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Who Killed Jesus?

  • Writer: Andrew Fouts
    Andrew Fouts
  • 2 days ago
  • 5 min read

Around this time every year, a debate resurfaces surrounding the circumstances of the death of Jesus. This debate has been going on for centuries and is even responsible for unspeakable hate and violence throughout history. Who killed Jesus? Who is responsible for the death of the Messiah? Is it Rome? Is it the Jews? Who is the villain of the story? 


THE ARGUMENTS


  1. The Jews

This argument centers around the gospel narratives of the Religious leaders, the crowds calling for crucifixion, and Caiaphas’ statement in John 11. We also then go to Acts Chapter 2, where we see Peter reminding the crowds of Jerusalem that they were the ones who handed Jesus over.


“22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though He was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him.”


  1. Rome

This argument focuses on a different aspect of the narratives, looking at the responsibility for the Empire of Rome, primarily due to the orders of Pilate, the treatment by the Roman soldiers, and the method of execution.. There is also another Acts argument as well, this time coming in Acts 4.


“27 “For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.”


You also have an additional component with the Apostle’s Creed starting somewhere around the 8th century.


“I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,  suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.”


INITIAL PROBLEM


Before we get into what the narrative of the gospels has to say, we already have a few problems with these arguments from Acts and the Apostles’ Creed.


  1. Acts 2

    1. Peter doesn’t accuse the people of killing Jesus, just handing him over to Rome, who did the killing.

    2. Peter’s call for them to repent was from not recognizing the Messiah, not the killing of Him.

  2. Acts 4

    1. The Church recognized that it was ALL people, Herod, Pilate, Jews, and Gentiles, all were “assembled against” Jesus. 

    2. This not only doesn’t make any of them solely responsible for the death, but also simply accuses them of being against Jesus. 

  3. Apostles Creed

    1. While the Apostle’s Creed we currently have, names Pilate specifically, there is a debate as to when this phrase was added to the Creed, meaning that even 300+ years after the death of Jesus, Pilate was not named as the one responsible


Now we know that these problems alone have not stopped the debate, because after all the Gospel narrative itself is also cited in these arguments. So let's look at the narratives of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.


THE GOSPEL NARRATIVE


Now, while the Gospel accounts all tell the story at different paces and with different details, we can pull a consistent narrative out of them.



Then, in all the accounts, we arrive at the death of Jesus and the chaos that erupts after. But there is an important distinction that we need to look at in order to answer the question of who is responsible. Because as we look through our timeline, both the Jews and the Romans continually passed Jesus off, no one wanting the responsibility or claiming it, until the very last moment in Matthew 27. But what does the narrative say about His death? 


WHO KILLED JESUS?


In Matthew, we see the word ἀφῆκεν, which means to yield or surrender, to describe the moment of death. In Luke, Jesus makes the statement that He is παρατίθεμαι, a deliberate placing, of His Spirit into the Father’s hands. In John, we see this word, παρέδωκεν, which means delivering.


In the actual narrative of the Gospel, the writers answer the question for us. NO ONE KILLED JESUS. He offered himself up deliberately. This is a massively important piece of the story. It cannot be ignored. Jesus was not a victim of a murder or assassination but was the victor, who offered Himself up willingly, in the face of doubts and mockings, so that the very people mocking Him might also be rescued from death as well. Jesus from the cross called out for the forgiveness of all those involved because they weren't the ones responsible for His death; He was, and He was alone.


WHY DOES THIS MATTER?


When we come into this season of Lent, we should be entering into a time of reflecting inwardly on what God has done for us, allowing us to then go and do likewise for those around us. This debate though, that arises year after year, does the opposite. It causes us to remove ourselves from the equation, as we look outward for an enemy to call out and blame for their ignorance of recognizing who God is, even to the point of violence and terrorism against communities of people. It exposes our continual human desire to find someone to blame, to cover our own insecurities by making ourselves a hero, to cover our shame with righteous action. But the point of the cross is this: Jesus gave Himself up willingly, so that we would not have to live that way. The point of the cross is to look for Jesus in everyone, rather than looking for enemies. We are called to let go of our shame and clothe ourselves in His righteousness. We are called to forgive ourselves as we forgive others. NO ONE KILLED JESUS, because He gave of Himself freely, and now he asks that we do the same.


 

This post edited by Joseph Dea



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