Who Killed Jesus?
Who Killed Jesus?
“He was pierced for
our transgressions, he was crushed for
our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon
him, and by his wounds
we are healed. We all, like sheep, have
gone astray, each of
us has turned to his own way; and the
Lord
has laid on him the
iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6, NIV).
The death of Jesus
Christ is the most famous in history. The
state-sanctioned
murder that took place almost 2,000 years ago
is still in today’s
news. No other crime against the innocent has
remained so widespread
in the consciousness of humanity for
so long. This one
lives on as a story that is told again and again.
The injustice of the
arrest, trial and death of Jesus Christ is profound
in that no person was
ever so innocent, so sinless, so blameless, so
undeserving of such
punishment. Peter testifies that He “committed no
sin, nor was deceit
found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). He was the most
virtuous man who ever
lived.
Jesus challenged His
enemies, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?”
(John 8:46). The
centurion, the officer in charge of His execution, was
convinced that He had
executed a righteous man (Luke 23:47). One of
the thieves crucified
with Him understood that Jesus had done nothing
wrong and didn’t
deserve to die (Luke 23:41).
Pilate, the governor
who issued the final command for the execution
to proceed, proclaimed
twice to the Jews that he found no fault in Jesus
(John 18:38; 19:4).
Yet the deed was carried out, in all its horror and
intensity, not sparing
this innocent Man.
He did nothing to
deserve the horrendous death imposed on Him, for
He was “holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26).
He was, after all, the
Son of God, as the centurion recognized (Mark
15:39). This was not
the injustice of the century, or the
millennium, but
the injustice of the
history of the human race.
Justification for genocide
The story of Jesus’
murder is dramatic enough in itself. But attempts
to fix the blame for
His death have led to horrible acts of spiritual
depravity. The Jewish
people have usually borne the brunt of the
blame. Their
implication in the death of Christ has resulted in an
unchristian
persecution of the Jewish people down through the centuries. “Christ-killers!”
was the epithet hurled at them, and the last words
many a Jew heard just
before his own brutal murder.
The Nazis cited this
for the genocide of 6 million Jews just over half a
century ago during
World War II. With no real respect for the teachings
of Christ, Hitler and
his followers declared that the Jewish race was solely
and collectively
responsible
for killing the Son of
God.
This poisonous
doctrine
brainwashed the
führer’s
followers into
believing the
Jews themselves should
be
exterminated for
murdering
the Savior of mankind.
The idea of unique and
total Jewish
responsibility for Christ’s death is not
supported by the
Bible. But,
sadly, this concept
did not
originate with the
Nazis.
For almost 2,000 years
mainstream
Christianity,
Catholic and
Protestant,
took this same
position—often using lethal brutality.
The plot to murder Jesus
Blaming others can
be—and often is—nothing more than an attempt
to absolve oneself of
guilt. The question that should’ve been asked long
ago—and should
continue to be asked today—is, who really caused the
death of Jesus Christ?
Jesus made many
enemies. He upset the status quo, the powerful, the
well-positioned people
of the day. Many had reason to want Him out of
the way. It wasn’t the
general public who wanted Jesus dead, but the civil
leaders, chief
priests, the scribes and Pharisees were the ones identified
again and again as
those determined to put Jesus to death.
But the main
instigators were able to manipulate the public to help
convince Pilate to
carry out the death sentence (Mark 15:11).
The ones to whom Jesus
spoke, among whom He had taught and per
-
formed miracles—the
same ones who only a few days before were lining
the streets welcoming
Him into Jerusalem as the prophesied Messiah,
the Son of David
(Matthew 21:9)—had become disillusioned and even
called for His death.
The Romans were also
guilty in the death of this innocent Man. Pilate
sentenced Him, knowing
He was innocent of the charges brought against
Who Killed Jesus?
The poisonous belief that the Jews
were solely
responsible for the death of the Son
of God has
led to horrible persecution and
brutality, including the murder of 6 million Jews in World War II.
beating, scourging and
crucifixion. It was a Roman who drove the nails
into His wrists and
feet. It was a Roman spear thrust into His side.
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