Matthew 27:25 “All the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children.'”

“We will go on this journey only after avenging the blood of the crucified one by shedding Jewish blood, completely eradicating any trace of those bearing the name ‘Jew’, to assuage His own burning wrath.”

Jewish historian Solomon bar Simson is here quoting the oath made by Godfrey of Bouillon (c. 1060–1100), a key leader of the First Crusade of 1096 AD and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, who was highly regarded among the Crusaders for his piety, military skill, and humble refusal to take the title of king (see Patrick J. Geary, ed. 2003, Readings in Medieval History Volume II: The Later Middle Ages, Fifth Edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 364.)

The German Crusade of 1096 – considered the First Crusade against the Muslim forces – included a series of Jewish pogroms (mass murders of Jews committed by French and German Christian mobs).

What was the reason given for these pogroms against Jews? As shown in the above quote from Godfrey of Bouillion, the Jews were labeled as responsible for killing Jesus.

In actuality, none of the Crusades targeted Jews for destruction. But, in 1095-1096, as the Church’s preaching of the death of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind was used as the Crusader’s rallying cry (read Pope Urban II in 1095-96), the zeal for a holy war to defend the cause of Christ against the Muslim onslaught also resulted in an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence in Europe.

On page 400 of his “Commentary on the Book of Isaiah”, Professor Victor Buksbazen, former Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Univ. of Warsaw, explained how the 1096 Crusade’s Jewish pogrom became the driving event leading to Jewish reinterpretation of “the Gospel in Isaiah” – the Isaiah 53 prophecy pointing to Jesus Christ as suffering for sin, dying on the Cross and rising from the dead:

“What caused the radical change in the rabbinic position that Isaiah 53 was about Israel and not Messiah? Behind this change lies the tragic Jewish experience during the Crusades.

After the end of the First Crusade in 1096 AD, when the Crusaders, in their misguided zeal, attempted to wrest the Holy Sepulchre from the Muslims, they became aware that the infidels were not only ‘the pagan Muslims’ in faraway Palestine, but also ‘the Christ-killing Jews’ who were living in their very midst, in so-called Christian Europe.

Encouraged by their fanatical leaders and frequently incited by high-ranking clerics, the Crusaders committed massacres of Jews, especially those who lived in France, Italy and Germany. Thousands were butchered, their synagogues burned and their possessions pillaged. This horrible experience, which lasted for almost 2 centuries, left a traumatic impact on the Jews. From that time one, their revulsion against everything that Christians believed or represented became more hostile than ever before.

Since the Christians in their frequent disputes with the Jews used Isaiah 53 as one of their main arguments for the Messiahship of Jesus, the Jews felt compelled to reinterpret this prophecy in such a way as to blunt the Christian argument. Since 1096 AD, Jewish interpreters began to teach that Isaiah’s Suffering Servant was not Messiah but persecuted Israel.”

However, after this First Crusade, the Catholic popes denounced violence against the Jews, proclaiming it was Islam, not Judaism, who were the enemy because it was the Muslims who opposed Christianity. However, the damage had been done. Christian sin against the Jews by first labeling them “Christ-killers” and then acting on that claim in the 1096 pogrom has made evangelizing Jews much more difficult.

Now that we have explained the error made in that First 1096 Crusade against the Jews, it appears there are many Christians today making this same error all over again.

Since the October 2023 Hamas attack, there is a renewal in questioning Israel in several areas:

1. Isn’t Israel an “apartheid state” oppressing Palestinians in Gaza?
2. Does Israel have a right to exist and to its own land?
3. Why should America stand with Israel – what makes Israel special?
4. Aren’t the Jews the ones responsible for killing Jesus – the true “Christ-killers”?
5. Aren’t the Jews an apostate nation? How could they be God’s chosen people?

Prior to 2023, Christians did not talk much about their views on Israel. Now, Christians have no choice. The topic of Israel is front and center not only in our secular universities – many of which are antisemitic – but also by prominent podcasters claiming to be Christian, such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, who are making bold accusations against Israel (such as “Jews are not chosen by God”). 

