Kyle Davison Bair
3 min readMar 4, 2024

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Hello Sheng-Ta Tsai, thanks again for responding.

You said:

Actually, it's not. Sanhedrin described that the authorities sent a herald to call for witnesses who could show Jesus was innocent. They waited 40 days before proceeding to execution. Nothing of this sort is described in the Gospels.

Actually, it is.

Jesus is a wanted "criminal" the last six months of His life. His disciples don't want to go back to Lazarus when he's sick because they fear being put to death along with Jesus, if the authorities arrest them.

It's right here:

John 11:53–57

[53] So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

[54] Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

[55] Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. [56] They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” [57] Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him. (ESV)

How do you give orders to arrest Jesus on sight?

You send heralds to announce the person as a criminal.

It's clear the public knew of Jesus' status as a wanted man, since they were wondering openly whether or not He would appear. Such public knowledge indicates a public announcement of Jesus' status as a wanted man, which was most often announced by herald.

You said:

The method of execution, as described in Sanhedrin, was stoning to death, and they hanged him after his death.

Correct, that the prescribed method was stoning.

And yet the first words of Sanhedrin 43a state that Jesus died by being hung -- that is, hung on a tree: Crucifixion.

It does not say that Jesus died by stoning, and was hung afterwards.

The first and last lines confirm that Jesus was hung on a Cross. It never says He was stoned. The herald announces that Jesus will be led out to be stoned, if convicted -- yet twice it says He was hung, not stoned.

This matches perfectly with the Gospel's accounts.

The Sanhedrin didn't realize how popular Jesus would be when He entered the city in the Triumphal Entry. The entire city went out to greet Him. In such a setting, they couldn't stone Him without risking a riot.

That's why they get the Romans involved. They need the guarantee of a Roman death, so that if a riot forms, it's not their fault, and the Roman soldiers will be able to put it down.

You said:

This sorcerer also had five disciples who were also executed.

Read the two sections back to back. Compare them.

The section on Jesus reads like a simple recitation of facts. There is no poetic order, no repetition, no structure of any kind. Simply a statement of facts.

But as soon as it starts talking about the five disciples, it shifts into poetic. It uses overt repetition, almost to the point of copying and pasting the names of the disciples. Such a shift in tone and structure indicates a clear break in the text, and a different intent behind each section.

You said:

You actually put these details in your article. You know these events are not in the Gospels. How then could you say that every single detail matches the Gospels?

It seems you have a propensity to exaggeration.

I put them in my article because they are entirely true, without a hint of exaggeration.

Jesus was publicly known as a wanted criminal, indicating a public herald.

Sanhedrin 43a states twice that Jesus was hung -- a Roman death on a Cross. It never says He was stoned.

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Kyle Davison Bair
Kyle Davison Bair

Written by Kyle Davison Bair

Every honest question leads to God — as long as you follow it all the way to the answer. New books and articles published regularly at pastorkyle.substack.com

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