Mark 15:6
Now it was Pilate's custom at the feast to release to the people a prisoner of their choosing.
Sermons
Barabbas or ChristC. S. Robinson, D. D.Mark 15:6
Barabbas Preferred to ChristCharles Stanford, D. D.Mark 15:6
Not Barabbas But JesusBaxendale's Dictionary of AnecdoteMark 15:6
Judicial ProcessesJ.J. Given Mark 15:1-15
The Second TrialE. Johnson Mark 15:1-20
Barabbas; Or, the Evil ChoiceR. Green Mark 15:6-15
Christ or BarabbasA.F. Muir Mark 15:6-15














I. A REVELATION OF THE HATRED OF THE NATURAL MIND FOR TRUTH AND GOODNESS. Several ancient authorities are in favor of readings here and elsewhere which would give us, "Jesus Barabbas" (i.e. son of a father or rabbi), as the full name of the "robber" who was here the favorite of the populace. ]f this be so, there would be two of the name Jesus, and the choice would thus be strikingly emphasized. The character of Barabbas as a rioter and murderer is glossed over by the semblance of patriotism, as he is said to have been engaged in the insurrection caused by Pilate's appropriation of the corban of the temple for building an aqueduct. In any case the personal character is utterly subordinated, and motives of policy prevail. The season of the Passover recalled the historic sparing of Israel's firstborn and the destruction of Egypt's. The positions seemed now to be reversed, or Israel deliberately assumed the character of Egypt, preferring that the guilty should be set free. We have here the self-conviction of:

1. Perverted religious instincts. In the case of the chief priests and people of the Jews. Their whole religious training ought to have prepared them to receive Christ.

2. Popular opinion unguided by the Spirit of God. A prey to unscrupulous influences, to false sentiment, and to passing excitements.

3. Spiritual indifference. In the person oF Pilate, in whom it lent itself readily to unprincipled diplomacy and the surrender of innocence.

II. A PARABLE OF THE CHOICE EVERY MAN IS CALLED UPON TO MAKE.

1. In daily life. Minute occurrences in which the contrasts may not seem so striking, or the choice so final. Their ultimate influence in the determination of character and destiny.

2. In the great crises of religious decision. It is well at such times to consider carefully the respective ends of the courses of conduct that present themselves.

III. A SYMBOL OF THE CENTRAL MYSTERY OF REDEMPTION. In the gospel the method of salvation is that the innocent shall suffer for the guilty. Jesus the Christ thus became the substitute of Barabbas the robber. The latter only gained the prolongation of his earthly life thereby; a questionable benefit. But those who believe in Christ as the vicarious Sacrifice and voluntary Self-sacrificer for sinners will receive eternal salvation. - M.

He released unto them one prisoner whomsoever they desired.
? — It affords the most vivid illustration in the New Testament of just two great moral lessons: Pilate's behaviour shows the wicked wrong of indecision, and the chief priests' choice of Barabbas' release shows the utter rain of a wrong decision. These will become apparent, each in its turn, as we study the story.

I. EARLIEST OF ALL, LET US GROUP TOGETHER THE INCIDENTS OF THE HISTORY, SO THAT THEIR ORDER MAY BE SEEN.

1. Observe the rapid action of the priests (Mark 15:1). It must have been very late on Thursday night when the great council finished the condemnation of Jesus. But the moment that was over, the priests hurried Him at dawn into the presence of the Roman governor. Their feet ran to evil, and they made haste to shed innocent blood (Isaiah 59:7).

2. Now comes the providential moment for Pilate. For the wisdom of God so orders it that this man shall be able to meet his tremendous responsibility unembarrassed by a mob for his audience. These zealots, like all creatures who have the form of godliness but deny the power thereof, are so emphatically pious that even in the midst of murder they pause on a punctilio; they will not enter the judgment hall lest they should be so defiled that they could not eat the passover (John 18:28). This left Pilate the chance calmly to converse with Jesus alone.

3. Then succeeds the pitiable period of subterfuge which always follows a shirked duty. Convinced of our Lord's innocence, Pilate proposed that his official authority should just be counted out in this matter. He bade the chief priests take their prisoner themselves, and deal with Him as they pleased. To this he received a reply which showed their savage animosity, and at the same instant disclosed the use they meant to make of his power. They cried out that the only reason why they had consulted him at all was found in the unlawfulness of killing a man without due form of procedure (John 18:30, 31).

