312
Had Jesus been tried, convicted and executed by the Jews would he have been crucified?
He would not. Crucifixion was a mode of punishment never employed by the Jews. Had the Jews executed him he would have been stoned.
It is impliedly stated in the Synoptics, and expressly stated in John, that the Sanhedrim’s jurisdiction over capital crimes had ceased. “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death” ([xviii, 31]). The Sanhedrim’s authority ceased in 30 A. D., and it is generally claimed by Christians that the crucifixion occurred from one to five years after this time.
313
What does Peter say in regard to the mode of punishment employed in his execution?
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree” ([Acts v, 30]).
“And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom ye slew and hanged on a tree” ([x, 39]).
Concerning this, Mrs. Evans says: “With regard to his death, it was said that the Jews slew him and hanged him on a tree; and again that he was taken down from the tree; expressions which do not imply crucifixion, but rather the legal execution for such crimes as the one alleged, that is, stoning to death and the exposure of the dead body upon a stake, or a tree” (Christ Myth, p. 79).