Who Killed Jesus?
No, it wasn't the Romans. [Nov 8, 2023]
I remember one day, in my “Nazi Germany and the Holocaust” class, when my professor was discussing the evolution of anti-Semitism in Europe. She described antisemitism in Europe as originally being, what she called, “religious anti-Semitism” which eventually turned into “racial anti-Semitism” which is what she said the NSDAP believed. The key difference being that religious anti-Semitism was characterized by Christians who resented Jews for: 1. killing Jesus, and 2. failing to accept His teachings. Comparatively, racial anti-Semitism was characterized by the newly formed “racial sciences” that began to spring up in Europe and America around the time.
Of course, she denounced both of these forms of anti-Semitism and went so far as to proclaim: “The Jews didn’t even kill Jesus, the Romans did!” in an almost gleeful manner, her golden cross necklace bouncing on her chest as she did. I replied “Actually, the Bible itself makes it pretty clear that the Jesus were ultimately responsible for Jesus’ death.” to which she said in turn “Actually, the Bible doesn’t say that!” as if this was some deep and elusive truth she had only recently brought to light. As if it was actually true. It isn’t, but I elected to bite my tongue at the time since I had no desire to derail the class and this is a rather lengthy subject with a lot of moving parts.
Today, however, I will walk you through every argument regarding who is ultimately responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, to finally answer who exactly is responsible.
God?
This is going to be the most theologically dense section, so I highly recommend following the links provided for additional context.
Many people will be quick to point out that God is ultimately the architect of His own death. Ultimately, it is all by His design and so He ultimately orchestrates His own death. This is true, but not in the way most people typically think. The problem here is an age old dilemma: Human free will, or God’s omniscience? The point of contention here is that, as most people tend to agree, human free will is seemingly incompatible with God’s omniscience. The problem manifests as such: if God knows all that will happen, then humans don’t really have a choice in their lives because it has all been decided by God as part of His omniscience.
This is something of a false dichotomy however, and a number of solutions have been given for this issue. Some groups accept one side of the dichotomy, and some reject it entirely. For example, Calvinists follow the doctrine of predestination, accepting that God does in fact chose who is and is not saved and this cannot be altered. Most modern Christians, on the other hand, are Arminianists. A few theologians, such as Dr. William Lane Craig, are Molinists. I myself am also a Molinist, and so I will be arguing this case through a Molinist framework.
According to Molinism, in addition to God’s knowledge of necessary truths and contingent truths, God also has knowledge of counterfactuals. That is to say, God knows what would happen if circumstances had been different in a given situation. For example (as Dr. Craig put it): “God knew what you would have done if you had been the Roman procurator of Judea in the 1st century instead of Pontius Pilate.”
Pilate would have always done what he did in that situation, otherwise he would not have been Pontius Pilate. Perhaps you would have instead freed Jesus if you were in Pilate’s place. This is precisely why God chose Pilate to be the one to oversee Jesus’ Roman trial. It was God’s desire for Himself to be crucified, but because he knew what Pilate, the Roman soldiers, the Pharisees, and the crowd at Jesus’ trial would all do in this situation, he decreed that they would be the ones present. Even though God did in fact desire this outcome, the human actors involved are still conscious actors in God’s play, and they did still actively choose to further the crucifixion of Jesus.
I therefore conclude: God’s plan for the crucifixion does not wash away the guilt of the human actors involved. In fact, God chose them all specifically because He knew they would crucify Jesus.
The Romans?
This is probably the most widely held belief, that the Romans are responsible for Jesus’ death. After all, Pilate and his legion were the ones who flayed and crucified Him. Lets take a quick look at the evidence:
The Flagellation, Crown of Thorns, and Mocking
15 So Pilate, because he* wanted ⌊to satisfy⌋ the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And after* he had Jesus flogged, he handed him* over so that he could be crucified. 16 So the soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called together the whole cohort. 17 And they put a purple cloak on him, and after* weaving a crown of thorns they placed it* on him. 18 And they began to greet him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 And they repeatedly struck him on the head with a reed, and were spitting on him, and ⌊they knelt down⌋ and* did obeisance to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him.
W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Mk 15:15–20.
We’ll come back to Pilate’s personal response later, but as you can see the Roman soldiers flogged and mocked Jesus. I should be noted, however, that flagellation was a standard punishment under Roman law, but the mocking and crown of thorns were not.1
Prior to this, however, Jesus was brought before Pilate, who sent Jesus off to king Herod. Herod’s men mock Jesus, and Jesus is then sent back to Pilate.