4. Next to this is recorded the attempt of the governor to shift his responsibility. Pilate learned from the mere chance use of a word that Jesus was from Galilee; and as this province was in the jurisdiction of Herod, the titular monarch of the Jews, he sent his prisoner under a guard over to the other palace (Luke 23:7). The king was quite glad to see this Nazarene prophet, and tried to get Him to work a miracle, but did not succeed in evoking so much as a word from His lips (Isaiah 53:7). But before the return, he put a slight on Jesus' kingly claims, so that Pilate might know how much in derision he held them. The soldiers mocked Him, arraying Him in a gorgeous robe, and then led Him back into the presence of the governor again.

5. At his wits' end, Pilate at last proposes a compromise. He remembered that there was a custom, lately brought over from Italy into Palestine, of freeing someone of the State's prisoners every year at Passover as a matter of proconsular clemency (Mark 15:6). He offered to let Jesus go under this rule. Such a procedure would be equivalent to pronouncing him technically a criminal, but thus His life would be spared. But the subtle priests put the people up to refuse this favour flatly.

6. The governor's wife now meets him with a warning from a dream. He had returned to the judgment seat, and was just about to pronounce the decision. His wife interrupted: "Have thou nothing to do with that just man" (Matthew 27:19). This threw Pilate into a frantic irresolution once more. A second time he left the room, and went forth to reason and expostulate with the infuriated crowd at the door. With renewed urgency he pressed upon their consideration the half-threat that he would let loose on them this wretch Barabbas, if they persisted in demanding Jesus' death (Luke 23:18). This only exasperated them the more.

7. Finally, this bewildered judge gave his reluctant consent to their clamours. But in the act of condemnation he did the foolishest thing of all he did that awful day. He took water and washed his hands before the mob, declaring thus that he was innocent of the blood of the just person he was delivering up to their spite (Matthew 27:24).

II. SO WE REACH THE CRISIS OF EVENTS IN THE SPIRITUAL CAREER OF THAT RULER AND OF THAT NATION.

1. Observe the singular picture. It is all in one verse of the Scripture (Mark 15:15). Two men, now in the same moment, appear in public on the steps of the Praetorium: Jesus and Barabbas. One of them was the Son of God, the Saviour of men. "Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!" (John 19:5). Art has tried to reproduce this scene. Dore has painted the whole of it; Guido Reni has painted the head with thorns around the forehead. Others have made similar attempts according to their fancy or their ability. It is a spectacle which attracts and discourages. Beyond them all, however, lies the fact which each Christian will be likely to fashion before his own imagination. Jesus comes forth with His reed and His robe: Ecce Homo! Barabbas alongside! This creature has never been a favourite with artists. He was a paltry wretch any way, thrust up into a fictitious importance by the supreme occasion. We suppose him to have been quite a commonplace impostor. Bar means son; Abba, which some interpret as father. Very likely he chose his own name as a false Messiah, "Son of the Father;" indeed, some of the ancient manuscripts call him "Jesus Barabbas." He does not poise picturesquely; look at him!

2. The moral of this scene turns upon the wilful choice made between these two leaders, the real and the pretended Christ. Now let it be said here that the whole history is often repeated even in these modern times. It is unwise to lose the lesson taught us by rushing off into pious execration of those bigoted Jews. Men had better look into their own hearts. In his introduction to the study of metaphysics, Malebranche remarks very quietly, "It is not into a strange country that such guides as these volumes of mine will conduct you; but it is into your own, in which, not unlikely, you are a stranger." It will be well to bear in mind that the decision is offered and made between Jesus and Barabbas whenever the Lord of glory is represented in a principle, in an institution, in a truth, in a person.

3. So let us pause right here to inquire what this decision involves for those who make it. The illustration is helpful, and we can still employ it. Dwell a moment upon the deliberateness of the choice which the multitude made that day. The exhibition was perfectly intelligible: it always is. There is Barabbas! there is Christ! When a sharp moral crisis is reached, men generally know the side they ought to choose. Right and wrong, truth and error, sin and holiness, the world or God — this is just the old Jerusalem scene back again. Such a choice fixes character. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." When one wills strongly, he moulds himself in the likeness of the thing he chooses. The old Castilian proverb says, "Every man is the son of his own work." Then observe the responsibility of the choice between Barabbas and Christ. The chief priests declared they would take it (Matthew 27:25). Pilate could ruin no soul but his own. In the end Jesus' blood rested upon the nation that slew Him. Oh, what a history! a land without a nation — a nation without a land! All the vast future swung on the hinge of that choice. Note, therefore, the reach of this decision. It exhausted all the chances. Once — on that Friday morning early — those two men stood side by side, and Pilate asked the question, "Whether of the twain?" (Matthew 27:21). It was never possible after that to traverse the same spiritual ground of alternative again. Whoever chooses the wrong must go and fare for good or ill with the thing he has chosen. The thief becomes master, the murderer lord.

