That is why it is important to prove Jesus died and was resurrected. This makes Christianity unique among all religions. The death and resurrection of Jesus.
Having established the case for the Historical Jesus. The question on everyone’s mind has to be why and how did the Historical Jesus die?
Jesus was crucified and he resurrected in three days just as he had predicted.
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
Let us read “the words of Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian:
Let him that blasphemes God (Greek blasphēmēsas theon) be stoned, then hung for a day, and buried ignominiously and in obscurity. (Josephus, Antiquities, 4.202)20
In other words, when it comes to a case of blasphemy against God himself, execution alone is not enough. The offense requires crucifixion—being “hung” so that all can see the shame of the one who has dared to blaspheme God. Although under Rome it was not “lawful” for the Jewish leaders to put Jesus to death by stoning (John 18:31), they can still hand him over to be “hung” on a tree by the Romans. And that is what they do.”
In “Both the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John testify to previous incidents when Jesus is accused of blasphemy during his public ministry:
And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” (Matthew 9:3)
Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:6-7)
[Jesus said:] “I and the Father are one.” The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We stone you for no good work but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:30-33)
These other charges of blasphemy are consistently ignored by those who claim that Jesus was condemned to death for speaking against the Temple.21 The reason: this evidence poses great difficulties for those who contend that Jesus never claimed to be God. And that is one reason why such an idea fails as a historical explanation. In order to work, it has to ignore “or dismiss key pieces of evidence.22 According to the Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth was accused of and, ultimately, condemned for blasphemy because of who he claimed to be.
By the way, the evidence that Jesus was condemned for blasphemy isn’t just in the Synoptic Gospels; it’s also in the Gospel of John.23 Although John’s Gospel does not contain an account of Jesus’s proclamation before Caiaphas, it does report that the chief priests and scribes publically accused Jesus of blasphemy on the day of his crucifixion:
So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” “Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he has made himself the Son of God.” (John 19:5-7)
What is this law to which the chief priest and scribes are referring? It is the biblical law against blasphemy: “He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death” (Leviticus 24:16).24 Thus, both the Synoptics and the Gospel of John agree that it is the charge of blasphemy that lands Jesus on the cross.
The evidence presented here suggests that the now popular idea that Jesus never claimed to be anything more than an ordinary human being totally fails to deal with the actual historical evidence. Jesus’s words and actions regarding the Temple might have got him hauled into the Jewish court, but it was what he said about himself that got him crucified.”