23 And the whole assembly of them rose up and* brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us* to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying he himself is Christ, a king!” 3 And Pilate asked him, saying, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him and* said, “You say so.” 4 So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” 5 But they insisted, saying, “He incites the people, teaching throughout the whole of Judea and beginning from Galilee as far as here.” Jesus Brought Before Herod 6 Now when* Pilate heard this,* he asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he* found out that he was from the jurisdiction of Herod, he sent him over to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem in those days. 8 And when* Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him. 9 So he questioned him ⌊at considerable length⌋, but he answered nothing to him. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers also treated him with contempt, and after* mocking him* and* dressing him* in glistening clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And both Herod and Pilate became friends with one another on that same day, ⌊for they had previously been enemies of one another⌋.
The extensive mocking of Jesus, especially the crown of thorns, would constitute cruel and unusual punishment in a contemporary American court of law. Both the Roman soldiers, Herod’s soldiers, and to an extent Herod himself are guilty of this.
This brings us to the question of Pilate himself. Because the official charges against Jesus were of sedition, a civil offence, Pilate was the one who had the final say, as the Roman procurator of Judea. So what exactly did he say?
22 Pilate said to them, “What then should I do with Jesus, the one who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But they began to shout* even louder, saying, “Let him be crucified!” 24 So Pilate, when he* saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but instead an uproar was developing, took water and* washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this man. You see to it!”* 25
13 And they shouted again, “Crucify him!” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!” 15 So Pilate, because he* wanted ⌊to satisfy⌋ the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And after* he had Jesus flogged, he handed him* over so that he could be crucified.
4 So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.”
13 So Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people 14 and* said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people, and behold, when I* examined him* before you, I found nothing in this man as basis for the accusation which ⌊you are making⌋ against him. 15 But neither did Herod, because he sent him back to us. And behold, nothing deserving death ⌊has been done⌋ by him. 16 Therefore I will punish him and* release him.”* 18 But they all cried out in unison, saying, “Take this man away, and release for us Barabbas!” 19 (who had been thrown in prison because of a certain insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder). 20 And Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them* again, 21 but they kept crying out, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!” 22 So he said to them a third time, “Why? What wrong has this man done? I found no basis for an accusation ⌊deserving death⌋ in him. Therefore I will punish him and* release him.”* 23 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he be crucified. And their cries prevailed. 24 And Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25 And he released the one who had been thrown into prison because of insurrection and murder, whom they were asking for, but Jesus he handed over to their will.
38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” And when he* had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no basis for an accusation against him.
6 So when they saw him, the chief priests and the officers shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “You take him and crucify him!* For I do not find a basis for an accusation against him.”
12 From this point on Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews shouted, saying, “If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar! Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!”
Now I want to take a moment and clarify that I am not sanctifying Pilate. I am skeptical of accounts of Pilates alleged conversion to Christianity, and I do not think he was hesitant to crucify Jesus out of any sort of religious compulsion. I believe that Pilate was personally sympathetic to Jesus’ plight on some level, and that (more importantly) he was frankly fed up with the locals. This was, as Pilate himself noted, not a strong case. Pilate himself found Jesus innocent, but he was afraid of what the crowds might do if he let Jesus go, and so he “washed his hands” of the matter and let the crowd decide. The choice was pragmatic but it was still ultimately unjust.
It is also important to note that it was not the Romans’ idea to crucify, or even try, Jesus (more on this later). The Romans, in this scenario, were more akin to the grunts of a dictatorship who were “just following orders” than they are the architects of genocide (or in this case: Jesus’ death). Certainly, their hands are not clean, but they are not the biggest concern here.
I therefore conclude: Herod’s soldiers, the Roman soldiers, and Herod himself are guilty of cruel and unusual punishment. Pontius Pilate is guilty only of failing to uphold justice.
Judas?
This argument is quite straightforward, like the argument about the Romans. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, and so Judas is responsible for killing Jesus.
14 Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and* said, “What are you willing to give me if I in turn deliver him to you?” So they set out for him thirty silver coins. 16 And from that time on, he began seeking a favorable opportunity in order that he could betray him.
21 And while* they were eating he said, “Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray me.” 22 And greatly distressed, each one began to say to him, “⌊Surely I am not he, am I⌋, Lord?” 23 And he answered and* said, “The one who dips his hand in the bowl with me—this one will betray me. 24 The Son of Man is going just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if that man had not been born.” 25 And Judas, the one who was betraying him, answered and* said, “⌊Surely I am not he, am I⌋, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said it.”*
45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us go! Behold, the one who is betraying me is approaching!” 47 And while* he was still speaking, behold, Judas—one of the twelve—arrived, and with him a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now the one who was betraying him had given them a sign, saying, “The one whom I kiss—he is the one.* Arrest him!” 49 And he came up to Jesus immediately and* said, “Greetings, Rabbi,” and kissed him. 50 And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do that* for which you have come.” Then they came up and* laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
3 Then when* Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted what he had done* and* returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by* betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”* 5 And throwing the silver coins into the temple he departed. And he went away and* hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests took the silver coins and* said, “It is not permitted to put them into the temple treasury, because it is ⌊blood money⌋.” 7 And after* taking counsel, they purchased ⌊with⌋ them the Potter’s Field, for a burial place for strangers. 8 (For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood until today.) 9 Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, who said, “And they took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one who had been priced, on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me.”
Realizing what he had done and that Jesus was innocent, he returned the silver and hanged himself out of guilt.
But Judas was not directly involved in the violence against Jesus nor the mockery of Jesus. Certainly he is guilty of betrayal, but he had no direct hand in the death of Jesus. Judas also never repented from his betrayal, only felt wracked with guilt, and so he is in Hell.
24 And they prayed and* said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show clearly which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to depart to his own place.” 26
69 And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus replied to them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is the devil?” 71 (Now he was speaking about Judas son of Simon Iscariot, because this one—one of the twelve—was going to betray him.)
12 When I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given to me, and guarded them,* and none of them has perished except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled.
I therefore conclude: Judas Iscariot is guilty of betraying Jesus and facilitating His death. Like the Romans, however, Judas was not the one who orchestrated the death of Jesus, he was merely a tool just like the Romans.
The Jews.
This brings us to our final party, and the ones who orchestrated the death of Jesus.
Throughout Scripture, the Pharisees continually denounce Jesus. They seek to cut Him down at every opportunity:
14 Now after two days it was the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how, after* arresting him by stealth, they could kill him.* 2 For they said, “Not at the feast, lest there be an uproar by the people.”
They were the ones who paid Judas to betray Jesus:
10 And Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when* they heard this,* they were delighted, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how he could betray him conveniently.
The Sanhedrin was the first to try Jesus, and they used false witness to convict Him. After conviction, they beat and mocked Him:
53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54 And Peter followed him from a distance, right inside, into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the officers and warming himself by the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, and they did not find it.* 56 For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony was not consistent. 57 And some stood up and* began to give false testimony against him, saying, 58 “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple made by hands, and within three days I will build another not made by hands.” 59 And their testimony was not even consistent about this. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst of them and* asked Jesus, saying, “Do you not reply anything? What are these people testifying against you?” 61 But he was silent and did not reply anything. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his clothes and* said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What ⌊do you think⌋?” And they all condemned him ⌊as deserving death⌋. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him with their fists, and to say to him “Prophesy!” And the officers received him with slaps in the face.
They then brought Him to Pilate. Despite Pilate not wanting to punish Jesus, the Pharisees roused the crowd in support of killing Him:
9 So Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” 10 (For he realized that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) 11 But the chief priests incited the crowd so that he would release for them Barabbas* instead. 12 So Pilate answered and said to them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one whom you call the king of the Jews?” 13 And they shouted again, “Crucify him!” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!” 15 So Pilate, because he* wanted ⌊to satisfy⌋ the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And after* he had Jesus flogged, he handed him* over so that he could be crucified.
They continued to mock Him even as he hung on the cross:
31 In the same way also the chief priests, along with the scribes, were mocking him* to one another, saying, “He saved others; he is not able to save himself! 32 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Even those who were crucified with him were reviling him.
From the beginning, the Pharisees plotted to kill Him, and every step of Jesus’ torture and death was overseen by the Pharisees. Not only that, but they were keenly aware that this was an unjust death:
6 But the chief priests took the silver coins and* said, “It is not permitted to put them into the temple treasury, because it is ⌊blood money⌋.”
I therefore conclude: it was the Pharisees who arranged for Judas’ betrayal, who filed trumped up charges against Jesus, and who demanded Pilate kill Jesus even though Pilate himself did not want to. Just like the soldiers of Herod and Pilate, the Pharisees are also guilty of cruel and unusual punishment.
Now, you may think that Jews at should not be guilty of the crimes of the Pharisees, since the Pharisees were only a specific sect of the Hebrew religion. But I want you to consider the following:
The entire crowd of Jews called for the death of Jesus:
22 Pilate said to them, “What then should I do with Jesus, the one who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But they began to shout* even louder, saying, “Let him be crucified!”
