Jesus' Alternatives To Crucifixion

A man has to choose when he faces an adversary.  His could stand his ground and be martyred, but his instinct is to fight, or take flight if he thinks he would be beaten.  He could step back for the time being and become a political community organizer, drum up support and confront the opposition at a later date.  He could propose a compromise, if the opposition is willing to negotiate.  Or he could turn the other cheek.

Jesus was no ordinary man.  He was both man and God, separate from God and simultaneously part of God.  So what did Jesus do when His adversaries confronted Him?

Jesus stood His ground.  Before He was betrayed by Judas, He could have fled because He foresaw the betrayal. [1]  Yet, He let it happen.  Before He was scourged, He could have defended Himself and said no to Pontius Pilate who asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews. [2], [3]  If Jesus said no, then I do not believe there is a case against Him and therefore Pontius Pilate would have to free him.  As the trial unfolded, Jesus never answered the question.  His reply was: "You have said so." [4]  Then He said no more.

Jesus stood His ground but was not  a martyr.  Dictionary.com defines martyr as "a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion."  The reason Jesus was not a martyr is because Jesus did not  have a religion which dictionary.com defines as "a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects" and Jesus did not have a set of beliefs because Jesus knew the Truth.  When one knows the absolute truth, there is no need to believe.  One has the need to believe when one is uncertain and one needs to have faith in Jesus when one has not seen the resurrected Christ and felt His wounds.

Jesus did not fight or take flight.  Jesus did not attempt to escape from or fight off the soldiers who came to arrest Him.  In fact, he healed the ear of one soldier whose ear was cut off by one of the disciples. [5]

Jesus did not compromise.  Whether Jesus' enemies and oppressors were ready to negotiate a compromise is irrelevant.  The Truth requires no compromise.  Jesus is the Path of Truth and He laid Himself down for all to walk upon, so that those who are on His path would be led Christ Himself and God in Heaven.

Jesus was definitely not  a political community organizer.  Satan was the first political community organizer.  It gathered Eve and Adam together and encouraged them to eat the forbidden Apple in the Garden of Eden in order that they would be powerful, like God.  Satan wanted our first parents to have desire for power and they fell for it.  Although Jesus had His group of twelve disciples, He did not organize them into a community to gain political power to rule over the people.  Indeed, He was the messenger of God Who taught them lessons that separated the Kingdom of Heaven from politics: "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s." [6]  He called on his disciples to follow Him freely and to give of themselves to each other and to all in humility. [7]  Political community organizers are not about living in humility but in envy and vengeance.  Jesus lived in love - unconditional love.  He could have organized his followers to overwhelm the group who cheered for the release of Barabbas but He did not.  Barabbas was in prison because he took part in an uprising [8] - perhaps as a community organizer of that uprising.  The reason Jesus did not wish to be released in place of Barabbas because He came to die for all of our sins and Barabbas' sins were no exception.

Jesus turned the other cheek.  Jesus did not literally turn the other cheek, but He by His actions and words (the few He said) demonstrated as much.  First, He did not scold Judas but allowed him to complete his betrayal. [9]  Second, He did not stand up to His accusers and argue His case at trial before Pontius Pilate. [10]  Finally, he forgave His cruifiers: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." [11]





[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22%3A21&version=NIV
[2] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+15
[3] I would think that a "no" answer is the Truth because Jesus is part of God and God rules over the entire Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven is not monoethnic where only Jews can be found and only Jews can do the will of God and can enter.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."  See http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt+7:21,
[4] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+15%3A2&version=NIV
[5] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+22%3A47-51&version=NIV
[6] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012:17
[7] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13:12-17
[8] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2018:40
[9] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22%3A21-22&version=NIV  Even though Jesus said, "But woe to that man who betrays him [the Son of Man]," it does not mean that Jesus was unforgiving and vengeful.  Jesus was simply stating the truth that woe would come to Judas because Jesus could do nothing to save Judas.  Judas by his Free will made his final rejection of the Son of God and therefore God the Father as well.  Judas' woe that Jesus was referring to was an eternity in Hell.
[10] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+15%3A1-5&version=NIV
[11] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+23%3A32-34&version=NIV