WHO KILLED CHRIST?
JOHN 19:16-18
Newsweek’s John Meacham wrote in his column, "Mel Gibson’s powerful but troubling new movie, ’The Passion of the Christ,’ is reviving one of the most explosive questions ever… Who really killed Jesus?" The question as to who killed Christ has been discussed on numerous radio and television shows. On MSNBC’s "Deborah Norville Tonight" a United Methodist minister, a Jewish rabbi, and the Morris Chapman, head of the SBC’s executive committee debated the issue. Regardless of personal sentiments, the Bible is the final authority in answering the question and is clear as to who those were in killing Christ.
I. The Jews Killed Christ.
A. Acts 2:22-23 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, YOU have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
B. Matthew 27:21-23 MKJV The governor answered and said to them, which of the two do you desire that I release to you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, ’What then shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?’ They ALL said to him, ’Let Him be crucified.’ And the governor said, ’Why? What evil has He done?’ But they cried out the more, saying, ‘Let Him be crucified!’
C. John 19:31 MKJV Then the Jews, because it was Preparation, begged Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath. For that Sabbath was a high day.
D. The Jews wanted His legs broken, which was prevented by the providence of God, in order to hasten His death. They wanted to make sure He was dead; that it could not be pretended that he had swooned away and revived, and so, therefore, that there could not be the least doubt of his resurrection to life.
E. Jesus was hated by the Jews because He stood in opposition to their religious tradition and self righteousness.
F. John 5:16 And therefore the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.
G. From the time He was a mere infant until His death, our Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, was hated by the Jews.
H. John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
I. Jesus Christ flew in the face of the religious traditions and secular lifestyles of the people of Israel. The Jews hated Jesus for exposing the hypocrisy of their self-styled religious system. John 15:22 MKJV If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
J. Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not.
K. Man rejects Christ today for the same reason that the Jews hated Christ and cried for His crucifixion. Man wants to do his own thing, his own way, in his own time. He wants to believe that his religiosity will get him to heaven and that he is okay. He does not want to be reminded that he is a sinner.
TRANSITION: At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, the Romans had conquered all the area in which Jesus lived and taught. The Romans allowed the Jews to continue with their Sanhedrin, their religious government, but the Romans took away the Jews right to carryout capital punishment. In order to have Jesus crucified, the Jewish leaders had to get Rome to execute Christ.
II. The Romans Killed Christ
A. Matthew 27:27-31 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
B. It was Roman soldiers acting upon the orders of the Roman governor Pilate that mercilessly beat Jesus and led Him to Calvary’s hill. It was the hand of a Roman soldier that fastened the hands and feet of Christ by heavy, square wrought-iron nails to the cross. After having driven the nails deeply in the wood, it was Roman soldiers that elevated the cross with the agonizing Savior on it, and, in order to fix it more firmly in the earth, let it fall violently into the hole which they had dug to receive it. According to John 19:34 it was a Roman soldier who thrust the spear through Christ’s side.
C. 1 Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
D. Two thousand years ago the Roman government and Israel united together and crucified Jesus.
E. The Roman government crucified Jesus on the charge of sedition.
F. John 15:18 MKJV If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
G. Matthew 24:9 MKJV Then they will deliver you up to be afflicted and will kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for My name’s sake.
H. In 1 Corinthians Paul comments that his gospel of a crucified Messiah appears to be foolishness to Gentiles. This is illustrated by a piece of Roman graffiti which comes from the second century CE. Found on the Palatine Hill, it shows Christ being crucified; only his head has been replaced with the head of a donkey. Before the cross another person stands with an arm raised in worship. Written underneath the drawing is this: "Alexamenos worships God." To the creator of this piece of graffiti to worship Christ is to worship a donkey.- copied
I. According to David Limbaugh, Christians are increasingly being driven from public life, denied their First Amendment rights, and even actively discriminated against for their beliefs. Activist judges misinterpret and misapply the Constitution to eliminate Christianity from American government and public life. Examples of anti-Christian sentiment include: Confessed child rapist James Arnett’s sentence was overturned by an Ohio appeals court. The reason: the judge in his case quoted from Matthew 18:5-6 during sentencing. In March 1998, The ACLU put pressure on the small town of Republic, Missouri to remove a fish symbol from its official logo, calling it a "secret sign of Christianity."
III. You and I Killed Christ
A. When asked in an interview "Who killed Christ?" Mel Gibson said, "We are all culpable for the death of Christ. My sins, your sins put him on that cross."
B. Isaiah 53:5 MKJV But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.
C. Who crucified Jesus? It was you and me together with all the sinners of this world who put Him on the cross. When Jesus was crucified, he was crucified because we all have sinned.
D. Who crucified Christ? It was Annas, Caiaphas, the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation of Israel, Pilate, the Roman Government, the Roman soldiers, you and me who nailed Christ to the cross!
E. I put Jesus Christ on the Cross. You put Jesus Christ on the Cross. With our sins we crucified Him.
F. Romans 3:10, 23 There is none righteous, no not one…For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
G. All of us are guilty of His death on the cross. All our sins were imputed to Christ on the cross as though Jesus had actually committed all my sins.
H. We must recognize and own up to the fact that it is every one of our sins that is responsible for the cross. God’s justice and holiness demanded that the penalty for sin must be exacted – Christ paid the price.
I. I was guilty with nothing to say, And they were coming to take me away.
But then a voice from heaven was heard, That said, let Him go take me instead.
Crown of thorns, the spear in His side, And the pain should have been mine.
The rusty nails were meant for me, But yet Christ took them, And let me go free. And I should have been crucified; I should have suffered and died. I should have hung on the cross in disgrace, But Jesus, God’s Son took my place. © 1972 Jensen Music (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc., 741 Coolsprings Blvd., Franklin TN 37067) CCLI License No. 754427
IV. God Killed Christ
A. Isaiah 53:4, 10 MKJV Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted… Yet it pleased Jehovah to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand.
B. The New Testament teaches that the Jews and Romans, though
personally responsible for their sinful actions, were actually fulfilling the
predetermined plan of God. In his death, Jesus was submissive to the will of
God.
C. Acts 2:23 MKJV this One given to you by the before-determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by lawless hands, crucifying Him, you put Him to death
D. Philippians 2:8-9 MKJV And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name.
E. When He died, Jesus was being obedient to the will of God and, as a result, was "highly exalted" by God.
F. John 10:17-18 MKJV Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I might take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down from Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment from My Father.
G. All human beings as sinners are separated from God by sin. The penalty for that sin is death -– everlasting separation from God. But the Bible says God the Father, in His great love for us, sent His Son to die for our sins.
H. 1 John 4:9-10 MKJV In this the love of God was revealed in us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation concerning our sins.
I. It wasn’t nails that held Jesus to the cross; It was His love for us That made Him pay the cost. And how the angels must have cried, Watching helpless as He died; To bring us love, perfect love, His kind of love. His Kind Of Love, Marijohn Wilkin, © 1974 Buckhorn Music Publishers, Inc. (Admin. by Buckhorn Music Publisher, Inc.) CCLI License No. 754427.
Conclusion: God so loved you and me that He sent His Son to hang on the cross, being nailed there by ungodly religionists and politicians, crushed by each and every sin you and I have and will commit, held there by a broken heart to purchase eternal redemption if we would but acknowledge our sin and accept his substitutionary death for us. Christ died for you that you might live through and in Him. The magnificent truth is that 3 days and 3 nights after the crucifixion Jesus Christ bodily rose victorious over Satan, death, sin, the grave and hell. He’s alive today and wants to be intimately the most important part of your life. Will you receive Him today?
