
The Death of Christ – Who is Responsible?
Understanding why Jesus died:
There can be some confusion about the question in my title. I have heard three sets of commentary on the death of Christ and who might be to blame (although others might be mentioned). Some Jewish haters of Christians have insisted that Christians murdered Jesus! I am not sure where anyone can get that nonsense from.
Secondly some Christian haters of Jews insist that Jews murdered Jesus. This is often said by obvious antisemites, but not always. And a third camp gets all bent out of shape if we say that our sins sent Jesus to the cross. So which of these three options – if any – is correct? Well, obviously the first one should be given an instant flick. There were no Christians as such around back then, just Jews – and some Gentiles – who followed Christ.
We read that the first time the term “Christian” was used was many decades after his death. In Acts 11:26 we find these words: “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians”. That was around 100 AD.
As to the second, this is often your standard Jew-hating and antisemitic line. As such we can dismiss it readily enough. The only thing that comes close to truth here is the fact that the Gospel accounts tell us that some Roman leaders and some Jewish leaders were directly and specifically behind the actual arrest, trial and crucifixion of Christ.
As to the Jews being partly responsible, see these sorts of passages:
-Matthew 26:3-4 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
-Matthew 27:20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
As to the Roman involvement in the actual crucifixion, we have texts like Matthew 27:27-31:
When the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
The third ‘option’ is heard from some Christians, often those in the Reformed camp. They are so focused on keeping the sovereignty of God promoted and prioritised, that they can relegate other biblical truths to secondary status. Thus they can be heard saying things like this: ‘No, Christians did not cause the death of Jesus nor send him to the cross – it was all done according to the eternal purpose and plan of God.’
As is often the case, a statement like this needs to be teased out much more. Did Jesus die for us to fulfill the purposes of God? Sure thing, and I will speak to that in a moment. But the obvious point is this: If sin had never entered the world, then there would be no reason why Jesus would come to suffer and die on a cross. So in some way at least we must speak about our role in ‘sending’ Christ to the cross.
We must know that the Bible clearly teaches these three core truths about this:
- Sin did indeed enter the world, and we are all sinners.
- Christ came to deal with the sin problem.
- This is said to be part of the eternal purpose of God.
So it is foolish to just brush off any notion that our sins somehow sent Christ to the cross. In one sense of course they did. As I say, Christ would not have endured the cross and despised the shame if we had not sinned. So in a very real way we are responsible for Christ going to the cross.
But to say this is not to negate the sovereign purposes of God. And bear in mind that the old mystery of how God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom somehow cohere and must both be affirmed simultaneously will never be fully figured out this side of heaven.
So let me look a bit more at the three core truths I just listed:
Sin entered the world and we are all sinners
Here are just a few passages on this matter: Paul said this Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…” And two chapters earlier he stated:
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:9-18, quoting from Psalm 53, etc.)
And in 1 John 1:8-10 we read these words: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”
Jesus came to die for sinners
Many texts can be mentioned here. Two from the gospels are these:
-Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
-Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
And Paul said this in 1 Timothy 1:15: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” Or as John wrote: “But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins” (1 John 3:5).
God has eternally had the plan of salvation as part of his sovereign purposes
Consider just some verses on this. Ephesians 1:3-10 says this:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Or as we find in Ephesians 3:7-13:
Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
In sum, the charge that the Jews killed Jesus, end of story, can be tossed out. The claim that Christians killed him (and I have had this said to me) is certainly not worth dealing with. But those Christians who chastise and rebuke others for saying my sin and your sin sent Jesus to the cross need to ease up a bit.
Of course that is only one part of the story. Of course God had his purposes and plans being worked out. So we can and should affirm both truths: our sin is why Jesus died on the cross, but the purposes of God were also being served.
Perhaps the best two summary passages from Scripture on all this are these:
-Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
-Acts 4:27-28 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
These texts – along with others – make it clear that God was at work in the cross, while human choices were also involved.
[1710 words]
Indeed. The whole reason Jesus’ opposition arrested Him, convicted Him (of no crime) and crucified Him so quickly (Thursday night to Friday) was because He had so much support from the Jewish people, as seen on Palm Sunday, that He was seen as both a political and religious threat which had to be dealt with quickly. From their perspective a prolonged outcome, as with John the Baptist, would likely have promoted an insurrection. We know from scripture that many Jews wanted to forcibly make Him king.
Of course God allowed this to happen for His own purpose which goes toward the old question of why God allows wrongdoing. It is to prove it is wrongdoing and show exactly who the perpetrators are.
John 10:17-18 NKJV
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
[18] No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
Thanks Shane. Yes that is a big part of the overall equation.
Thank you, Bill. The rise of anti-Semistism today is at times not suprising, but then it is truly demonic of how wide it has spread and who you hear or read saying it.
Quite so Susan.