In previous articles, we have examined Questions 1-3 above. Here in this article, let’s examine Question 4: “Aren’t the Jews the ones responsible for killing Jesus – the true “Christ-killers”?

I have been in multiple debates recently on this question with Christians! They have actually accused Jewish people as collectively as a people as responsible for killing Jesus. This is antisemitic in its tone and its substance, as it is not difficult to biblically answer this question. So, let’s get started.

This week’s verse is taken from Matthew 27:15-26 (also found in Mark, Luke and John) where Pontius Pilate presents Jesus Christ to the Jews gathered for the Passover. Let’s review the exchange between Pilate and the Jewish population:

15 “At the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 When they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’ 18 For he knew that they (Jewish religious leaders) handed Him over because of envy.

19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, ‘Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.’

20But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.

21The governor answered and said to them, ‘Which of the two do you want me to release to you?’ They (the crowd)said, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate said to them, ‘What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

23 Then the governor said, ‘Why, what evil has He done?’ But they cried out all the more, saying, ‘Let Him be crucified!’

24 When Pilate saw he could not prevail at all, but rather a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.’

25 And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children.’

26 He released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.”

Do the Gospels show who killed Jesus?

1. The Jews bear blame for killing Jesus

• Matthew 27:15-26 documents the Jewish crowd choosing Jesus Christ over Barabbas to be crucified. This narrative is also found in the other 3 gospels (Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:17-25, John 18:39-19:16).
• Matthew 12:14 documents the religious leaders (Pharisees) plotting to kill Jesus.
• In 1Thessalonians 2:14-15, Paul writes to the Jews that they bear some blame for killing Jesus: “… you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men.”
• In Acts 7:51-52, Stephen accuses the Jews of murdering Jesus: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers.”

• The Romans bear blame for killing Jesus

• Acts 2:22-23 documents the Romans – the “wicked men” – nailed Jesus to the Cross: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know – Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by wicked men, have crucified, and put to death.”
• In John 19:1,16, it was the Roman governor Pontius Pilate who sentenced Jesus to scourging and crucifixion: “Pilot took Jesus and scourged Him. So, Pilate delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. So, they took Jesus and led Him away.”
• Mark 15:16-20 documents the Roman soldiers scourged Jesus, tortured Him, then crucified Him: “The Roman soldiers led Jesus away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. They clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Then they struck Jesus on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. When the soldiers had mocked Jesus, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.”
• John 19:34 documents the Roman soldiers pierced Jesus’s side with a spear to make sure He was dead: “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’s side with a spear; immediately blood and water came out.”

• The Father bears blame for killing Jesus

• Romans 3:25 documents that God the Father set Jesus forth to be a “propitiation” – a mercy offering of atonement for in – by sending Jesus to His death: “God set forth Jesus as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.”
• Romans 8:32 documents that God gave us Jesus and did not spare Him: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
• Luke 22:41-42 documents that it was God the Father’s will that Jesus be crucified: “Jesus was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’”
• Acts 2:23 documents that it was preordained by the Father for Jesus to be crucified: “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by wicked men, have crucified, and put to death.”
• Isaiah 53:10-11 documents it was prophesied that the Father is pleased to put Jesus the Messiah to death: “It pleased the Lord to crush Him. God the Father has put Messiah to grief… When you make Messiah’s life an offering for sin…”

• Sinners bear blame for killing Jesus

• Isaiah 53:5-6 documents that it is due to our sins that required Jesus to be crucified: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
• Romans 5:6-8 documents that Christ died for sinners: “When we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
• John 1:29 documents Jesus’s purpose was to take upon Himself all of our sins: “The next day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of this world.”
• John 10:17-18 documents that Christ willingly went to His death for sinners: “My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”
• 2Corinthians 5:21 documents that Jesus took upon Himself all of our sins so we might be able to be forgiven of our sins: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

TRUTH:  Humanity is both the cause and beneficiary of Jesus’ death   All of humanity is guilty of killing Jesus.   Our sin put Jesus on the cross.   Because of our sin, God sent Jesus to save us.   God the Father responds to humanity’s evil with LOVE by REDEMPTION.

“The Evidence of Faith’s Substance”_Article #676