Who was the ruler of Jewish society at the time of Jesus?

Answer 1

In 63 BC the Roman army led by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, took control of Judea and Jerusalem. This began the era of Roman rule over the Jews of Palestine. Roman policy of the time was one of paternal conciliation over its provinces and territories and was inclined to allow self government over certain subjects of Roman territories and acknowledged Herod the Great as a the king of the Jews in Palestine. Herod I was a shrewd politician and like the Romans he acknowledged the Sanhedrin as the high court amongst the Jews and self government was somewhat trickled down from Emperors of Rome to procurators who granted Kings and Queens certain authority to rule, who in turn granted certain authorities to the local rabbis and Talmudic scholars.

At the time that Jesus was born the great republic of Rome had disintegrated into the era of emperors that followed. Pompey was assassinated during Caesars civil war and Caesar declared himself Emperor of Rome and ruled until his own assassination and was followed by Octavian who ascended as the first official emperor of Rome and became known as Caesar Augustus and upon his death in 14 AD he was succeeded by Tiberius who ruled as Emperor at the time of Jesus death. Herod the great had been dead for ten years when Octavian ascended to power and his rule was divided amongst his sons, Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Herod Philip II. All three sons took power on 4 AD but by 6 AD Rome had removed the cruel and murderous Archelaus leaving Antipas and Philip II as the two remaining tetrarchs of Judea.

"A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return...But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, "we do not want this man to reign over us"..."

Luke 19:12, 14

Herod Antipas is the Herod who faced Jesus upon his arrest. It was the Procurator Pontius Pilate who had handed Jesus to Herod Antipas but like the political hot potato Jesus was Antipas threw him right back at Pilate. Jesus was a political hot potato because of his politics, because of his lineage. Herod the Great or Herod I was elected as "king of the Jews" by a Roman senate and many Jews did not consider Herod to be a real Jew. It was because of the Maccabean John Hyrcanus who conquered Idumea somewhere between 130 and 140 BC and Hyrcanus had required all Idumeans to obey Jewish law or leave, thus Herod was the descendant of those who converted to Judaism in order to remain in Idumea.

The most important threat that Jesus posed to the Romans, Antipas and the Sanhedrin was that he actually possessed the lineage that gave him a legitimate right to the throne of Israel. He possessed royal lineage from both his adopted father Joseph and his mother Mary. Both descend from the house of David and Jesus was undeniably of the Davidic line and gave him a legitimate right to the throne. What made this even more difficult for the Romans, Antipas and the Sanhedrin was that unlike other would be king of the Jews, such as Judas of Gamalee who years earlier had led a revolt against Rome in an attempt to seize the throne, Jesus opted for diplomacy and a message of peace. Judas of Gamalee was easily quelled, Jesus Christ was a different matter.

While Jesus had a legitimate right to the throne of Israel under Jewish law, his message was less that of a monarch and more one of a priest or rabbi. He was a teacher and what he sought to instruct the Jews, what he seeks to instruct us all is that if there is any ruler at all, it is God. What Jesus preached was a message of self government where each of us as individuals was commanded to take responsibility for our actions and to take responsibility for those around us. When Jesus instructs to lend aid to the poor, he does not rebuke the governments for not doing more, he demands that we as individuals take up this responsibility. When Jesus commands we lend aid to the sick he does not rebuke governments for their lack of a universal health care policy, he instructs us to take up this responsibility for ourselves and for those around us. He preached a powerful message of personal freedom and of spiritual surrender to God. This made the Romans, Antipas and the Pharisees very nervous.

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is the event where Jesus declares himself king of the Jews and his choice to ride upon an ass while next to a horse was significant in his gesture of peace he extended towards the Romans, Antipas and the Sanhedrin. The horse was a beast of war and was ridden for that purpose. The ass was a beast of burden and ridden for more domestic pursuits. By entering Jerusalem upon an ass right beside a riderless beast of war he was undeniably announcing his peaceful intent as rightful King of the Jews. What to do, what to do, what to do with such a shrewd politician as this Jesus Christ king of the Jews. The machinations set forth by Romans, Antipas and Caiphus and Annus makes Machiavelli look like Gandhi, and everyone spent their days looking for some legal way to arrest this revolutionary known as Jesus Christ. Finally, after securing a sworn testimony from the traitor Judas Iscariot Jesus was arrested and crucified as a political revolutionary.

That Jesus was thoroughly unimpressed with the Caesars is evident in his remark to render unto Caesar what is Caesars and to render unto God what is God's. That more and more Jews became unimpressed by Caesars and Roman Emperors culminated into the Great Jewish Revolt where the siege of Massada was made famous. From the time of Jesus death until now the Jews have made a steady progress towards self government as have many Christians and even Muslims. Who was the ruler of Jews when Jesus Christ died? The same ruler who ruled while Jesus lived, God. This was the message of Jesus Christ and more important than his life and death it is the message that matters, it is what he taught us that counts.

Answer 2

Augustus was emperor of Rome, but Judea and Galilee (as well as Samaria, Idumea and Petrea) were nominally independent, under the rule of King Herod. Roman laws and taxes did not apply to the inhabitants of these territories, so the relevant ruler would be King Herod the Great.

Answer 3

The high priest was caiphas.

Answer 4

Herod