WHO KILLED JESUS?
The major Christian accusation repeated throughout history against
the Jewish people has been that they are Christ-killers. The charge
is foolish and false. It is actually a denial of the gospel. Let's
look at it both from an historical and a theological perspective.
In its Vatican II declaration, the Roman Catholic Church said:
"The Jewish
people should never be presented as one rejected, cursed or guilty
of deicide. What happened to Christ in His Passion cannot be attributed
to the whole people then alive, much less to that of today. Besides,
the church held and holds that Christ underwent His Passion and
death freely, because of the sins of all men and out of infinite
love."
In 4000 years of Jewish history, fewer than 1% of all Jews were
even living at the time of the crucifixion. Of the fewer than
1% who were, fewer than 20% were in Jerusalem at the time of the
crucifixion. Of the fewer than one-fifth of 1% who were, fewer
than 1% were involved in the crucifixion in any way - as instigators,
observers, or mourners. That means that fewer than .002% of all
Jews were involved in the crucifixion as either instigators, observers,
or mourners.
The number of Yeshua's Jewish disciples was greater than the number
of Jews who sought his death. Even on the Sanhedrin, at least
2 members were his disciples. Numerically, very, very, very, very
few Jews were involved in any way.
What is the Biblical view? The most comprehensive list of those
responsible for the death of Yeshua is given in Acts 4:27-28.
The Jewish believers in Jerusalem were praying and mentioned five
different parties who were responsible. "For truly in this
city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Yeshua,
whom You did anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with
the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand
and Your purpose predestined to occur." The five parties
mentioned who bear responsibility for the crucifixion of Yeshua
are 1) Herod, 2) Pontius Pilate, 3) the Gentiles, 4) the peoples
of Israel, and 5) God.
Certainly the greatest responsibility is God's, for He planned
it from the
beginning. He sent Messiah expressly for that purpose. Isaiah
prophesied of Messiah that, "the Lord was pleased to crush
Him, putting him to grief; If he would render his soul as a guilt
offering...By his knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will
justify the many, as he will bear their iniquities." (Is.53:10)
The specific individuals who were responsible bear their own guilt.
What about the peoples who are mentioned - "the Gentiles
and the peoples of Israel"? Those who mentioned this in prayer
were Jews themselves, part of the people of Israel. In their prayer,
they were speaking of the specific historical event, they were
not presenting theological conclusions.
Everyone is either Gentile or Jewish. If all Jews were guilty,
then all Gentiles would be too. Is there a sense in which every
single person is guilty of the death of Yeshua? Not exactly.
The Bible is clear that every single person sins and therefore
every single person needs atonement for that sin. The death of
Yeshua is God's ultimate provision of atonement, which every person
needs, but that is not the same as saying that everyone is guilty
of the crucifixion.
Peter preached to a crowd at the Temple, "you disowned the
Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted
to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God
raised from the dead, - a fact to which we are witnesses....And
now brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your
rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand
by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Messiah should suffer,
He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and return, that your
sins may be wiped away..." (Acts 3:13-15,17-19)
There are several things to note in what Peter preached. 1) He
spoke as a Jew to fellow Jews about an historical event. 2) He
did not hold himself guiltless. He said, "you disowned"
Yeshua. This is the same Peter who disowned Yeshua three times
in one night, the night before the crucifixion, a fact which he
had not forgotten. So when Peter said "Repent therefore and
return, that your sins may be wiped away," we can rest assured
that he was not speaking abstractly. He knew and had experienced
what he was talking about.
3) Peter said, "brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance,
just as your rulers did also." Peter himself had rebuked
Yeshua when he told "his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem,
and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised up on the third day." (Mt.16:21)
At that time, Peter, in ignorance, had rejected God's provision
for the forgiveness of his own sins.
What he preached was the same as what Yeshua had prayed while
dying: "Father forgive them; for they do not know what they
are doing." (Lk.23:34) That prayer brought forgiveness to
anyone who was guilty of the crucifixion. Before God, no one is
guilty of the crucifixion. "For God did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should
be saved through him." Jn.3:17 Yeshua said, "No takes
my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." John
10:18
Everyone stands guilty before God for their own sins. The death
of Yeshua was not a means of making the world guilty. The world
was already guilty. The death of Yeshua is the means of taking
away the guilt. It is God's gracious provision of atonement for
anyone who will receive it.
Paul also could speak strongly about the sins of others because
he knew his own sins. "I was formerly a blasphemer and a
persecutor and a violent aggressor.... Messiah Yeshua came into
the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all."
(1Ti.1:12,15)
Could you or I have been among that small group which condemned
Yeshua? Yes. Yeshua rebuked those who said, "If we had been
living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners
with them in shedding the blood of the prophets [or of the Lord]."
(Mt.23:31) Those who say such things are only deceiving themselves.
Every human being is capable of turning away from the light and
embracing darkness. It is only God's grace that draws us to Him.
Every human being has made decisions in his or her heart that
merit the judgment of God. To see the sins of others and not our
own makes us incapable of receiving the grace of God.
This is indeed the greatest deficiency of the Vatican II document.
After seventeen centuries of presenting the Jewish people "as
one rejected, cursed or guilty of deicide," the Roman Catholic
Church decided that this should not be done, but that hasn't stopped
the contempt and condemnation. And what about the millions of
Jews throughout that time who were brutalized and murdered because
of this teaching of contempt? What about the guilt of the Roman
Catholic Church? and that of the other churches which have done
the same?
It is not sufficient to recognize that the Jewish people are not
guilty of the crucifixion. It is necessary that the Church recognize
its own guilt in the horrendous crimes of seventeen centuries.
It is necessary that the Church repent and seek to make restitution
of what is incalculable.
"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses
and
renounces them finds mercy." Prov. 28:13 The Church has sinned
against God and against His people, the Jewish people.