The crucifixion of Jesus was legally performed. Jesus was tried, convicted, and punished by death according to strict Roman law. His crime was political. The proclaiming of himself as King of the Jews branded him as a dangerous proponent of treason and sedition. Herod, the Roman puppet governor of the region, was the only king in Jerusalem. But as a country under strict Roman occupation and rule, Caesar was the divine head of the state.

Yet Roman law wasn't the only law under which Jesus could have been tried, convicted, and punished by death. Though the Sanhedrin, the Jewish legal authority, chose to let the Roman courts handle Jesus' case, they were within their rights to pronounce their own death sentence on Jesus for numerous grievous infractions. High on the list of Jesus crimes were h…