If Christ was not an advocate for the Death Penalty, then that would mean He was against God's law. If that be the case, then the verse below would make Christ a hypocrite because he boldly stated He's for all of God's law. How can Christ fulfil the law and be against the Death Penalty at the same time?
Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Your interpretation of that Scrioture and understanding of Jesus differs greatly from mine. Jesus wanted to make it understood that he was not destroying God's law...one of the primary of which was thou shall not kill. Notice it didn't say murder it said kill, the two are not the same. Murder is the wrongful killing of an innocent...but the 10 Commandments instructed to not KILL which may or may not be an illegal act according to man's law. But God's law said "Thou Shalt Not Kill".
Anyway... Jesus wanted it understood that he was not come to destroy the Law of governance as ordered by God. He came to fulfill the intent of the law... that's why he said I come not to destroy but to seek and to save that which was lost.
The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. (Luke 9.56)
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19.10)
Jesus did not come to destroy us, but to save us. This is the promise of the Christmas story. For the angel of the Lord said to Joseph, "Do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS,
for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20-21).
So again, your interpretation is different from mine and it seems differs from scripture. You see, the Law (Ten Commandments, etc) provided a means of telling man what were sins and what to avoid, but the laws couldn't save you from the sin. It was ineffective as simply following the Laws could not give you salvation through forgiveness. That's what Jesus meant when he stated that he came to fulfil the law... in other words to make complete what the Laws could not make possible, save man from sin.
The very name of Jesus, in its Hebrew form, Yeshua, means "Yahweh saves!" It comes from the Hebrew yasha, which means to rescue or remove someone from burden, oppression or danger.
Hope that helps...:lecture: