Who killed Christ?

a verse or two

7 I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep.8 All others who came before me are thieves and robbers...Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture.10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness. John 10: 7 – 10

Spiritual Walk and Musings: Did the Jews kill Jesus?

I’ve just watched Jesus: The Cold Case by Bryan Bruce. And I think he is way too simplistic in saying that it was Pilate who did the deed. Look around at life, look at the reasons for events, think of the other crimes Bruce explores. Think to the tragic events in Norway. Things can’t be explained away with just one simple answer. In the case of Norway some people will want simple answers – but life is complicated. Why does Bruce not mention Jesus being questioned by Herod? And to say “the Jews” didn’t do it. Which “Jews” does Bruce mean? I know Jewish folk who would never do something like kill someone but Jesus really did upset the Jewish religious leaders of his day. He really did put a spanner in the works of the people who had power and didn’t want to lose it.

So it is way too simplistic to say it was Pilate only. It was in fact a strange mixture of circumstances, a God ordained mixture. There were the religious Jewish leaders worried about losing power – Jesus was becoming a threat to them (and add to that internal politics of the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees – both against each other and personal agendas by individuals within each group, think of the power which Caiaphas had); then there was Pilate, the Roman Governor, wanting to keep control of things (especially from zealots and trouble makers) – for Pilate – his role in the crucifixion is complicated series of events that lead to the outcome, and he was facing pressure from Rome; and then there was Jesus himself – he knew his hour was near, he knew he was God the Son – God incarnate (and not just a peasant Jewish lad). The amazing thing is that with all this complicated mixture of events including just the normal politics of the day, the normal cause and effects of the day, in the end it was still God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s decision if he would or would not die. And so God the Son prayed in the garden of Gethsemane – “Father not my will but yours”. Jesus was struggling with the terror of being a good man dying too young; struggling with the foreknowledge of how painful crucifixion was; and also the responsibility of the weight of it all, knowing this death was an atoning death, a death that would atone for sin committed by all people.

Who killed Christ? A complex mixture of people, but more so, it was our sin, our selflessness, our pride, our doubt. And God died freely so that we might have life, life in all its fullness.

Something to do: Re-read the account of Jesus’ crucifixion.

In the documentary Jesus: The Cold Case, I found the idea there were no eyewitnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion absurd. Go and read the account. Mary and John were there – right to the end! To say there were no eyewitnesses is poor scholarship. Something else I thought unprofessional early in the programme was to say was how Golgotha was only about 3 meters wide. The landscape around civilisation changes a lot in 2000 years – to believe that a rock formation is now how it was 2000 year ago is naïve. Likewise there is no problem with putting a cross into rock, a crow bar and slave could fix that in no time and once the hole was dug, it made a perfect strong foundation to place a cross time and time again. Only poor thinking would suggest they would dig a new hole for each crucifixion. I think this showed early in the documentary a tendency to make strange and wild speculation about things (that were not really that important) to try and undermine years of quality scholarship. There was also a tendency to seek unbalanced information that would agree only with Bruce's own ideas and therefore let him push his own agenda.

To Ponder and Pray: Jesus taught Love.

I don’t know about you but I was not brought up to hate Jewish people (or people of other faiths) and I was brought up in a Christian home. Yet Bruce seemed to be implying Christians are a hate filled lot. Sadly some followers of Christ are stuck in a rut of hate, but not all. Throughout history much more good has been done in the name of Christ than bad—a zillion times over. No doubt the gospel writers would be disappointed that over the centuries some people have used the gospel writings (and other Old and New Testament writings) to justify evil. But that does not mean what was written was incorrect; instead it means that all too often we interpret the Bible to suit our own life style instead of a life of obedience in following Christ.

Do pray against religious intolerance and against hate towards other faiths. Jesus taught Love, love even for enemies. And pray we live our lives for Christ and not ourselves.