@chaney3 said
It has never really been crystal clear to me what Jesus was actually charged with, and what the crime was that brought about His crucifixion.
Pilate found Him not guilty.
The thief on the cross said "this man did nothing wrong".
Blasphemy? Claiming to be God?
Forgiving sins?
In today's society, blasphemy isn't really a crime, especially one worthy of death.
Yes, I've read the accounts in the Bible, but it's still a bit unclear, to me, what the actual crime was.
In his hearing before the Sanhedrin he was accused of:
1 violating the Sabbath law (by healing on the Sabbath)
2 threatening to destroy the Jewish Temple
3 sorcery, exorcising people by the power of demons
4 claiming to be the Messiah.
They then took Jesus to Pontius Pilate, and ask that he be tried for claiming to be the King of the Jews. After questioning Jesus Pilate could find no crime to execute him for, but realised he was a Galilean and could be tried under Herod’s jurisdiction, so he passed the buck to Herod.
Herod had previously had John the Baptised executed at the behest of his sister who had gotten her daughter to dance provocatively. Herod was curious about these religious men and questioned Jesus who said nothing. Herod has him flogged and sent back to Pilate.
Pilate is probably getting the hump by now and calls the Jewish leaders in for a chat, he says:
"I having examined him before you, found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: no, nor yet Herod: for he sent him back unto us; and behold, nothing worthy of death hath been done by him."
There are further talks and eventually Pilate agrees under pressure from the Sanhedrin to have Jesus crucified.
The Romans were very clear in their laws about what was an executable offence and what wasn’t, so it seems that the charge against Jesus was trumped up and manipulated in order to satisfy the Sanhedrin’s desire to end him.
As FMF says it was probably documented as a Roman version of sedition.