The Royal Claim of Jesus the Galilean. On the Historicity of a Motif in the Gospel Narratives

In the Gospel narratives of Jesus’ hearing before Pilate, the phrase «king of the Jews» recurs repeatedly, and according to those accounts an inscription bearing that title is attached to the cross. This opens up the possibility that Jesus was able to advance a royal claim, similar to that harbored by other Jewish leaders under Roman rule. Nevertheless, it is a widespread contention in scholarly circles that Jesus never did claim kingly rule (or that he laid claim to kingship just in a non-political sense).The present article surveys the available Gospel evidence, applies several criteria of authenticity, and examines the alleged counter-evidence from the Fourth Gospel, thereby concluding that the hypothesis that the Galilean preacher made royal claims is not only historically plausible, but also very likely