Jewish history has been profoundly impacted for two thousand years by bearing the burden of blame for the death of one of its own: The Jew, Jesus of Nazareth.

Who really is chargeable for the death of Jesus (‘Yeshua’ in Hebrew)?

The New Testament makes clear who is responsible. However, people have either not consulted it, or simply ignored what is written. While we gratefully acknowledge the Catholic Church’s Vatican II, issued in 1962-1965, exonerating the Jewish people (of the responsibility); in a sense, it is shocking that this conclusion took almost 1700 years.

Meanwhile, the spiritual destiny of countless Jewish people has been undermined, and, in many cases, sabotaged forever.

Consider my husband’s ninety one year old aunt who just entered eternity, and who, eighty four years ago, as a little girl in New Jersey, was called a “Christ killer”. That erroneous, destructive, piercing vitriol, born out of centuries of ignorance regarding what the Scriptures say about this matter, appeared to permanently harden her heart and close her mind, from considering the true identity of Jesus: The Jewish Messiah and her only means of salvation.

What does the New Testament, which is authoritative on this event, say?

Notwithstanding Christendom’s nearly 1,700 year blindspot, the Apostle Peter, himself a Jewish man, set the record straight in Acts chapter 4. We know that Acts chapter 2, which records the major event of the giving of the Spirit of God on Shavuot/Pentecost, occurred exactly 50 days after the death of Yeshua (the Passover Lamb who was slain). Acts chapter 4 occurred shortly thereafter.

He declared:

“The kings of the earth set themselves in array,
And the rulers were gathered together,
Against the Lord, and against his Anointed (the word Messiah means ‘anointed one’):

for of a truth in this city (Jerusalem) against thy holy Servant Jesus,
whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together,

to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy council foreordained to come to pass.” (Acts 4:26-28 ASV)

This passage shouts the answer to who is responsible for the death of Jesus: FIVE groups/individuals were responsible–

Herod (Antipas)
Pontius Pilate, the prefect (governor) of Roman occupied Judea)
The Gentiles (non-Jews)
The peoples of Israel.

So yes, the Jewish leadership in the first century had their part by turning Jesus of Nazareth over to the Roman Pilate, who had authority to release Him. And yes, the people of the land had their part too, by calling out “Crucify Him, crucify Him.”  However, understand that crucifixion was a Roman form of punishment, not Jewish.

But, who is the fifth person responsible for the death of Jesus?

The God of Israel! Here, in the Book of Acts, it says that the first four were the tool to do what His hand and counsel predestined to occur.

Now, you might ask, are you saying God is responsible for the death of Jesus?

I am saying that very thing.

One of the best known verses of Scripture declares this: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NASB)

Isaiah prophesied about the Suffering Servant:

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
he hath put him to grief:
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” (Isa: 53:10 KJV)

The LORD is speaking of this “Suffering Servant” in the same chapter, verse 12:

“Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great…
because he bared his soul unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Jewish Publication Society translation)

Thus, it’s really not a mystery who is responsible for the death of Jesus of Nazareth.
First cause is the God of the universe.

Let’s look at the very words of Yeshua that confirm this truth: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 NASB)

Yeshua knew why He came…to be the atonement for our sins, for both Jews and Gentiles.

Actually, there is a sixth person, and yes, even a seventh person responsible for the death of Jesus: You and I!!

Here’s the paradox: God purposed and gave the Messiah as an atonement for sin, AND yet, no one is off the hook. We are all responsible for His death because we have all sinned against the One to whom we will give an account someday, and in so doing, have all contributed to putting Him on the cross.

Look at Yeshua’s own words as he hung there:
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34 KJV)
Do you think Yeshua’s prayer was answered? His prayers were always answered. Yeshua clearly forgave His own people. Why have some people, who claim to know Him, taken up an offense that He forgave?

