The Passion: We Caused It
April 4, 2004
Isaiah 53:3

Dick Wolf’s series “Law and Order” is a favorite show of mine, and not mine only. Now in its 13th season, next year it will become the longest-running police drama and second longest drama in the history of television. It has been NBC’s top show for nine seasons, spawning two spin-offs, with a third on the way. (Source, www.tv-shows.biz)

Part of the interest in the show is its emphasis on solving crimes and prosecuting offenders. When a crime is committed we feel a need to assign blame and make sure that the offending parties pay for it. The show walks us through the whole process by which this happens.

This same need, to assign blame, exists in us on a personal level as well. Who knocked over the cup on the coffee table? Who stepped in the geraniums? Who tracked mud into the kitchen? On a larger personal scale, Who is responsible for faulty medications that cause birth defects, and how much should they be sued for?

Always, we are very conscious about placing blame and expecting that consequences will be faced.

The worst crime ever committed was the wrongful death of Jesus of Nazareth. On whom do we pin the blame?

We’ve been using Isaiah 53 as we have been reflecting on Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” saying that, for one thing, the suffering and death of Christ would never have happened had God not willed it. Amazingly, Isaiah 53:10 says, “...It was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer.”

What’s more, the suffering and death of Christ would never have happened had Jesus not allowed it. Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Jesus Christ stood before the power elite of Palestine and never protested his arrest or demanded his release. For the most part, he didn’t even speak in his defense.

All this is not to say, however, that since it was God’s will it was not wrong. Nor that since Jesus allowed it, that it was not a sin for those responsible for it. On the contrary, it was an egregious crime and an unspeakable sin – deicide!

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ would never have happened if human beings had not done the dirty work of blasphemy, cruelty, mockery, torture, and execution. This is the third “why.” It happened because God willed it, because Jesus allowed it, and because we caused it.

This, again, is consistent with the 8th century B.C. prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah 53:3 says,

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.”

Who was responsible?

First off, although it is risky to mention it for fear of being misunderstood, it is necessary to say that THE JEWS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

The risk is that many people will take that statement as an anti-Semitic remark. So, before expanding on it, let me state my case for being a lover of the Jewish people, not a hater of them. My father-in-law is a Polish Jew, having had the birth name of Pietrokowsi. Though he is not a practicing Jew, much of his family is. Consequently, Mindy and I have been in Jewish temples for weddings, bar-Mitzvahs, etc. many times. I keep a yarmulka in the drawer of my night stand for just such occasions.

I am deeply impressed with the Jewish people I know, both in my family and out. My experience is that they are intelligent and moral. The Jewish faith, as it is practiced today, is very interesting to me, and I have often thought that were I not a Christian I might very well be a Jew. I admire their devotion to Scripture and appreciation for history. Obviously, we differ significantly on the person of Jesus Christ, but when I look at Jewish men or women I do not think of them as Christ-killers.

Be that as it may, when you look into the story of the crucifixion of Christ you can’t help but notice the role played by the Jews. The Gospel of John informs us that Christ “came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:11) After the resurrection, when Peter, a Jew, stood to address a crowd of his peers, he said,

“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” (Acts 2:22-23)

Obviously, there were Jews who were not among those committed to crucifying Jesus. We could name the disciples, and yet we admit that they scattered like chickens just when the Lord needed them most. Thinking about the Mel Gibson movie, I could name the Lord’s mother as an example of a Jew who loved and sincerely received Jesus. (May I say, while on the subject, how impressed I was with the character of Mary in the movie – she was my favorite character. Being as it was a Catholic-inspired film I wondered if the deification of Mary as the Mother of God, a Catholic doctrine, would come into play. Just the opposite, she is portrayed as a pious, self-effacing, saintly woman. Pain is written all over her face throughout the ordeal, as we can imagine it should be. She had been told at the Lord’s birth that “a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:35), and you can see it.)

There is a second group to mention as we seek to place blame for the crucifixion.

THE ROMANS WERE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

Providentially, God had provided for a situation wherein the Jews could take their hatred for Jesus only so far. As they demanded that Pilate rule in their favor they explained, “We have no right to execute anyone” (John 18:31). This is where the Romans came in. As executions go, they were the experts.

Crucifixion was a horribly gruesome form of execution. So much so that, though it was prevalent in all ancient cultures, little was said about it.

“We have very few ...detailed descriptions, and they come only from Roman times: the passion narratives in the gospels are in fact the most detailed of all. No ancient writer wanted to dwell too long on this cruel procedure.” (Martin Hengel, Crucifixion, p.25)

Absent also was crucifixion from artwork during the centuries when it was most commonly practiced.

