01-22-2012, 08:04 PM
GJC: John 19:21 says, "And so the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews', but that He said, 'I am King of the Jews'" (NASB)
It seems likely that a centurion or some other officer, and more than just a few soldiers were present during all executions. Capital punishment was (and is) serious business, after all, and carried a significant gravitas beyond the victim's personal experience. The State would have been well represented, and the order came de facto from Caesar himself, as the one sentencing was acting in his stead.
As said previously, there would have been some concern that Jesus' disciples would rise up and try to protect Him from the death sentence's being carried out. That was the concern of the Jewish leaders, and the Romans, of course, were all about keeping order. They had plenty of soldiers with not much to do, so obviously they'd march them out when it seemed like they ought to. There had been others who claimed to be Messiah, as "everyone knew", but nothing apparently had received the same attention as Jesus of Nazareth. So the Romans would probably have been cautious about possible uprising.
Clearly (to me), the video presented below and the Julius Caesar "connection" is spurious.
But we need to be careful that this thread doesn't degenerate into an argument about the validity of Christianity. As long as we can keep on topic, we should be able to continue the discussion.
It seems likely that a centurion or some other officer, and more than just a few soldiers were present during all executions. Capital punishment was (and is) serious business, after all, and carried a significant gravitas beyond the victim's personal experience. The State would have been well represented, and the order came de facto from Caesar himself, as the one sentencing was acting in his stead.
As said previously, there would have been some concern that Jesus' disciples would rise up and try to protect Him from the death sentence's being carried out. That was the concern of the Jewish leaders, and the Romans, of course, were all about keeping order. They had plenty of soldiers with not much to do, so obviously they'd march them out when it seemed like they ought to. There had been others who claimed to be Messiah, as "everyone knew", but nothing apparently had received the same attention as Jesus of Nazareth. So the Romans would probably have been cautious about possible uprising.
Clearly (to me), the video presented below and the Julius Caesar "connection" is spurious.
But we need to be careful that this thread doesn't degenerate into an argument about the validity of Christianity. As long as we can keep on topic, we should be able to continue the discussion.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