III. WE ARE READY NOW TO RECEIVE THE FULL TEACHING OF THE STORY: OUR TWO LESSONS APPEAR PLAINLY.

1. We see the wicked wrong of indecision. We are agreed that Pilate wished to let Jesus go. But when he gave Him up to the spite of His murderers, he himself "consented" and so shared the crime (Psalm 50:18). Thus he destroyed his character. Trimming, injustice, cruelty: step by step he went down, till he added a scourging which nobody demanded. "The facility with which we commit certain sins," says , "is a punishment for sins already committed." Thus he also destroyed his reputation. One man there has been whose name was put in an epistle just for a black background on which to write a name that was white (1 Timothy 6:13). The same was put in the that all Christendom might hold it in "everlasting fame" of infamy: "crucified under Pontius Pilate."

2. We see also the utter ruin of a wrong decision. Do not waste any more thought on Pilate or the Jews. Think of yourself. See life and death, blessing and cursing; choose life (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19). Do not forfeit what may be your soul's last chance.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Baxendale's Dictionary of Anecdote.
Tremellius was a Jew, from whose heart the veil had been taken away, and who had been led by the Holy Spirit to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. The Jews who had condemned our Saviour had said, "Not this man, but Barabbas;" Tremellius, when near his end, glorying in Christ alone, and renouncing whatever came in competition with Him, used very different words, "Not Barabbas, but Jesus."

(Baxendale's Dictionary of Anecdote.)

I. THIS IMPLIES A HISTORY.

II. IT RECORDS A CHOICE. The choice involves two things — first, what was repudiated; next, what was approved. Here was the repudiation of One who was absolutely faultless. Here was the repudiation by the world of One who had wrought for the world the greatest wonders of material kindness. Here was the repudiation of One who loved them, knowing their lack of love to Himself. Here was the repudiation of One who had at His command power destroy as well as to save. From what was repudiated, turn to what was approved, "Not this man, but Barabbas."

III. IT SUGGESTS A PARALLEL. If you prefer any passion or habit, any thing or man, any person or personification, to Christ, that is your Barabbas. If you prefer any treasure to Him wile is "value," that is your Barabbas. If you prefer any company to His company, any love to His love, that object of preference is your Barabbas. If you prefer any given sin to the grace that would conquer it, that sin is your Barabbas. If, though you ought to know that this sin is destructive, that the blood of souls is on it, that it is a robber, and that it still lurks in darkness to rob you of your nobility, of your peace, of your spiritual sensitiveness, of your liberty to have fellowship with the Infinite One, and still refuse to give the vile thing up to be crucified, but will rather give up Christ, that vile thing is your Barabbas. If, refusing Christ, you trust something else to be the "Jesus" of your souls, that false righteousness, false foundation, false comfort, false hope, is your "Jesus Barabbas." Of all the faculties with which God has enriched man, there is not one so mysterious in its nature and awful in its working as the choosing faculty.

(Charles Stanford, D. D.)

People
Alexander, Barabbas, Elias, Elijah, James, Jesus, Joseph, Joses, Mary, Pilate, Rufus, Salome, Simon
Places
Arimathea, Cyrene, Galilee, Golgotha, Jerusalem, Place of the Skull
Topics
Asking, Beg, Begged, Customary, Desired, Feast, Festival, Free, Jews, Pilate, Prisoner, Punishment, Release, Released, Releasing, Request, Requested, Whomsoever
Outline
1. Jesus brought bound, and accused before Pilate.
6. Upon the clamor of the people, the murderer Barabbas is released,
12. and Jesus delivered up to be crucified.
16. He is crowned with thorns, spit on, and mocked;
21. faints in bearing his cross;
27. hangs between two thieves;
29. suffers the triumphing reproaches of the crowd;
39. but is confessed by the centurion to be the Son of God;
42. and is honorably buried by Joseph.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Mark 15:6

