lsayre wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 3:27 pmDid (as Bart Ehrman suggests) Judas spill the beans to the Roman authorities? If not, then why did Pontius Pilot ask Jesus if he was the King of the Jews?
no, no. I am starting here from the premise that the Earliest Gospel is the following:
Pilate ask: are you the king of the Jews?
Jesus replies: you say.
Pilate crucified Jesus.
(Only that.
Nothing about Judas or the sinedrites behind Pilate. Jesus is simply arrested by Roman soldiers and moved before Pilate).
If Pilate is innocent, then the true answer of Jesus is:
You say, I don't.
Hence who has deceived Pilate to believe that Jesus is the king of the Jews can't be Satan, because Satan is the traditional enemy of the god of the Jews (and of the his Messiah), therefore he can't be the enemy of one who is
not the king of the Jews.
The conclusion is that
if Pilate is innocent, then the his instigator against Jesus (by the false accusation that Jesus is the king of the Jews) can only be the same god of the Jews.
Otherwise,
if Pilate is intrinsically evil, then the his instigator against Jesus is possessing directly the his heart. This instigator is surely Satan and the sense is:
Pilate ask: are you the king of the Jews?
Jesus replies: you say, and I confirm: I am the king of the Jews.
Pilate crucified Jesus.