Jesus was executed by the Roman Empire when He became a KOL or guru too popular. Mind you: Israel was a colony ruled by the Roman Empire in a manner almost as high-handed as how Hong Kong has been treated by China after 1997. Worse still, in cleansing the Temple and freeing the animals inside, Jesus offended the major stakeholders, i.e., the chief priests and scribes, who then falsely accused Him of blasphemy and inciting insurrection against the Roman authorities.
Riding on a donkey, Jesus entered Jerusalem in a high profile and was greeted by tens of thousands of fans (Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, John 12:12–19). The Romans couldn't care less about internal stifles amongst different Jewish sects. But their alarm bell would ring whenever any particular Jew not directly under State control became significantly influential. Such an individual would be seen as a threat to the authority and social order of the Empire (Aslan 2013, Gerd and Merz 1998, Schiavone 2017, Horsley 2014, Chau 2024).
Analogously, as soon as the paid membership Jazz Section of Communist Czechoslovakia reached 5000 in the 1980s, this music group was cracked down upon and many of their members arrested (Kaufman 1987). Likewise, in Communist China, any spiritual gatherings with more than 50 participants will be troubled by the authorities (cf. Chau 2024).
Equally importantly, Jesus was envied by the chief priests like Caiaphas and the Jewish King Herod Antipas, who, as puppets of the Roman Empire, controlled and exploited the colonized Jews. They feared their privileged power over the Jews would be compromised by the charismatic Jesus. James the Just, Jesus' natural brother, was also stoned to death by the High Priest Ananias in 62 AD for being 'the Zaddik' (righteous spiritual leader) of the Opposition Alliance in Jerusalem (Eisenman 2012:73).
The last but ever more crucial event that sealed Jesus' fate was His cleansing of the Holy Temple. In emptying the Temple of animals about to be slaughtered for sacrifice, and in calling the Temple-turned-butcher-shop "a den of thieves"(Mark 11:16, Luke 20:46, Matthew 21:12-13 KJV), debunked the business fraud of animal sacrifice and disrupted the chief priests' and scribes' lucrative revenue stream (Akers 2000: 117-119; Chen 2024), who immediately afterwards conspired to destroy Him (Mark 11:15-18). They framed Him up for being the King of Jews (Mark 27:11, Luke 27:3, John 18:33-37, Matt. 27:11) , which implies that He was the leader of a Jewish insurrection against the Roman rule. (Jesus' rebuttal was: "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence [John 19:36 KJV]). The accusation, despite Jesus' clarification, reinforced the Roman authorities' political concern. Pilate thus sentenced Jesus to death by way of crucifixion.
In conclusion, Jesus's death was due to the Roman colonizer's political concern about national security, the chief priests' and scribes' jealousy about His popularity, and their resentment of Him for cleansing the Temple -- their profitable exchange. Thus, it is justifiable to call Jesus a Vegan Christ who died for the cause of animal liberation.
References
Akers, Keith (2000/2020). The Lost Religion of Jesus. Lantern Publishing & Media.
Aslan, Reza 2013. Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Random House.
Theissen, Gerd, and Merz, Annette (1998). The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide. Fortress Press.
Chau, Simon (2024). "Three Facts about Jesus' Passion that the Church won't Tell you." Facebook, Mar. 29. https://www.facebook.com/simonchauhk/videos/731283019122333/
Chapman, Chen (2024). "The 'Open Rescue' of Temple Animals by Jesus the Vegan Christ." HKBNews, Mar. 29. https://www.hkbnews.net/post/the-open-rescue-of-temple-animals-by-jesus-the-vegan-christ-by-dr-chapman-chen
Eisenman, Robert (2012). James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls I. The Way Publishing.
Horsley, Richard A. (2014). Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine. University of South Carolina Press.
Kaufman, Michael T. (1987). The East Bloc Tolerates Jazz but Mutes its Dissident Note. New York Times, Jan. 4. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/04/arts/the-east-bloc-tolerates-jazz-but-mutes-its-dissident-note.html
Schiavone, Aldo (2017). Pontius Pilate: Deciphering a Memory. Translated by Jeremy Carden, Liveright.
Theissen, Gerd, and Merz, Annette (1998). The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide. Fortress Press.