I watched this when it was first shown in 2001. My first thought about both France and Kashmir was why on earth would a Palestinian Jewish peasant consider going to either? And where was he going to find a kosher meal and a rabbi when he got there?
Putting humour aside, the various theories put forward, delightful though they undoubtedly are, become rather far-fetched when the death of this man is put into its contemporary socio-political context.
James Tabor is a serious historian but I wonder if the last 1900 years of Christian emphasis on the life and death of this man have coloured his own perceptions.
At the end of the day Jesus was a peasant holy man in a recently acquired province that was seething with resentment at Rome. He arrived in Jerusalem at Passover (when the city was full of additional thousands of pilgrims, adding to the possibility of violent clashes). We know that there?d already been some violence as Mark refers it in 15:7. And to top it all he calls himself Messiah ? a direct challenge to the power of Rome.
Pilate was noted for being a ruthless but effective Governor and he would have had little compunction in meting out the usual death for those guilty of sedition.
The idea of the body being taken down is possible but extremely unlikely. As with most common criminals it would probably have been thrown into the refuse pit outside Jerusalem. Josephus? account of his friend being reprieved from crucifixion is another matter entirely as Josephus came from a completely different social class from that of Jesus of Nazareth.