I recount this little story because it illustrates the fear that people sometimes feel, not because they are guilty, but rather because they feel guilty about something they are not responsible for. Indeed, there are many Christians — and perhaps a great number of Jews — who, in the wake of all the marketing for Mel Gibson’s new film The Passion of The Christ, either feel guilty or accused of something they are not responsible for. On Saturday, February 7, my husband and I participated in the pre-screening of The Passion. The event was held at Azusa Pacific University, where I serve as associate professor of theology and ministry. Mel Gibson was there in person.
Former atheist and journalist Lee Strobel, author of The Case for Faith and The Case for Christ, was there too. He interviewed Mel Gibson live on campus for about an hour. Many people know that for several months prior to the debut of the film, both Protestants and Catholics have praised The Passion for its artistry and relative biblical accuracy. Some critics, however, have said that the film is anti-Semitic. When Strobel asked Gibson about this, it was noted that those who said the film is anti-Semitic voiced their criticism both after and before they saw the movie. This was no surprise.
For as with other generations, people in our day are wrestling with the uncomfortable perennial question, “Who is to blame for Jesus’ death?” Three main answers are typically given. First, some say that the blame belongs to people who are Jewish. Second, some say that the Romans bear the blame since they physically nailed Jesus to the cross. Third, others argue that everyone is to blame since the sins of the world occasioned Jesus’ death. So who’s responsible? Is it the Jews or the Romans or everyone altogether? Many claim the fault lies with the Jews. No doubt, it is true that the Scriptures make plain the historical fact that Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, along with many others delivered Jesus up to the Roman government. This is an historical fact.
For the Gospel accounts are narratives, not polemics; they are written by firsthand witnesses who saw what happened to Jesus with their own eyes. Thus historically it is true that the Jewish people disowned Him, but spiritually something else was going on simultaneously with regard to the sovereign plan of God. Nevertheless, it is common for people throughout church history to magnify the story of the Jews’ part in His death as if to say that Jesus was a Christian who was bullied by the Romans and the Jews. But Jesus was not a Christian; His followers are Christians. He Himself was a Jewish rabbi sent by God to fulfill the prophecies and also the law of the Old Testament.
When people blame the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ, sometimes they do so by appealing to the New Testament book of Acts. n Acts 3, Peter heals a lame man who was unable to walk from birth. Peter says to him, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!” Instantly the man’s feet and ankles were strengthened such that he began to leap with joy. Upon seeing him, all the people were filled with wonder and amazement.
But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified His servant Jesus, Whom you delivered up and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him” (Acts 3:12-13). The words are plain and simple. Peter said, “Men of Israel . . . you delivered up [Jesus] and disowned . . . Him.” To cite these words as a final indictment against all Jewish people is to misconstrue the message. Granted, the Pharisees and scribes of Jesus’ day disowned Him, even after Pilate, the Roman governor, had decided to let Jesus off the hook. But Pilate, despite his high-minded decision, disowned Jesus too.
As a matter of fact, everyone — including Peter who is famous for denying that he even knew Jesus at all — fled, that is, disowned Him on the night of Jesus’ arrest (Mark 14:50). Like Peter, Pilate dissociated himself from the death of Jesus Christ three times. Three different times Pilate publicly pronounced, “I find no guilt in this Man” (Luke 23:4, 14, 22). But the people put pressure on Pilate. Collectively they shouted, “Crucify, crucify Him!” When Pilate made efforts to release Him, the Jews cried out again saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar’s; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12). Pilate, being Caesar’s underling, found himself therefore caught in a political squeeze. That is not, however, to say that Pilate was forced to comply. But as it happened, when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing and that a riot was breaking out, he took water and symbolically washed his hands in front of the multitude saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood” (Matt 27:24).
So does that mean Pilate was innocent? Or was he the most guilty of all? It appears from the biblical text that Pilate’s sin was less serious than that of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest. In John 19:11, Jesus says to Pilate, “. . . he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.” The implication, then, is obvious. Caiaphas and Pilate both sinned. For Jesus did not say, “He who delivered Me up to you has the only sin.” He simply said that Caiaphas’ sin was greater. Though some might be eager to use this Bible verse to indict the Jewish people and assign all blame to them (or perhaps the bulk of the blame to them), that is a misguided response. For the issue, at root, has nothing to do with who sinned and how much. Yet many, many Christians mistakenly believe that it does.
A friend of mine, for instance, who was raised Catholic told me recently that she grew up believing that it was her fault that Jesus died — that because of her sins, she was personally responsible for His death. A different woman told me that she flat out refused to believe in Jesus specifically because she wanted no part in the guilt of having caused Him to be crucified. She said that she would rather deny the fact that He died on the cross at all than to take on such a weighty load of blame. Providentially, on the night before Mel Gibson came to APU, a Protestant Christian man (an elder in his church) just so happened to have told me that he knows it is his fault that Jesus suffered and died for his sins. Indeed, Mel Gibson himself has been saying the same thing. So here’s the question: What does the Bible say? Again, we are confronted by the facts.
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