     5286   custom

Mark 15:2-15

     5203   acquittal
     5593   trial

Mark 15:5-20

     2585   Christ, trial

Mark 15:6-7

     5461   prisoners

Mark 15:6-11

     5040   murder

Mark 15:6-14

     7505   Jews, the

Mark 15:6-15

     5349   injustice, examples
     5936   riots

Library
Simon the Cyrenian
'And they compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His Cross.'--Mark xv. 21. How little these soldiers knew that they were making this man immortal! What a strange fate that is which has befallen chose persons in the Gospel narrative, who for an instant came into contact with Jesus Christ. Like ships passing athwart the white ghostlike splendour of moonlight on the sea, they gleam silvery pure for a moment as they cross its
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ and Pilate: the True King and his Counterfeit
'And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2. And Pilate asked Him, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And He answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. 3. And the chief priests accused Him of many things: but He answered nothing. 4. And Pilate asked Him again, saying, Answerest Thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against Thee. 6. But Jesus yet
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Death which Gives Life
'And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross. 22. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. 23. And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. 24. And when they had crucified Him, they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26. And the superscription
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Dying Saviour Our Example.
(On Good Friday.) TEXT: MARK xv. 34-41. HEAVENLY Father! On all who are assembling to day to commemorate the death of the Holy One, in whom Thou wast well pleased, look graciously down! Let not one go away from the cross of Thy Well-beloved without exclaiming, with new, living faith, Truly this was the Son of God! Let not one wipe away his tears of emotion until the heartfelt desire has taken possession of him that his end may be like that of this righteous One! Let not the feeling of holy reverence
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Centurion at the Cross.
MATT. XXVII. 54. Comp. MARK XV. 39. "Now, when the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the [a] Son of God." LUKE XXIII. 47. "Now, when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying: Certainly this was a righteous man." Note.--The centurion here spoken of is the one who, according to Roman custom, presided over the execution (hence called by Seneca centurio supplicio præpositus;
Philip Schaff—The Person of Christ

Joseph of Arimathea
BY REV. ALFRED ROWLAND, D.D.. LL.B. "Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God."--MARK xv. 43. The crucifixion of our Lord produced strange and startling effects in moral experience, as well as in the physical world. The veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom as if a hand from heaven had torn it, in order to teach men that the ancient ritual was done with. Darkness covered the earth, suggesting to thoughtful minds the guilt of the world and
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known

"Himself He could not Save. " --Mark xv. 31
"Himself He could not save."--Mark xv. 31. "He saved others," scorners cried, Beholding Jesus crucified; "Is this the Son of God with power? Lo, in His own afflictive hour, Himself he cannot save." He was the Son of God with power, He "came unto that very hour;" I'll joy in His reproach and shame, "He savest others;" I'll exclaim, "Himself He could not save." His agony and bloody sweat, His cross and passion paid my debt; He saved others when he fell, Yet,--who the mystery can tell? Himself, He
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Whether Christ was Buried in a Becoming Manner?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was buried in an unbecoming manner. For His burial should be in keeping with His death. But Christ underwent a most shameful death, according to Wis. 2:20: "Let us condemn Him to a most shameful death." It seems therefore unbecoming for honorable burial to be accorded to Christ, inasmuch as He was buried by men of position---namely, by Joseph of Arimathea, who was "a noble counselor," to use Mark's expression (Mk. 15:43), and by Nicodemus, who was "a ruler of
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

H. The Crucifixion. Ch. 23:26-38
26 And when they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the
Charles R. Erdman—The Gospel of Luke, An Exposition

Pilate
"And straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate." ". . . And they lead Him out to crucify Him." MARK 15:1-20 (R.V.) WITH morning came the formal assembly, which St. Mark dismisses in a single verse. It was indeed a disgraceful mockery. Before the trial began its members had prejudged the case, passed sentence by anticipation, and abandoned Jesus, as one
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Christ Crucified
"And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear His cross. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they offered Him wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. And they crucify Him, and part His garments among them, casting lots upon them, what each should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the superscription of
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Death of Jesus
"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, He calleth Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take Him down. And Jesus
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Part 1 Christ's Humiliation, Exaltation, and Triumph. Phil. 2:8,9; Mark 15:20,24,29; Col. 2:15
Christ's humiliation, exaltation, and triumph. Phil. 2:8,9; Mark 15:20,24,29; Col. 2:15. The mighty frame of glorious grace, That brightest monument of praise That e'er the God of love designed, Employs and fills my lab'ring mind. Begin, my soul, the heav'nly song, A burden for an angel's tongue: When Gabriel sounds these awful things, He tunes and summons all his stungs. Proclaim inimitable love: Jesus, the Lord of worlds above, Puts off the beams of bright array, And veils the God in mortal
Isaac Watts—The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts

The Fourth Word
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani."--ST. MATT. XXVII. 46; ST. MARK XV. 34. There are three peculiar and distinguishing features of this fourth word which our Saviour uttered from His Cross. 1. It is the only one of the Seven which finds a place in the earliest record of our Lord's life, contained in the matter common to St. Matthew and St. Mark. 2. It is the only one which has been preserved to us in the original Aramaic, in the very syllables which were formed by the lips of Christ. 3. It is the
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

The Shortest of the Seven Cries
As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. Fathers and confessors, preachers and divines have delighted to dwell upon every syllable of these matchless cries. These solemn sentences have shone like the seven golden candlesticks or the seven stars of the Apocalypse, and have lighted multitudes of men to him who spake them. Thoughtful men have drawn a wealth of meaning from them, and in so doing have arranged
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 24: 1878

Third Stage of Jewish Trial. Jesus Formally Condemned by the Sanhedrin and Led to Pilate.
(Jerusalem. Friday After Dawn.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 1, 2; ^B Mark XV. 1; ^C Luke XXII. 66-23:1; ^D John XVIII. 28. ^a 1 Now when morning was come, ^c 66 And as soon as it was day, ^b straightway ^c the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away into their council, ^a all the chief priests and { ^b with} the elders ^a of the people ^b and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and ^a took counsel against Jesus to put
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

First Stage of the Roman Trial. Jesus Before Pilate for the First Time.
(Jerusalem. Early Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 11-14; ^B Mark XV. 2-5; ^C Luke XXIII. 2-5; ^D John XVIII. 28-38. ^d and they themselves entered not into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover. [See p. 641.] 29 Pilate therefore went out unto them, and saith, What accusation bring ye against this man? 30 They answered and said unto him, If this man were not an evildoer, we should not have delivered him up unto thee. [The Jewish rulers first attempt to induce
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Third Stage of the Roman Trial. Pilate Reluctantly Sentences Him to Crucifixion.
(Friday. Toward Sunrise.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 15-30; ^B Mark XV. 6-19; ^C Luke XXIII. 13-25; ^D John XVIII. 39-XIX 16. ^a 15 Now at the feast [the passover and unleavened bread] the governor was wont { ^b used to} release unto them ^a the multitude one prisoner, whom they would. { ^b whom they asked of him.} [No one knows when or by whom this custom was introduced, but similar customs were not unknown elsewhere, both the Greeks and Romans being wont to bestow special honor upon certain occasions by releasing
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Crucifixion.
Subdivision A. On the Way to the Cross. (Within and Without Jerusalem. Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 31-34; ^B Mark XV. 20-23; ^C Luke XXIII. 26-33; ^D John XIX. 17. ^a 31 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the ^b purple, ^a robe, and put on him his garments [This ended the mockery, which seems to have been begun in a state of levity, but which ended in gross indecency and violence. When we think of him who endured it all, we can not contemplate the scene without a shudder. Who
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Morning of Good Friday.
The pale grey light had passed into that of early morning, when the Sanhedrists once more assembled in the Palace of Caiaphas. [5969] A comparison with the terms in which they who had formed the gathering of the previous night are described will convey the impression, that the number of those present was now increased, and that they who now came belonged to the wisest and most influential of the Council. It is not unreasonable to suppose, that some who would not take part in deliberations which were
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Crucified, Dead, and Buried. '
It matters little as regards their guilt, whether, pressing the language of St. John, [6034] we are to understand that Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews to be crucified, or, as we rather infer, to his own soldiers. This was the common practice, and it accords both with the Governor's former taunt to the Jews, [6035] and with the after-notice of the Synoptists. They, to whom He was delivered,' led Him away to be crucified:' and they who so led Him forth compelled' the Cyrenian Simon to bear the Cross.
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Death of Jesus.
Although the real motive for the death of Jesus was entirely religious, his enemies had succeeded, in the judgment-hall, in representing him as guilty of treason against the state; they could not have obtained from the sceptical Pilate a condemnation simply on the ground of heterodoxy. Consistently with this idea, the priests demanded, through the people, the crucifixion of Jesus. This punishment was not Jewish in its origin; if the condemnation of Jesus had been purely Mosaic, he would have been
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

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