Who REALLY Killed Jesus?
Mt 26:47-27:26
One of the first and most vocal groups to reject the movie is the Jews. They claim that the movie is anti-Semitic... anti-Jewish. They feel that the Jews come off as the bad guy... the villain. They also feel that is an unfair portrayal of the facts. Many say it was not the Jews who killed Jesus because they had no power to take a life... only the Romans could do that. Some point to Pilate and say he had the power to stop it, so he must bear the blame. Still others say it was the crowd, which was surely composed of many different types of people.
One thing is sure... there is more than enough blame to go around. Let’s take a look at all of the ones who played a part in that death.
First: the historical villain, the one at whom most people would point an accusing finger... THE JEWS.
There is no denying their part in the whole gruesome spectacle. All four Gospels tell us...
47And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. . . Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. 57And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 59Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,61 And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. 62And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 63But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. 67Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands 68Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee? When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.
11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 12And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? 14And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. 15Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.
6And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 17Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, "Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called Christ?" 18For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. 19When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." 20But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. 2IThe governor answered and said unto them, "Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?" They said, Barabbas. 22Pilate saith unto them, "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" They all say unto him, "Let him be crucified." 23And the governor said, "Why, what evil hath he done?" But they cried out the more, saying, "Let him be crucified." 24When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it." 25Then answered all the people, and said, "His blood be on us, and on our children." l6Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
The Jewish leaders... planned to kill Jesus,
paid a saboteur, Judas,
used lying witnesses,
held an illegal trial, and
prompted the crowd to call for crucifixion.
Then they pressured Pilate to carry it out.
There is no doubt... THE JEWS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS, THE CHRIST.
BUT NOT ALONE
2. WHAT ABOUT JUDAS?
Judas betrayed Jesus to the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin. For a paltry sum of 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave... he betrayed his Rabbi, his teacher, his friend, his Lord. Is there any doubt that Judas played a part?
NO!!!
He betrayed Jesus, and had the gall to do it with a kiss.
It was Judas and the Jews who did it. But not alone!!!
3. What about the Romans"
The ultimate worldly authority was Rome... the Roman government. The local ruler, Pilate the Governor, had the power of life and death. Thumbs up and Jesus lived. Thumbs down, and Jesus died. Pilate could have set Jesus free.
But Pilate was a weakling, a wimp. He cowered when the Jewish leaders threatened to go over his head, to Caesar. Pilate, out of political ambition and fear of opposition caved in and did what he absolutely knew was wrong.
The scripture says... "Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man." Luke 23:13-16 says...1 And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: 15No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.
that Jesus was innocent. He knew the Jews were doing this out of envy. He knew that to crucify an innocent man was outright MURDER! He did not listen to his wife, to the evidence or to his conscience.
YES- PILATE WAS TO BLAME.
HE KILLED JESUS.
IT WAS THE JEWS, JUDAS AND PILATE.
But not alone.
What about Satan?
One of the most common questions asked about the movie concerns the presence of the demons. Satan was portrayed by an androgynous being that kept slinking around in the crowd.
What did it mean? Why was he there?
Listen... a lot of people blame the Jews for Jesus’ death. The Jews are no better or no worse than any other race of persons. They have had their good times and their bad. They have known times when they were the victim and times when they were the guilty party.
The Germans have their Nazi period.
The Americans have their Salem Witch hunt.
The Spanish and every other race has had times of atrocities.
Where do they come from? SATAN!!!!
Why did the Jews hate Jesus? Satan caused them to.
The Jews are no more terrible for their actions that day of the passion than were the Japanese at Pearl Harbor or the Iraqis when they killed the missionaries.
Satan hates God because Satan is evil and God is righteous.
Satan hates God because Satan is darkness and God is light
Satan hates God because God cast him out of heaven
Satan hates God because he knows he is doomed to eternity in hell
Satan hates God and uses mankind as his enemy to break God’s heart.
Every person who listens to Satan and sins... that is Satan’s Joy
Every person who rejects salvation and goes to hell... thrills Satan.
Why did the Jews call for Jesus’ death? SATAN
Why did Judas betray Jesus? SATAN
Why did Pilate turn Jesus over to be killed? SATAN
Satan is to blame. He instigated the others to act. He killed Jesus.
But not alone.
5. What about YOU?
One of the great painters painted the crucifixion scene and down in the corner, he painted his own face. His point was that he too was guilty... he helped to crucify Christ with his sins.
In the movie, if you look very quickly, you will see Mel Gibson. Later, when the spike is placed in Jesus’ hand... that is Mel’s hand.
The point is... You and I are just as guilty of driving those spikes in Jesus’ hands and feet as if we were there, as if we had actually swung the hammer.
It was you sins... and mine that nailed him to the cross.
The nails could not hold Jesus there. All he had to do was say the word and a legion of angels would have pulled out the nails, the hands would have been healed and all the guilty persons would have been slain with the swords of God.
Nails could not hold Jesus there. LOVE DID!!
It was your sin and mine that put him there.
The scriptures say, "For the wages of sin is death."
Your sins and mine would have placed us on that cross. But Jesus, out of love for us, took our place and he was nailed to the cross for our sins, to pay our debt, to be our ransom.
If it were not for your sins and mine... there would have been no cross. The Romans would never have crucified Jesus because the Jews would not have brought Him. They would not have brought Jesus to the Romans because Satan would not have tempted them to.
