"Who Killed Jesus? A Personal Reflection" with Dr. Michael Rydelnik Transcripts
"…Nazi anti-Semitism…"
Even Nazi anti-Semitism, which was primarily racial and not religious in character tried to draw in religious Christians by raising the allegation of the Christ-killer accusation. The Christ-killer charge. And so they would say that when God chose all, made all the peoples of the earth, He chose one to murder His Son. And those were the Jewish people, and that's why the Jews fashion themselves to be the chosen people. That is actually in a children's book called Don't Trust the Fox in the Meadow and Don't Trust the Jew by his Word, published in Germany in 1935.
The idea of Christ-killer accusations were revived by the Nazis and by others since the Middle Ages, this idea that the Jewish people would kill Christian children at Passover season to reenact the crucifixion of Christ and use their blood to make Passover matzah. And the Nazis used that charge as well.
Interestingly now that same charge is being raised again. Bashar Assad spoke to the Pope and made the Christ-killer charge just a couple of years ago when the Pope visited Syria. The charge keeps coming up. The ritual murder charge keeps coming up. And it is based on the Christ-killer accusation. So these anti-Semitic charges and the anti-Semitic actions that have oppressed Jewish people make Jewish people very, very sensitive to any portrayal where they have even any responsibility in the death of Christ.
"…His blood be upon us…"
I would say that the passage that is most likely used to support the idea that the Jews are the unique murderers of Jesus and are perpetually guilty is Matthew 27:25. Where the crowd stands before Pilate and says, "All the people said, His blood be upon us and upon our children."
When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that 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." And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children." Matthew 27:24-25
And because of that, many scholars have said, "Well, all the people represents the entire nation," that it is almost a technical term for the entire nation taking guilt upon themselves. And that the fact that they say, "May His blood be upon us and upon our children," so it's from generation to generation, all Jewish people are guilty. That is a complete misreading of that verse.
Put it in context. Pontius Pilate just immediately previous to this has washed his hands of guilt and yet the New Testament says that he still is guilty. In the book of Acts, it cites his guilt. And so Pontius Pilate could not take away his guilt with any action. This crowd couldn't bring guilt upon their children with their words. Matthew records accurately what they say, what they volunteer, but they couldn't do it. It would be contrary to Scripture. It says in Ezekiel 18, "The soul that sins, it shall die." But children won't bear the responsibility for the iniquities of their fathers. That would be unjust. Certainly there are consequences that may go from generation to generation in family. But not guilt.
"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." Ezekiel 18:20
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