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Killing the Messiah: The Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth

Killing the Messiah: The Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth

Author: Nathanael J. Andrade
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
ISBN: 9780197752487
Published In: June 2025
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Long ago, on a spring morning in Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate passed judgement on a mysterious preacher. Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a cross shortly after and died in agony. The effects of this verdict have reverberated throughout the world and have shaped two millennia of history. Even so, the trial remains shrouded in mystery to this day.

The New Testament Gospels are unclear about what charges Pontius Pilate judged. They portray Pilate as embracing Jesus' innocence despite having him killed. We are left with more questions than answers. Why did Pontius Pilate condemn a man he believed innocent? What was Jesus' crime? How should we understand Pilate's role in Jesus' execution? Killing the Messiah addresses these questions and analyzes Pilate's path to crucifying Jesus. It determines why and how Pilate deemed Jesus guilty of criminal behavior and the roles played by various people in ensuring Jesus' crucifixion. It also probes how the personal motivations and social obligations of Pilate and other authorities affected how they assessed Jesus' criminality. To do this, it situates Jesus' trial within the geo-political context of the Roman Middle East.

In the decades before Jesus' lifetime, and throughout the centuries that followed, Roman courts determined the outcomes of millions of trials throughout the region. Jesus' trial took place in the same basic legal apparatus as all of these. By approaching the arrest, trial, and sentencing of Jesus from the perspective of Roman and legal history, this book sheds fresh light on the most famous conviction in world history.

Acknowledgments

Chronology of Jesus' Judaea

Introduction: Pilate's Path to Crucifixion

Part I: Politics and People

1. Places, Peoples, Empire

2. The Governing Order

3. Dissenters

Part II: Jesus of Nazareth and the Gospels

4. The New Testament Gospels and Jesus

5. Jesus, Herod Antipas, and Galilee

Part III: Arresting Jesus

6. Jesus, the Temple, and the Chief Priests