So, in 2009, if you think Jews should be singled out for the death of Jesus, consider,

the Jew, Jesus, died almost two thousand years before Jews living today were born; He knew he came to give his life for us all; and the Scripture makes absolutely clear that all human beings, together, are culpable. Fortunately, the Scripture makes equally clear the way unto forgiveness and salvation… “that if you confess with your mouth Yeshua as LORD (covenant keeping God), and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;…” (Rom. 10:9)

If you’re Jewish and have had the unfortunate experience of being called a ‘Christ-killer’, realize the perpetrator was ignorant of the facts, and obviously filled with hate in his/her heart. The LORD does not feel that way about you. Remember He purposed to have the Messiah be the ‘sacrifice lamb’. Don’t let someone else’s malicious words block you from coming to the One who so loved you that He gave His life to reconcile you to the Heavenly Father, who is Love.

If you were raised in a home hearing the gray noise that “the Jews killed Christ”, please examine the facts of Scripture, and purge this falsehood from your thinking, for the sake of truth and for your own blessing. “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” (Proverbs 28:13)

The Master of the Universe is the God of Israel. He takes the sin of Jew-hatred very seriously. For as the Scriptures declare in Numbers 24:9:

“Blessed be every one that blesseth thee (Israel), And cursed be every one that curseth thee (Israel).”

Old lies die hard…but the Truth sets free.

Recently, a young man told me he was sure he honored his parents. I asked what he meant by “honor”. He did some rabbinic reasoning and answered my question with a question!

“What do you think that means?”

I was surprised by what came out of my mouth. I knew the biblical Hebrew word for ‘honor’ was ‘kavod’. It means “to be heavy, weighty”. I replied, “Since it means ‘heavy’, or ‘weight’, it follows that it means to give weight to their opinions.”

I continued, “In this way it will go well with you, as this commandment says, ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.’” (Deut. 5:16)

He was stunned and had no reply! He is part of a generation that devalues the opinion of parents.

Leviticus 19:1-4 gives us an important progression:

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
‘Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them,’
You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father,
and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the LORD your God.

Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.”

1. Be holy (set apart) as the LORD is holy.
2. Reverence mother and father. The Biblical Hebrew word for ‘reverence’ is very strong. It is ‘yaray’, which means “to fear, be afraid, stand in awe, revere”. Also, notice the order: The LORD put mothers first in this passage!! And, it doesn’t say reverence your mother or father if they are scholars, successful, wealthy, ‘cool’, savvy… There is neither prerequisite nor exception to the command to reverence mother and father! However, obviously if a parent is encouraging wrongdoing, or something that violates God’s Word, then it is clear that that is not wise counsel (to say the least) and does not have to be heeded.
3. Keep the LORD’s sabbaths.
4. Don’t turn to idols.

Clearly, in the past two generations, the irreverence toward God, parents and the ‘weight’ of their opinions, and the virtual disappearance of honoring the Sabbath/Lord’s Day, has opened the door to widespread and multiple forms of idolatry…

Idols are weights choking our souls.
In fact, idolatry and disobedience to parents are two behaviors Scripture declares will be characteristic of the “difficult times in the last days”:

“For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. ” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NASB)

There has never been a more critical time for each of us to cut ties to the ‘weights’ in our lives that harm us and others, and honor the LORD and His word by “giving weight” to our parents’ thoughts.

It’s practical. It’s doable.
God promises that it will go well with us.
That’s heavy!

Do you remember the Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, singing “I Wanna Hold Your Hand?”  It was a pivotal point in US history, as the rock and drug scene then exploded.

Songs bring us back to where we were, what we were doing, what we were FEELING.

There’s a song, also written by a British man, that changed my life.

During a protracted, devastating time in my family’s life, when I was seven years old, my mother bought me one of those box record players for a birthday present.  Some of you remember those primitive machines!  We would put a little plastic piece in the center of a 45rpm record, move the arm and place the needle on the record, and listen again and again.