Not only that, but the Pharisees formed the foundations of modern day Rabbinic Judaism:
For all intents and purposes, the Pharisees were the only sect to survive the destruction. The smaller sects were either scattered or destroyed. The Sadducees, once in control of the Temple, had been deprived of their base of power and authority with its destruction, and of their status by the social and economic upheaval wrought by the war. This was clearly the time for the entire nation to unite behind the tannaim, the heirs to the Pharisaic approach to Judaism. For Pharisaism, with its flexibility in applying the halakhah to new circumstances, would be best fit to deal with the new realities after the unsuccessful revolt and the resulting destruction of the Temple.2
Judaism today is unrepentant, going so far as to claim Jesus is boiling in a vat of excrement:
Onkelos then went and raised Jesus the Nazarene from the grave through necromancy. Onkelos said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Jesus said to him: The Jewish people. Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them in this world? Jesus said to him: Their welfare you shall seek, their misfortune you shall not seek, for anyone who touches them is regarded as if he were touching the apple of his eye (see Zechariah 2:12). Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Jesus himself, in the next world? Jesus said to him: He is punished with boiling excrement. As the Master said: Anyone who mocks the words of the Sages will be sentenced to boiling excrement. And this was his sin, as he mocked the words of the Sages. The Gemara comments: Come and see the difference between the sinners of Israel and the prophets of the nations of the world. As Balaam, who was a prophet, wished Israel harm, whereas Jesus the Nazarene, who was a Jewish sinner, sought their well-being.
God chose the Jews for this exact purpose. Recall earlier that I mentioned God chose all of the actors of The Passion because He knew what they would do in this situation. He knew that the Jews would betray Him and that is precisely why God chose them in the first place.
But why, then, would God choose the Hebrews as his “chosen people”? He knew they would betray Him over and over again, eventually culminating in their machinations against Christ Himself. Well, as my good friend Layne A. Jackson put it:
To elaborate on what Layne said, God specifically chose the Hebrews as his chosen people because they were so willing to turn their back towards Him that God’s love was put on full display by holding up his end of the covenant even when the Jews did not. The Book of Hosea goes into great detail about this, best exemplified in the following:
At the beginning when Yahweh spoke⌋ through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife and children of whoredom, because the land commits great whoredom ⌊forsaking Yahweh⌋.”
3 And Yahweh said to me again, “Go, love a woman ⌊who has a lover⌋ and is committing adultery, just like the love of Yahweh for the children of Israel, but they are turning to other gods and love raisin cakes.”
Just like Hosea, God chose to stay with the Jews even though he knew they would forsake Him. It was a perfect example of His love.
But not only that, it was also a perfect example of His justice. Because even though he had elected the Hebrews as His chosen, they were not exempt from His wrath:
15 So it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of the evil of your wickedness; at dawn, the king of Israel will be utterly destroyed.
Revelations seems to support this idea as well:
9 Behold, I am causing those of the synagogue of Satan, the ones who call themselves Jews and are not, but are lying—behold, I will make them ⌊come⌋ and kneel down before your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.
It should be noted here that there was not yet a distinct divide between what you and I know as Jew and Christian at the time of Revelation’s writing. Followers of Christ were still colloquially known as Jews, and so “the ones who call themselves Jews and are not” is referring to those who rejected Christ and would now be called Rabbinic Jews.
If you agree with my interpretation of this verse and the Book of Hosea, then God is saying that he will force the Jews to acknowledge that they were wrong and that God’s love is not their exclusive right. I highly recommend reading the entirety of Hosea, it is probably the most important book for understanding the nature of God’s covenant with Israel and is quite illuminating in this regard.
Conclusion
God planning for Jesus to die on the cross does not exonerate any of the human actors involved in The Passion.
Herod’s soldiers and the Roman soldiers treated Jesus cruelly and went beyond the scope of Roman law in punishing Him, but were not ultimately responsible for killing Him.
Pilate, in handing over Jesus to the crowd failed to uphold justice and Roman law. He was not, however, ultimately responsible for killing Jesus.
Judas was guilty of betraying Jesus, but not ultimately responsible for Jesus’ death.
The Pharisees plotted to kill Jesus from the beginning, after failing to accept His teachings and becoming jealous of His influence. It was they who paid off Judas. It was they who threw trumped up charges at Him in a mock trial, then shoehorned him into the Roman courts. And when Jesus was found innocent under Roman law, it was they who demanded His death anyway. They are ultimately responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. As the successor to Pharisaic teachings, Rabbinic Judaism has failed to repent for this grave sin and has even stooped so low as to mock His name.
Great article!