Who does the Bible blame for killing Jesus? And
will those who pierced Christ see His coming in judgment?
Day 15
According
to the Bible, the Jews receive the blame for putting Christ to death: Matthew 27:25, John 19:15, Acts 2:23, 3:13-15, 5:30, 7:52, 10:39, and 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16. Pilate even washed his hands of the blood of Jesus (Matthew 27:24) and
Jesus affirmed the greater sin was on those who delivered Him to Pilate (John 19:11). But the Romans were not entirely innocent (like Eve was not entirely
innocent in the Garden of Eden, but Adam gets the blame (Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:22).
According
to the Bible, those who pierced Christ will see His coming judgment (on the unrepentant
Jews). Please see: Matthew 24:30 (in the context of the Temple's destruction and the end of the sacrificial age); Zechariah 12:10; and Revelation 1:7. Since
these people no longer live today, it must have happened already.
Furthermore,
this makes sense. When the prophets were persecuted and killed, Israel went
into judgment for it was by their
hand blood was spilt. Of course, a remnant survived.
Should
we not have expected that when the Jews, led by the Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, and
High Priest killed Christ, the Son of God, that they would also be judged
severely? Of course, a remnant survived including Paul, Mary,
Jude, James, Peter, and many other early Jewish Christians (3,000 in one day,
Acts 2:41, 5,000 on another day in Acts 4:4) who rightly repented and believed by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3) upon seeing or hearing of Christ as the finished sacrifice
and resurrected Savior and accordingly received Him as Lord.
Consider
the issue of authority. Christ is indeed the King of Kings (1 Timothy 6:15,
Revelation 17:14, 19:16), He exercised His power (Matthew 28:18) over the most
powerful nation the world had ever seen (Rome) and used that nation to do His
bidding by judging the Jews for their actions against Him and their persecution
of His bride, the Church (Revelation 18:23, 21:2, 3:12, Hebrews 12:22,
Revelation 21:9, 22:17). Is this too hard for Christ who has all authority?
Not at all.
In
the same way God used Chaldeans of Babylon with their king, Nebuchadnezzar, to
do his bidding against Judah in the Old Testament for judgment (e.g., Jeremiah 25:9, 27:6, Habakkuk 1:6) and used the evil Assyrians to do his bidding of
judgment against Israel (e.g., Isaiah 7:17, 10:5-6), so Christ used Rome to enact
his judgment on the unrepentant Jews and Jerusalem, its capital—the seat of
power for the Pharisees, Sadducees, and High Priest.
The
Jews who rejected Christ used the Beast of Rome (just as a person who uses a
bit in the mouth of a beast to control the beast) to crucify the Son of God, so
God used the same Beast of Rome to enact judgment on the woman who rode the
beast (Jews who rejected Christ). And so the owner of the vineyard did not
spare the wrath on the workers who killed his son, so God did not spare the
wrath on those who killed the Son of God (Matthew 21:33-41).
Re-read Revelation 1:1-9.
