Why Did The Romans Kill Jesus?

855 Words2 Pages

Who Killed Jesus in the Garden? Thomas Allen Did the Romans kill Jesus, or did the Jews kill Jesus? Christian Zionists and Jews claim that the Romans killed Jesus. In “Who killed Jesus: The Romans or the Jews?,” The Jerusalem Post (December 29, 2021; Updated: November 19, 2022) at https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/article-690095, Lewis Regenstein presents an agreement in favor of the Romans being guilty of Jesus’s death, and the Jews being innocent. With his argument, most Christian Zionists would agree. In Judea, the Roman’s controlled capital punishment, the Jews had no authority to crucify anyone. Only the Romans could execute someone by crucifixion. If the Jews had executed Jesus, they would have stoned him, as they did Stephen. Therefore, …show more content…

The New Testament shows that the Romans, and not the Jews, killed Jesus. Jesus and his family, disciples, followers, and supporters were Jews, and like other Jews they were victims of Roman oppression. Since Jesus was an observant Jew and popular with the Jewish people, why would the Jews kill him? Jesus’s popularity with the Jewish people was the primary reason that the Romans executed him. To carry out their scheme to kill Jesus, the Romans used Jewish agents and collaborators. Nevertheless, because of what Jesus said to and about the Jewish leaders, they wanted the Romans to kill Jesus since they had no power to execute him themselves. Further, they feared that the Romans would deal harshly with the Jews unless Jesus, whom they and the Romans saw as a troublemaker, was eliminated. Consequently, these leaders, who held office at the pleasure of the Romans, collaborated with the Romans to kill Jesus. In short, the Gospels describe Jesus as a popular Jewish reformer with a large Jewish following. They clearly describe the Romans as cruelly executing Jesus because the Romans perceived Jesus as a threat to Roman and their Jewish collaborators in the priesthood. As for the mob of Jews that cursed Jesus and demanded his execution, if such a …show more content…

What does the Bible say? According to the Gospels, Pilate did order Jesus’s execution, and Roman soldiers carried out that order. However, Paul and Peter place the blame and responsibility of Jesus’s crucifixion on the Jews. In 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15, Paul writes: (14) For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews (15) who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don’t please God, and are contrary to all men. In this passage, Paul clearly blames the Jews for killing Jesus: “the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus.” Speaking to a group of Jews, Peter said, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you [Jews] crucified.” (Acts 2:36). Clearly, Peter identifies the Jews as killing Jesus. Later, Peter spoke to the religious rulers and elders of the Jews and said, “[M]ay it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you [Jews] crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands here before you whole in him.” (Acts 4:10) Again,

Open Document