Deicide: The execution of Jesus

Who is/was responsible, according to historical Christianity?

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Who is to blame for Jesus' death?

Until the advent of modernism in the late 19^th century, essentially all Christian groups accepted the concept of Biblical inerrancy. That is, that the authors of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures (Old and New Testament) were inspired by God in such a way that their writings were free of error. Thus the stories in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John which describe Yeshua's arrest, his trial before the Sanhedrin, the interview before Pilate, death sentence, beating, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and appearances before his followers, and ascension upwards to heaven were regarded as precise descriptions of real historical events. If some CNN reporters were able to time-travel back to the early 1^st century CE, they would be able to record every event exactly as described in the four gospels.

Some key phrases from the gospels' description of Yeshua's trial are helpful in assessing the blame for Jesus' death. In the probable chronological order, the five gospels which contain information on Jesus' trial and execution state:

The passage in Matthew has probably been responsible for more deaths of innocent people than any other passage in the Bible -- more even than the Exodus 22:18 injunction to "not suffer a witch to live."  Jewish historian Haim Cohen commented:

"None of the many charges leveled at the Jews...has held so obdurately against them as unassailable proof of guilt and responsibility for the crucifixion as has this exclamation of theirs 'His blood be upon us and our children'." ₂

The early church believed that the Jews were responsible for pressuring Pilate to sentence Yeshua to crucifixion. As stated in Matthew, Jews at the time accepted full responsibility for the act. Further, they acknowledged that their children would equally share in the blame. Christian denominations interpreted the word "Children" to mean all of the descendents of all of the Jews, including:

The Church apparently did not question whether it is ethically possible for people to transfer their responsibility for committing a sinful act to innocent persons:

A later quotation of Jesus:

appears to call for forgiveness of those responsible for Jesus' death. However, this verse seems to have been ignored by the Church as far as the Jews were concerned.

Justin Martyr (circa 100 to 165 CE) and Irenaeus of Lyon (circa 130 to 200 CE) developed the concept of "supercessionism." This is sometimes called the  "theology of displacement" or "replacement theology." By calling for Jesus' execution and by rejecting his teachings, the Jews were seen as losing their favored position as God's chosen people. Christianity displaced Judaism in God's eyes. The Christian Church became regarded as the 'true' or 'spiritual' Israel.₂

"Since they broke their ancient covenant with God, He made a new one with a new people drawn from the Gentiles. As punishment for their crime, the Jews lost their Temple and were exiled from their land. The lethal combination of the theology of supersession (which gave the world the "Old Testament" in place of the Jewish Bible) and the myth of the deicide people made the Jews a permanent target for Christian hostility and contempt, destined to be preserved in misery that would be the eternal mark of their perfidy." ₃

The supercessionism doctrine was largely accepted within the church by the 4^th century. As a result of these beliefs, the church engaged "in all manner of anti-Semitic acts of abuse, discrimination, outright hostility, and finally genocide -- the Holocaust -- because they were taught that God was through with the Jews." ₄

Many Fundamentalist and some other Evangelical denominations today reject anti-Semitism while still accepting the theology of displacement. Many view Jews in the same light as Buddhist, Hindus, Muslims, etc: as unsaved individuals destined for punishment in Hell for not accepting the gospel message and trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior. They teach that God has abandoned the Jews as his chosen people, and that he transferred these honors to the Christian church. These denominations stress the importance of evangelizing Jews. This generates considerable anger within the Jewish community. Most Jews do not appreciate attempts to convert them to Christianity.

References:

1. English translation from the original Greek in the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
2. (The Trial and Death of Jesus of Nazareth, p. 171)
3. "Saving our souls," The Southern Shofar, Birmingham, AL, at: http://www.bham.net/shofar/1996/0796/ss0796.html
4. Edward Alexander, book review of "Christian Antisemitism," listed below. Reprinted from the Congress Monthly, Vol. 61, #1, (1994), American Jewish Congress. See "The Nizkor Project," at: http://www1.ca.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/documents/reviews/
5. Arthur F. Glasser, "A Reflection on 'Let's Get Biblical!' Rabbi Tovia Singer's Lecture Series", Pages 2 & 3, at: http://www.jews-for-jesus.org/CASE/BIBLICAL/Glasser/