The reference to a king of the Jews who was a great wise man/philosopher and who was killed is more likely than not a reference to Jesus of Nazareth.  If we ask a Greek/pagan philosopher in the late first century or early second century, what “king” they are aware of who had wide influence and who was killed, there is no more likely candidate than Jesus of Nazareth.  It is hard to think of a good second choice.  Surely, everyone at that time was at least peripherally aware of the way that Jesus died, and I cannot personally think of a better candidate for Mara bar Serapion to be referring to.  David?  No, he was not killed.  Hezekiah?  He died in battle.  Zedekiah?  He was killed, but not by the Jews.  Would bar Serapion know of him?  I doubt it.

So, it is quite likely that this is a late first century or early second century reference to the death of Jesus.  I would make an even stronger statement.   I believe that this is a reference to Jesus.  But, this is somewhat weak evidence.  It is a nice additional fact for believers to keep in their minds, but it is not sufficiently certain that this is a reference to Jesus for us to use it as a primary evidence for the life and death of Jesus.  Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius and others, as well as Luke, Matthew, John, Paul and Peter are better support for the life and death of Jesus.  Speaking for myself, when I mention non-Christian witnesses to the life of Jesus, I do not use Mara bar Serapion because it will give my opponents reason to undercut my list.  I prefer to use more definite examples.

For people who say that “Mara bar Serapion is not referring to Jesus, but to another king,” I would not engage in an argument.  However, I would ask them how and why they are so sure it is not Jesus.  What is their proposed Jewish king that Greeks would likely be aware of, who was considered a great philosopher, and who was killed?  I seriously doubt they can come up with an alternative.  Not one, which proves that the one who is saying this is really just throwing out rhetoric, and is making a highly biased statement, made more for rhetorical purposes rather than based on a reasoned analysis of the statement by bar Serapion.  This person is probably being disingenuous, but, like I said, I would not stake too much on bar Serapion.

John Oakes