“Who is Jesus?” “Who condemned Jesus to death?” “Why was Jesus condemned to death?” Today’s readings are: John 18:28-38; Luke 23:5-15; Matthew 27:19-20; John 18:39-19:15; Matthew 27:24-25 Who is Jesus? Jesus is a king: ‘Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”’ (John 18:36, NLT) Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Light: ‘Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6, NLT) Jesus is the Saviour of the world: ‘The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29, NLT) Who condemned Jesus to death? While it is tempting to accuse the Romans, and not the Jewish leaders, for fear of being seen to be anti-Semitic, the inescapable truth from the passages of Scripture listed above is that Pilate and Herod didn’t want to condemn Jesus. Instead, the Jewish leaders, and later the crowd also, forced Pilate’s hand into condemning Jesus to death. Pilate ceremoniously washed his hands, trying to absolve himself of guilt. While it was a gesture, he remained guilty of Jesus’ death, to some extent. However, it was the Jewish leaders and the crowd who unmistakeably took the responsibility onto themselves: ‘Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”’ (Matthew 27:24–25, NLT) However, it was not only Pilate or the Jews who put Jesus to death – it was humanity. The Jewish or Israelite people, as those who were the most privileged by God above all nations, rejected God (see Luke 20:9–19). Yet, no other people or nation, or religion then, or since then, would have done any different. While it is clear that the Jewish people condemned their Messiah to death, there is absolutely no excuse for self-righteous superiority by anyone, such as some Christians in later centuries, for blaming the Jews alone for Jesus’ death. This is because each nation or people, or us as individuals would have done exactly the same thing – because we are all sinners, and turn from God (Isaiah 53:6). Moreover, Jesus knew what he was doing, and he came to earth to die on the cross, because of our sins. As sinners, we are all responsible for Jesus’ death on the cross (Acts 3:18, Matthew 16:21). We are all responsible for Jesus being condemned to death, and so no-one has any justification in hold an anti-Semitic view on this matter. They would have done the same thing, had they been there themselves, and their sin drove Jesus to the cross. Why was Jesus condemned to death? This can be easily answered by quoting some of the most popular verses in the Bible: ‘“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.’ (John 3:16–17, NLT) If we trust in Jesus alone for our righteousness and forgiveness of sins, we will receive God’s grace and mercy, and know first-hand why Jesus died on the cross: ‘For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.’ (Romans 3:23–24, NLT)