The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our
fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and
you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You
disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to
you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are
witnesses of this.
(Acts 3:13-15)
A Jewish friend of mine mentioned that
the Pope Benedict has stated that the Jews didn't kill Jesus. The Jews as a
community didn't hand Jesus over to be killed. That was done by an elite group
of Jewish leadership. It seems to be a long-standing tradition that the same
people who shouted "Hosanna" on Sunday were the ones shouting
"Crucify him!" on Friday morning. With the secrecy and early hour of
the trials, this isn't likely. The trials were probably over by 9 am. I suspect
that the same men who sent troops to the Garden to arrest Jesus, and the same
men who were sent to the Garden to arrest Jesus were the ones shouting.
From our modern perspective, the Jews didn't kill Jesus, but that's not the perspective demonstrated by Peter in today's passage, because Peter lived in the First Century and was a Middle Easterner. For him, if the leadership of a community did something the community did it. We think this way sometimes, too. Technically, the Germans didn't kill Jews in World War II, an elite militarized group that happened to lead the German people did.
This proclamation brings up an interesting question. Who killed Jesus? He was tried and condemned by Jewish leadership, who sent him to Pilate, who sent him to Herod, who sent him back to Pilate, who tried to get the Jewish leaders to let him release Jesus. The Jews finally threatened to report Pilate to the Roman emperor if Pilate didn't have Jesus executed. Pilate washed his hands of responsibility and the Jews accepted that responsibility for themselves and their children. That proclamation has been the stated reason for anti-Semitism for centuries. Let me interject here that I reject the notion of hating anyone or punishing anyone for killing Jesus.
There are four reasons for my rejection. The first is that the Jews weren't alone in their guilt. The Gentiles participated, too. Romans carried out the execution at Jewish request, so both Jews and Gentiles killed Jesus. The second is that the Jesus was sent by God specifically in order to die. God killed Jesus. The third is that the reason Jesus was sent to die is because of your sin and mine. You and I killed Jesus. The fourth reason I reject the idea of blaming, shaming or punishing someone for killing Jesus is that Jesus said, "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18) and later, "[w]hen he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30) The Romans were surprised that He died so quickly.
The reality is that everyone, including Jesus, killed Jesus.
From our modern perspective, the Jews didn't kill Jesus, but that's not the perspective demonstrated by Peter in today's passage, because Peter lived in the First Century and was a Middle Easterner. For him, if the leadership of a community did something the community did it. We think this way sometimes, too. Technically, the Germans didn't kill Jews in World War II, an elite militarized group that happened to lead the German people did.
This proclamation brings up an interesting question. Who killed Jesus? He was tried and condemned by Jewish leadership, who sent him to Pilate, who sent him to Herod, who sent him back to Pilate, who tried to get the Jewish leaders to let him release Jesus. The Jews finally threatened to report Pilate to the Roman emperor if Pilate didn't have Jesus executed. Pilate washed his hands of responsibility and the Jews accepted that responsibility for themselves and their children. That proclamation has been the stated reason for anti-Semitism for centuries. Let me interject here that I reject the notion of hating anyone or punishing anyone for killing Jesus.
There are four reasons for my rejection. The first is that the Jews weren't alone in their guilt. The Gentiles participated, too. Romans carried out the execution at Jewish request, so both Jews and Gentiles killed Jesus. The second is that the Jesus was sent by God specifically in order to die. God killed Jesus. The third is that the reason Jesus was sent to die is because of your sin and mine. You and I killed Jesus. The fourth reason I reject the idea of blaming, shaming or punishing someone for killing Jesus is that Jesus said, "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18) and later, "[w]hen he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30) The Romans were surprised that He died so quickly.
The reality is that everyone, including Jesus, killed Jesus.
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