Who killed Jesus?

One of the main reasons some people give for hating the Jewish people and use as an excuse for their acts of antisemitism is that the Jews killed Jesus. But did they kill him? They need to take a share of the blame for the crucifixion and death of Jesus; however, no one should lay the entire burden on their shoulders. In order to explain this answer, I'll remind you of what happened during the last day of Jesus' life.

The Sanhedrin declared Jesus to be guilty of blasphemy, which was punishable by death. However, they were unable to convince Pontius Pilate to carry out the sentence. (Matthew 26:57-68). They then accused him of subversion, opposing the paying of taxes to Caesar, and claiming to be king (Luke 23:2), as well as inciting the people to rebel (Luke 23:14). Chapter 19 in the book of John provides the remainder of the summary. Pilate tried to appease the Jews by having Jesus flogged; however, this wasn't enough for the Jewish leaders. They reminded Pilate that "anyone who claims to be king opposes Caesar". Pilate again refused to agree. After the Jews - both leaders and people in the crowd - demanded that Jesus be crucified, Pilate relented and ordered his soldiers to carry out the death sentence. The soldiers escorted Jesus to the site of crucifixion, nailed him to the cross, and made sure that he was dead.

Every person involved along the way is guilty of killing Jesus. As you can see, some were Jewish and others were Roman, so you can't lay all of the blame on the Jews. The Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders were responsible for bringing the charges, demanding Jesus be crucified, and convincing Pilate to order the death sentence. The Jews in the crowd were responsible for demanding crucifixion instead of demanding Jesus be freed. Pontius Pilate was responsible for enforcing the death sentence. Roman soldiers were responsible for nailing Jesus to the cross and letting him hang there until he was dead. Both Jews and Romans killed Jesus. It took each person doing what they did in order to kill him. They were all guilty either directly or indirectly.

Don't continue to hate the Jews and begin hating everyone from Rome. There are still many more people who can be accused of this act of murder you can add to your list of people to hate if you're going to hate everyone who murdered Jesus. The larger group includes all Christians. You read that correctly. "He [Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). That includes every Christian - past, present, and future. Jesus died for your sins. If any one person never sinned, they could claim innocence; however, no one has ever lived a sinless life except for Jesus. Now expand your list to everyone who has ever lived or who will be born in the future. John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". Although salvation is only available to those who accept the atoning death of Christ, Jesus died for the sins of everyone in the world.

That's a lot of people to hate. Every person, including you and me, are guilty of killing Jesus.


* All quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible.