judaea. |
| 63 B.C. | The Roman general Pompey takes Jerusalem. |
| 37 B.C. | Herod marries Mariamne, granddaughter of Ju daean King Aristobulus II. Herod takes Jerusalem and becomes king. |
| 4. B.C. | Death of King Herod. |
But the Jewish authorities, representatives of the priestly Sadducees, did care; they wanted him dead. Those in Jesus’s small community of disciples were powerless to protect him and could only watch helplessly as the tragedy unfolded. So if his escape did not serve some purpose of either the Roman or Jewish authorities, who did have cause and power enough to make it happen, one would think that such an escape would have been impossible. And yet, there are enough hints in the gospel accounts to give one pause for thought. The situation is not as clear-cut as it is presented.
First, and importantly, crucifixion was historically the punishment for a political crime. According to the Gospels, however, Pilate gave Jesus over to the mobs, who then brayed for his execution on the basis of religious dissent. The Jewish execution for this particular transgression was death by stoning. Crucifixion was a Roman punishment reserved for sedition, not religious eccentricity. This contradiction alone illustrates that the Gospels are not reporting the matter truthfully. Could they be trying to hide some vital aspects of the events from us? Trying to blame the wrong people perhaps?
Jesus was, we can be certain, sentenced for execution on the basis of political crimes. We can also be certain that it was the Romans, not the Jewish authorities, who called the shots, whatever spin the Gospels might try to put on it.
