temple leadership together with the Roman authorities. A Messiah should not hang on a cross, accursed by God and men. Therefore some of those passing by the cross of Jesus mocked “He is the King of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross!” The one who was crucified and cursed could not have been the Messiah. Peter knows this paradox when he boldly tells the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council, that “the God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on the tree” (Acts