Yes, Christ claimed (and is) the King of the Jews but...
The Jews at the time were looking for someone to release them from the rule or Rome, Christ was not the fighter they expected.
Given that, the leaders at the time did not want any more wrath to be poured upon them then they already were receiving.
Looking at (since I am not a historian, what I believe) the uprisings later in the century, although there was some support, not an overwelming support for those either, leading me to believe that the Jewish leaders then were afraid to relinquish or even gamble upon escape from Rome.
Censorship? I would not call it that, I think it was much more, just looking out for #1
Flame away... Sometimes the combination of the history channel and books has a negative effect!
You're almost right on target with what you said. The one part that I would disagree with is the statement that there must not have been a lot of popular support for a rebellion against Rome.
There was plenty of support, but the Romans were ruthless in killing anyone who showed any sign of resistance. By that means they made it impossible for the Jews to organize into a single army. It always ended up being a smaller group of determined but poorly trained, poorly equipped fighters against the fiercest army in the world.
There were undoubtedly multiple reasons for the course taken by the Jewish leaders. One was that it was better for the masses of people that Rome not be given cause to attack them. That became evident in 70 CE (AD) when a rebellion by the Jews led to the complete destruction of Jerusalem.
But one also needs to consider that Rome left a large amount of power, prestige, and wealth to be enjoyed by King Herod, the High Priest, and those who were around them—as long as they kept the masses quiet. Power is as addictive as any drug, so the leaders weren't about to give that up.
Was it not King Herod who washed his hands
of the death of Jesus ?
My understanding is that King Herod wanted to
set Jesus free, but the High Priests threatened
to report to Rome, that Jesus was telling people
that he was King of the Jews, thereby getting
Herod in hot water with Rome. So Herod gave in
and ordered the death of Jesus.
Perhaps you are right, maybe it was not death by
censorship, but it was at least very close to it.
You are confusing King Herod (Jewish) with the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate.
I guess you could call the whole thing censorship if, by that term, you mean the sort of thing that Hitler, Stalin, and Saddam Hussein did to people who wrote and said things that they didn't agree with. However, those activities are more commonly referred to as murder, torture, etc.
What most people mean when they speak of censorship is the simple inability to print or broadcast a viewpoint. When someone disappears forever, or is maimed for life, because they expressed an opinion, most of us would apply a different term than censorship.
One of the other responders also pointed out something important in understanding the crucifixion of Jesus. It wasn't just his teachings that got him crucified. He combined his teaching with symbolic actions that directly challenged the authority of those in charge. In other words Jesus was a demonstrator who so captured public attention that it became impossible for the authorities to ignore him. This was not an accident; he did it deliberately.
It is because of this that I don't think it appropriate to speak of him being crucified as though it was something unavoidable that was done to him. He could easily have avoided it had he chosen to do so. All that he needed to do was to teach more quietly and omit the demonstrations.
And—before others pile on with exclamations that the crucifixion was necessary for Jesus to accomplish his mission—please note that here I am speaking in human historical terms, not from a theological point of view.
Do you think it is correct to say that Jesus
sucessfully "tricked" Satan into having him
crucified so that he could rise up from Hell ?
Or did Satan know what God's plan was ?
I don't think I can answer your second question. I'm not sure how we can know what Satan knew. The most we could do would be to speculate.
But the Biblical record seems clear that Jesus was not reacting to someone else's agenda, whether it was the Greeks, the Jews, or Satan. He was following his own agenda, and they were reacting to him. He was in charge of what happened.
This is true whether you take the natural perspective or the supernatural perspective. From the human point of view all he had to do to be left alone was to quietly go about his teaching without the demonstrations—throwing the money changers out of the temple, walking into the city like everyone else instead of riding on a donkey (a bold claim to be the Messiah). From the superhuman point of view, he could have called down armies of angels to defend him.
It is obvious from the Gospels that Jesus had determined that his mission required that he be crucified, and he created the circumstances in which the authorities had no choice but to deal with him or leave town.
God sent Jesus to Earth with a plan to let
Satan think he could defeat God and win all
the souls of mankind. But Jesus sucker-punched
him out by thinking so many moves ahead Satan
never even saw it coming.
No, they were not concerned with "censorship" as we do today. I don't think people really understand censorship today, let alone then. Today we have no idea what they went through then. People get bent out of shape because of "censorship" today, such as me deleting garbage off this forum is considered as "censorship". No, I consider that as cleaning up my house. After all, I am the owner of this forum. Even then, I am at the mercy of the owner of the Forum board that created this website. So they have some say in it too.
I think censorship had very little to do with it.
In fact, Jesus helped promote his own death by deliberately attracting too much attention. He walked into Jerusalem and got a donkey, they put him on and started hollering out, the King of the Jews and started the procession.
Next, he went to the Temple and started to over throw the tables. It didn't take long for the next scene. They were already plotting to kill him, NOT because of censorship, but because he claimed he was God: "I and the Father are one." "No one can come to the Father except through me", "Before Abraham was, I AM", etc. And for "breaking" the Sabbath by doing good (healing). It's apparently OK to plot to kill him on the Sabbath day, but not heal someone.
Also was already mentioned, he was not the messiah the people were looking for.
Re:
"No, they were not concerned with "censorship" as we do today. I don't
think people really understand censorship today, let alone then. Today
we have no idea what they went through then. People get bent out of
shape because of "censorship" today, such as me deleting garbage off
this forum is considered as "censorship". No, I consider that as cleaning
up my house. After all, I am the owner of this forum. Even then, I am at
the mercy of the owner of the Forum board that created this website. So
they have some say in it too."
As owner of the board you have a right to clean
your house the way you see fit, but when the Gov.
does it for you, the Gov. becomes dangerous to all.
So to does network54, which is why I do not signup for
one of their boards. Someone might say "potatos" on it,
and someone else at network54 might take offense from
the word "potatos".
Diferent things are offensive to different people.