Finally, in the fourth century Constantine banned this method of execution. Only after that did its depiction in art appear. C. S. Lewis has observed that crucifixion did not become common in art until all who had seen a real one died off . (Source Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p.203)

Pilate interrogated the prisoner and determined that he had done nothing worthy of death. He should have, then, released Jesus. Of course, he tried to do so to the adamant objections of the crowd. It’s true that Pilate washed his hands, hoping to absolve himself of the guilt. All that said, however, the fact remains that he was governor, and as governor he could have released Jesus at any point he chose, and he should have. He did not.

Again, thinking about how various characters are portrayed in the Mel Gibson film, in the case of Pilate I feel that he may have been misrepresented. Pilate is portrayed as a just ruler who knew that Jesus was innocent but felt hopelessly backed into a corner.

Of course, I realize, as I have said, that Pilate made several efforts to dodge the bullet, so to speak. Nevertheless, as I read it, he was less sympathetic to Jesus than he appears to be in the film. This would be for the simple reason that Jesus was a Jew. Another dead Jew could hardly have cost him any part of a night’s sleep.

Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (John 18:33) I fail to see this as anything but a sarcastic question. In the mind of a Roman governor, Caesar was the epitome of royalty. Caesar was in fact thought of as more than a king – as a god! Kings lived in palaces. Kings wore crowns. Kings were ultimately powerful. Looking at Jesus, a common, uncultured, poorly dressed man, at best Pilate might have thought, “This is the kind of king those Jews deserve.”

When Pilate ordered that the sign be posted at the top of the Lord’s cross that read, “The King of the Jews” he must have gotten a good laugh out of it.

Both the Jews and the Romans played equally necessary parts in the death of Christ. The Romans would never have done it if the Jews hadn’t incited it. And the Jews could never have incited it if the Romans would not have done it. I see in this a lesson.

From the world view of the authors of Scripture, all of humanity was divided between the Jews and the Gentiles. Therefore, all of humanity was included in the conspiracy to crucify Christ. Again, Isaiah 53:3 predicts that he would be “rejected by men,” not specifying the Jews alone, but all of mankind. The message of Scripture is that the human race killed Jesus.

We might feel somehow absolved of the guilt of it, living, as we do, so many thousands of years later, but we are not innocent. It is not enough just to say that the Jews and Romans of the first century conspired together to do this. We must include ourselves as well. We must say that ALL OF US ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

On Palm Sunday Jesus had a fan club. They waved palm branches and called out “Hosanna,” as if they really meant it, but did they? Like fickle baseball fans, they turned on their hero. Are we so much better than they? Isn’t it true that we gather together on the Lord’s day and sometimes mouth the words to the praise songs when our hearts are not really in it?

At the Last Supper Jesus bent down and washed the disciples feet and specifically instructed them to follow his example. “If I your lord and master wash your feet you also should wash one another’s feet,” but did they ever wash each other’s feet? A better question is, “Do we?” My point is not to re-enact a ritual. There is no magic in washing feet. But do we take the teachings of Christ to heart, meditate on them, and diligently apply them, as we should?

On the night of his arrest, Jesus was not only betrayed; he was also disowned. Peter made every effort to disassociate himself from the lord, denying three times that he even knew Jesus. On the surface, it’s hard to see that what he did wasn’t worse than what Judas did – at least Judas never denied knowing Jesus! And isn’t it true for us that many times we have found it convenient to hide our faith?

You may object, “But I would never have driven nails into the hands of any man, much less the Son of God!” Are you so sure? I think Margaret Wahlen was right when she sang last Sunday,

“Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished.”

The late Peter Marshall made this same point by saying,

“When we are honest with ourselves, we know that we were there too and that we helped put Christ there. Because every attitude present on that hilltop that day is present with us now. Every emotion that tugged at human hearts then, tugs at human hearts still. Every human being was represented at Calvary, every sin was in a nail, or the spear, or the needle-like thorns, and pardon for them all was in the blood that was shed.” (Quoted by Mart De Haan, RBC Ministries, rbc.com)

“Pardon for them all was in the blood that was shed.”

This leads us to raise the question of consequences.

CONCLUSION

There is a story in the Old Testament of a man who broke one of the Ten Commandments. He was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath day. On orders from Moses himself, this man was taken outside the camp and stoned to death. (See Numbers 15:32f.) If that is the consequence of gathering wood on the Sabbath day, what must the penalty be for crucifying the Son of God?

Here is where the story takes a bizarre turn. Lightning did not strike the soldiers who hammered the nails into Christ’s hands. The earth did not open up and swallow the high priest. A plague did not descend upon Israel. Were there no consequences for this action? Indeed there were, but amazingly the consequences for the action fell on the victim rather than the offenders. Jesus died as a sacrifice for sins, and that includes all sins – even the sin of putting him to death.

Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He had you and me in mind with that prayer. Jesus himself stands ready to forgive you of this and all sins if you seek forgiveness from him.

“If we confess our sins,” the Bible says, “he... will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9) May that be the experience for each of us today.