There would have been no cross because there would have been no manger.
If not for your sins and mine Jesus never would have left Heaven to come to earth.
It was because you and I sinned... and because we sinned we were condemned to die... and Jesus came to die in our place.
Who killed Jesus? YOU!! It was your sins!!!
I love this picture. (Picture of Mel Gibson sitting on Jesus) I don’t know why in the world Mel Gibson is sitting on Jesus. Was there some good reason? Some medical reason... like his back was hurting?
I love this picture because it so beautifully illustrates my point.
Seeing Mel Gibson sitting one Jesus reminds me that every time I sin it is like adding weight to Jesus... on the cross.
Every time you sin it is like climbing up on Jesus, as He hangs on the cross, and adding weight, causing the nails in His hands to pull harder, cause more pain. It is like yanking on the feet and causing the blood to flow more freely.
EVERY TIME WE SIN IT IS LIKE SITTING ON JESUS!!! Who REALLY killed Jesus?
YOU DID!!!! Your sin brought Him from Heaven, nailed Him to the cross, and your continued sin is like the crown of thorns or the spear in His side... just adding more pain, inflicting more injury.
So here you have the whole motley crew... all of the guilty parties. All who conspired and worked together, hand in hand to kill Jesus... The Jews... Judas... Pilate... Satan... and YOU (represented by Mel)
But the guilty party who really killed Jesus is not there. Well, you can’t see Him. He is hiding behind these ones we normally blame. I am going to remove the co-conspirators and let you get a picture of the real person who killed Jesus.
It was not Pilate, nor the Roman government. Surely they played a part, but like Jesus told Pilate... they only did what they were allowed to do.
It was not the Jews or the Jewish leaders. Surely they hated Jesus and they will stand accountable for their part... but they did not kill Jesus. They had no power.
And it was not even Judas who is to blame. He was a coward, a traitor and an opportunist. But the Jews did not need Judas to arrest Jesus. The kiss was for naught.
Believe it or not, it was not even Satan who killed Jesus. Yes, he instigated the whole thing. He was working since before creation to get back at God. He had tried to kill Jesus as a child and he was the power that motivated every guilty person in the Passion... But even Satan did not have the power to take Jesus’ Life. Jesus said, "No one takes my life... I lay it down."
Who is left? GOD!!!!! Jesus’ very own Father!!!
I heard a story when I was a boy. I have never forgotten it. It is not a perfect analogy... but I want to use it.
A man was a drawbridge attendant. The bridge spanned a river where ships needed to pass. The bridge stayed up to let ships pass. Only when the train was coming did the bridge go down. One day, the man’s wife was sick and in the hospital and the man had to take his 4 year old son with him to work. They had a good day watching the big ships and trains pass by. The man was watching a ship pass by when he heard the whistle of the train. He looked up and saw that the train was very close. A ship was in the middle of the pass and the man feared that the ship would not pass in time. He was panicked. He could not let the massive bridge down because the ship would be crushed and people killed. But the train was coming and if the bridge stayed up the train would crash into the river and people would die. The man was sweating bullets. He would wait until the last possible moment and let the bridge down. At the last moment, he switched the lever and watched the bridge begin its slow decent. All of the sudden, out of the comer of his eye, he saw something horrible. There where the massive gears and teeth were grinding away, bringing down the bridge, his son was sleeping. The huge concrete weight that helped balance the bridge and take weight off of the gears was about to crush his son. There was no time to move his son and save the train. The whistle was blasting, the train was nearing. The weights were closer and closer to his son.
In a flash, he had to make a decision... save the boy and kill all of the passengers on the train
Or
Save the train, and let the boy die.
A man recently spent about $140,000.00 to buy a baseball that had been interfered with by an fan and cost the Cubs a World Series.
He paid all that money just so he could destroy the ball... and hopefully... the curse that is on the team. One morning, on TV, he blew the ball to smitherines.
I wanted to ask him, "Was it worth it?" I think he is an idiot!! lit was not worth it.
Today, if you could ask God, "Was it worth it?"... Do you know what He would say?
"THAT DEPENDS
It depends on WHAT YOU DO
If YOU recognize your sin, your hopeless, helpless condition, and understand that Jesus paid your price and now you can have forgiveness of your sins and have eternal and abundant life...
And if you come and confess your sinfulness, confess that you are powerless to change or to do anything to atone for your sins
And if you ask Jesus to forgive your sins and save your soul... Then IT WAS WORTH IT ALL.
If you leave here today.... Unchanged, still trapped in your sins, still separated from God by your sins, still condemned to death because of your sins... and don’t come to Jesus and fall down in submission to him and find salvation...
IT WAS A WASTE!!!!
Forget that millions have been saved and forgiven. If just one... YOU... does not find the forgiveness, the joy the peace and the victory over sins... it is as if Jesus died for nothing.
What about YOU?
Can you admit to yourself and to God that you have sinned?
Are you sorry for the sin and the things it has ruined in your life?
Do you want to be forgiven and have the Spirit of God as your constant companion...
Do you want joy and happiness to take the place of despair and failure?
Come today!
Just stand up, get out of the pew, walk to the front... and kneel at the cross.
You can share your decision with me or kneel here privately.
Just don’t let it be in vain that Jesus died for you.
