JSNT 29.4 (2007) 379-413 Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore) http://JSNT.sagepub.com DOI: 0142064X07078990 The Madness of King Jesus: Why was Jesus Put to Death, but his Followers were not? Justin J. Meggitt Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge Madingley Hall, Madingley, Cambridge, CB3 8AQ jjm1000@cam.ac.uk Abstract To argue that Jesus of Nazareth was put to death by the Roman authorities because they believed him to be a royal pretender of some kind, fails to explain satisfactorily why he was killed but his followers were not. A possible solution to this conundrum, which is supported by neglected contextual data, is that the Romans thought Jesus of Nazareth to be a deranged and deluded lunatic. Key Words Jesus, death, madness, king Stating the Conundrum ‘They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they out voted me’. Nathaniel Lee. 1 That Jesus of Nazareth was put to death by the Romans on a cross is one of those rare pieces of biographical data that is almost entirely uncontested. It is, of course, multiply attested in the earliest Christian and non-Christian sources 2 and it was not doubted by any of the critics of the new religion. 3 Crucifixion was an ignoble and unappealing end, and one that it is hard to imagine anyone in the early church would have wanted to fabricate about 1. Nathaniel Lee was a seventeenth-century dramatist who spent a number of years confined in Bedlam (Porter 1987: 3). The earliest play he had performed was entitled Nero. 2. Josephus, Ant. 18.63; Tacitus, Annals 15.44. 3. Traditions that Jesus was stoned to death by fellow Jews and then hung (b. Sanh. 43a) are late and probably reflect subsequent anti-Christian polemic in which Jesus was accused of having been a false prophet (Deut. 13.1-11; see also Deut. 21.21-22, m. Sanh. 6.4; Toledoth Jeshu). at SAGE Publications on December 7, 2012 jnt.sagepub.com Downloaded from