My mother, raised in an Orthodox Jewish home, ‘inadvertently’ picked Abide With Me (along with Roll out the Barrel and another title I can’t recall.)  Someone in the Great Somewhere knew I needed the words.  Obviously my mother did not know that Abide With Me was a Christian hymn!

I have included all the words from the song at the end of this post.  All I remember from the 45rpm record were the words, “When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O Abide with me.”

As a seven year old, I already knew I was helpless.  My family was facing the humanly unsolvable problem of an incurable disease and certain death.  Looking back, knowing I was ‘helpless’ was a gift.  I did not have to wait until I was old, and hence waste a lot of time, before reckoning with that harsh reality regarding the human condition.  It was, as someone has described this type of thing, “a severe mercy.”

I did not know what the word ‘abide’ meant intellectually; however, I did know, intuitively.  I asked the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom I had heard about in Hebrew school, to “abide with me”.   A child’s faith is precious in God’s sight because it is unencumbered by attitude, pre-conceived notions or presumptions.   No demanding, no doubting, no sense of entitlement.  I simply asked.

His hand of mercy and blessing followed me.  I came to know this One, who not only was “holding my hand”, but also really wanted to hold my hand, through life’s difficulties.  He ultimately brought revelation knowledge to me when I was seventeen, showing me that Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth, was my Messiah.

Yeshua said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”   (John 12:24)

It is tragic that Henry Francis Lyte died from tuberculosis three weeks after writing Abide With Me.  As the grain of wheat that died, he didn’t know that his creation bore much fruit. His hymn became a favorite of King George V and Mahatma Ghandi!  It was sung at the wedding of the future Queen Elizabeth II.  It was played at annual military services in India;  it is played at the annual Anzac Day services honoring  Australian and New Zealand troops who fought in World War I; the first verse of the hymn is played before the The Football Association Challenge Cup (FA) Cup finals, the oldest association football competition in the world, since 1871-1872; the famous jazz musician “Thelonious Monk recorded a simple yet remarkably elegant instrumental version of the hymn with his jazz septet under the title “Abide with Me” as start of the 1957 album Monk’s Music;”  Elton John had it on his Carnival Rainforest album;  it was on TV shows such as Lost and Touched By An Angel!” ¹

He didn’t know that 116 years after these simple, yet profoundly anointed words were birthed out of his suffering and impending death, the life of a devastated little Jewish girl in New York City would be powerfully impacted, and that they would be influential in introducing her to the Eternal One and a life of hope and comfort; and that she would, herself, go on to influence thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, with the same hope and comfort, all because of the outpouring of Henry Lyte’s heart in suffering.

I don’t think that 45rpm record contained the complete hymn.  It is clear that Mr. Lyte, suffering with TB,  was preparing for his possible death, as he quoted 1 Corinthians 16:55: “O Death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?”  Though this is a well known New Testament passage, its origin is in the Hebrew Scriptures:  Hosea 13:14!  “O Death, where are your thorns?  O Sheol, where is your sting?”

As a little girl, I knew that my loved one’s impending death certainly stung!  But no one told me what the Scriptures declare:  That death is an enemy, not just part of the life cycle.  The One Henry Lyte and I hope in “…must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”   (1 Corinthians 15:25-26)

Please note that the writer of 1 Corinthians was Rav Shaul (The Apostle Paul), a learned orthodox Jewish man who met his Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) in a life changing experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).  He was thoroughly familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, and perhaps, when writing to the Corinthian believers, was thinking of this passage from the Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah:

“And on this mountain He (Yehovah Tzvaot-the LORD of hosts) will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the LORD has spoken.”  (Isaiah 25:7-8)

Whether you are facing death or disappointment, there is One who longs to hold your hand, to “abide with you”.

Ask Him to abide with you.  Know that He has made it simple to come to Him, because He already provided the Way, through  Messiah Yeshua, who gave His life as an atonement, that you might have life.

Abide With Me

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

¹ “Abide with Me.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 Jul 2009, 22:56 UTC. 3 Jul 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abide_with_Me&oldid=300134360>.