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.

The return of the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel from the four corners of the earth, in the last century, was not a fluke, nor simply a random political event.

This virtual human impossibility was prophesied in the Scriptures 3,500 to 2,600 years ago by Moses, the Psalmist, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Remember, it was not just that the Jewish people were scattered to the ends of the earth.  They were persecuted by a majority of their host nations, suffering expulsion after having been established, having laws passed against them, enduring torture, and even experiencing organized murder.  Spain, Germany, Russia, the Arab lands, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, France and England all participated in this sin of anti-Semitism.

That the Jewish People still exist is a miracle.  Clearly the reason why is the faithfulness of the God of Israel in keeping the covenants He made with them.

He declared a “thus saith the LORD” when He said that the sun, moon and stars would have to be destroyed in order for Israel to cease from being a nation.  (Jeremiah31:35,36)

“The Prophetic Regathering of Israel” lithograph was created to artistically document this modern day miracle. There are scores of prophetic passages on this regathering; I was limited by space and, unfortunately, could not include them all.

Below are the passages that appear “in the map” on the artwork:

Thus saith the LORD who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night; Who stirs up the sea, that the waves roar, the LORD of Hosts is His name:  If these ordinances depart from before Me, saith the LORD, then the descendants of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.  (Jeremiah 31:35,36)

No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.  (Isaiah 54:17)

Behold, He that keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  (Psalm 121:4)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  (Psalm 122:6)

And He shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  (Isaiah 11:12)

The LORD will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.  (Isaiah 52:12)

Fear not for I am with thee.  I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, keep not back; bring My sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone who is called by My name, for I have created him for My glory.  (Isaiah 43:5-7)

Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)

He hath remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations which covenant He made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.  (Psalm 105:8-11)

He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock.  (Jeremiah 31:10)

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts…from there will the LORD thy God gather thee. (Deuteronomy 30:4)

And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and will bring them again to their own folds and they shall be fruitful and increase. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the LORD lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all countries to which I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land.  (Jeremiah 23:3,7-8)

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh, is anything too hard for me?  (Jeremiah 32:27)

When I was a college student, the Messiah of Israel found me, though most believers like to say we found Him.  I really was “minding my own business” when He began to draw me into His magnificent kingdom, the Kingdom of God, on the same day the Yom Kippur War began in 1973.  Five weeks later I received Him–I was alone when the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of God, revealed the truth and love of Messiah, my need for forgiveness, and His provision of atonement.  After I prayed, I literally felt unseen chains break off.  I was free.

I learned there were 400 believers on our campus of 15,000.  There I met a fellow believer named Mike B.

Fast forward thirty years. My husband and I moved to another state.  A neighbor across the street invited us to his fellowship.

While looking at the announcements in the bulletin I noticed that the speaker for the evening was a man named Mike B.  Same name.  Could it be the same person? I didn’t remember Mike as being the “type” to be serving in some far off place.

We returned early that evening to see if it was Mike.  Sure enough, twenty eight years after having last seen him, there he was.  He had served the LORD in Africa and was now in Eastern Europe.

Mike had a hard time recognizing me in my salt and pepper hair!  But we hugged and rejoiced at the miracle that had just taken place.  Neither of us had ever been in that fellowship before, as I had moved to that state the week before, and he had been living in Africa and then Eastern Europe over the past twenty five years.  He had just gotten back to the States  a week or so before, and this was a speaking engagement that had been arranged for him.

We marveled at the encouragement the LORD us–that He has directed every step of our lives, and knows the times and the seasons of our lives.

I met his dynamic wife, Kathy, and asked her to tell me about the transition to Eastern Europe…to the same country and city where my grandmother was from!

“The ground is really hard there.  It’s a predominantly Catholic country.”

She spoke of the profound hardness of heart that she and Mike encountered there to spiritual things.  This is not difficult to understand.  World War II ravaged the entire continent.  The suffering was unspeakable. Volumes have been written on the subject.

I had a thought…should I tell Kathy why there might possibly be hard hearts or resistance to spiritual things?  Or, would it be interpreted as self serving?

I knew I had to speak.  “You know, Kathy, during the war, a large majority of the people of that country strongly participated in helping the Nazis destroy its Jewish population.  There is a covenant in Scripture, the Abrahamic Covenant. (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 17)  Here, the LORD promised the Patriarch Abraham three things:  Land, seed, and blessing.  He also stated that “I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you.”  This covenant and promise was reaffirmed to Isaac in Genesis 26; to Jacob in Genesis chapter 28:13-15; 35:9-12; 48:3-4.  Numbers chapter 24:1-9 is very clear:  “Blessed is everyone who blesses you (Israel), and cursed is everyone who curses you (Israel).”

“I am wondering, Kathy, if the way to have softened ground in the country where you are laboring is to join the other believers in confessing the very serious sin of anti-Semitism that led to hundreds of thousands of Jewish deaths.  Innocent blood has been shed in that land…the innocent blood of God’s covenant people is on the soil and on the hands of their ancestors.  Perhaps there is a curse on the land spoken of in Genesis 12.  In addition, the sin of hatred that generations of people in that country have participated in has opened a big door to the enemy of their souls:  Satan.  The people are indeed in bondage.

Kathy listened.  Kathy agreed.  She left to join her husband.

Then it was time for Mike to give the message.  I was amazed.  He had changed the talk he had planned to give, to one that would address what I had shared with Kathy.  He requested prayer for the nation where he was serving…for a spirit of repentance to be granted for the sins that nation committed against the Jews during WWII.

Reader, does it sound strange that the sins of ancestors can have such an impact a generation or two later?

It is not strange, for the Scripture speaks of the principle of curses going to the third and fourth generation (Deuteronomy 5:9), and the blessing of lovingkindness going to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 5:10) to those who love Yahweh (The LORD) and keep His commandments.

One of His commandments is to bless, and not curse Israel!

So, what can we get from this true encounter?

1. The Living God, the God of Israel, is in the business of doing wondrous things.  He literally directs steps/paths of those who seek Him.  It is thrilling to be led by the LORD.
2. When hearts are closed to spiritual things we can’t prejudge and just say, “Oh, they’re not open to Biblical truth.” Such people need us to be the intercessors to help “break up fallow ground” (Hosea 10:12), confessing the sins of a nation or city or people group, so other prayers can be heard on high.  Please note that Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, Isaiah all cried unto God, saying, “I have sinned, and my fathers/people have sinned.”  No one exists alone spiritually.  Sin in our lives affects others, including a nation’s destiny.
3. Anti-Semitism is not just a current topic with political implications.  The spiritual ramifications for hating the Jewish people are borne out in history–in nations, as well as, in individual lives.

Dare I ask if you come from a heritage of hate, a heritage of specifically hating the Jewish people?  If so, confess the sins of your ancestors and any residual anti-Semitism that may exist in your heart.  This may be a key to possible breakthrough in your own life.

Shalom!