lisa-s.ca

Somehow, the statement “The Jews Killed Jesus!” is a reason why we shouldn’t follow Torah (or a justification for the idea that those who follow Torah, although not legalistically, are not Christians). But really, who “killed” Yeshua? And really, does it even matter?

Who Really Killed Yeshua?

When we look in the Gospels we see that Judas betrayed Yeshua and brought the Jewish leaders (the Sanhedrin) and their guards (not Jews) to Him. They (the Sanhedrin and guards) arrested Jesus. Then, the Sanhedrin tried to find a fault in Yeshua, eventually accusing Him of blasphemy.

They brought Him to Pilate (not a Jew) who tried to find fault in Him. Pilate offered to release Yeshua or a dangerous criminal, hoping they would release Yeshua. Then the Sanhedrin (corrupt Jewish leaders) convinced the crowd to release the criminal and have Yeshua crucified. Pilate allowed this, soldiers ridiculed Him, then they (the soldiers (not Jews)) would have actually nailed Him to the cross.

Now, we can see that physically, it was not only the Jews who crucified Yeshua, but also the Gentiles. The Jews who actually played the part were the Sanhedrin (Jewish leaders) who would’ve liked to see Yeshua gone for many reasons (He was somewhat of a threat to their authority and taught against their additions to Torah). In fact, the ones who allowed Him to be crucified and nailed Him to the cross were Gentiles.

Another interesting thing to note is that the Jewish days started at Sunset on the previous day, so these events would have occurred much earlier than we think they did (early morning), which means the crowd wouldn’t have been big and would have been composed mostly of Roman soldiers and Jewish leaders. (Read Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus for more information about this.)

But aside from who physically nailed Yeshua to the cross, who really did it? To answer that, I think we need to look at why He died. He died for our sins: your sins, my sins, my family’s sins, Wayne Gretzky’s sins, Stephen Harper’s sins… everyone’s sins (and we know that no one other than Yeshua lived a sinless life, Romans 3:23), both Jews and Gentiles. The reason Yeshua died is because WE SINNED, so really WE nailed Him to the cross. If we hadn’t sinned Yeshua wouldn’t have had to come or die for us!

Why Does This Matter?

The short answer: it doesn’t. Yeshua came to die for us. He HAD to die so that we might live. It shouldn’t matter who exactly physically did it. It HAD to happen. If He hadn’t died, we shouldn’t be here right now discussing this, we wouldn’t have any assurance of getting to heaven and really, we might not even be here. So, it doesn’t matter who physically killed Him, because in reality, He died BECAUSE of us and FOR US. How great is His Love!

On a side note, saying the Jews killed Yeshua is rather silly seeing as Yeshua was Himself a Jew!