That Jesus was crucified for opposing the payment of Caesar's tax is a minor premise in my book, JESUS OF NAZARETH, ILLEGAL-TAX PROTESTER, which is available without charge from the website, http://www.jesus-on-taxes.com. (The two major premises are 1)Jesus did not endorse taxation or the State, as most orthodox exegetes contend; and, 2) The principles Jesus espoused are diametrically opposed to taxation and the State.)

If you believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, you will not agree with my minor premise. If you are like some fundamentalists I have heard from, my audacity in questioning the canonical Gospel version of the trial of Jesus will probably induce you to condemn me to Hell's fires for all eternity. But if like a juror you can approach the issue without prejudice, you might find the evidence persuasive beyond reasonable doubt that Pilate was guilty of killing Jesus because of their conflicting views on taxation.

Briefly here is the prosecution's case against Pilate. In addition to being governor, Pilate was procurator of Judea and thereby responsible for the collection of Roman taxes within his jurisdiction. He was accountable to Rome for tax revenues. Jesus was accused of sedition for "opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar." (LK 23:1). Only a few days earlier and in the presence of witness friendly to Rome, Jesus had denounced Caesar's tax as unjust. (See my essay to understand that when he said "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," Jesus meant just what he said. In other words, if you have something that belongs to Caesar, give it to him, otherwise, you owe him nothing! And since none of his listeners possessed anything belonging to Caesas, his words, in answer to the question, Should we pay the tax? clearly was, "No do not pay it!"

Now whether Caesar believed that Jesus had been preaching tax resistance as his accusers charged, he would have convicted Jesus for two reasons: 1) He simply couldn't risk the possibility that he was, and there was no risk to Pilate in killing Jesus. 2) If he asked Jesus whether or not Jesus had said what his accusers charged, Jesus would not have denied the truth.

Pilate had Jesus flogged and crucified. At that time, these combined forms of punishment were generally reserved for individuals who posed a threat to the empire. They were designed to make others think twice before repeating the perpetrators' crimes.

So, there in a nutshell you have it. I would be grateful to hear what others among you think?