[rmlew]

Jesus road throwugh Damascus gate on an ass. He called himself king of the Jews.
You might not accept it, but in the context of the time, it was a political statement that he was ruler.
That was a threat to the Roman occupiers, their Edomite Tetrarchs, and the Hellenistic collaborators placed on the Sanhedrin by the former.
Had the issue been blaspheme (of which Jesus was guilty) he would have been ignored, like hundreds of other "prophets". It was on the overt political and religious act of claiming to be the Messiah that made Jesus a threat and separated him from those who were ignored.
Those are historical facts. Everything esle is based on not unbiased recollections years after the facts.

[Natural Law]

Christ never claimed to be the king of the Jews, but many of his followers made this claim on his behalf. They assumed that the Messiah would assend to an earthly throne. Christ entered Jerusalem knowing his fate, riding an ass was in fulfillment of prophesy.

Christ's only "crime" was not against Rome, but against the priesthood. The priesthood had made their position and considerable wealth by requiring all communion with God be through them (at a price). Christ advocated a personal relationship with God, inclusive of all peoples regardless of ethnicity, family, past sins or physical affirmity. This undermined the authority and monopoly of the priests (and hit them in the pocket book). For the Sanhedrin the crucifiction was more of a political assassination than a criminal or religious event.