Jews And The Killing Of Jesus

A common criticism of the Jews is that they killed Jesus. It is time that this be responded to meaningfully.

First, Jesus asked God to forgive the people who executed him. This means that the rest of us have to do the same thing, or else be disrespectful to the will of Jesus. If Jesus wants God to forgive his executioners, then he also wants you to do the same thing; and failing to do so is disrespectful of Jesus.

Secondly, the Jews, in executing Jesus, were only following their religious law. The first commandment is “thou shalt have no gods beside me.” Jesus, in claiming to be God, committed the worst sin in the books. That is why they insisted on crucifying Jesus while letting off a murderer.

Finally, the white people want to be absolved of their crimes of slavery and colonialism. They can start by absolving the Jews of a much earlier – and much lesser – crime of killing Jesus.

Am I a Jew? Yes I am. And I want to bring sanity to this matter. The people who want to be absolved of the sins of their ancestors need to extend the same grace to others. And that means that the people whose ancestors perpetrated real crimes of slavery and colonialism need to forgive the Jews for killing Jesus.

Once that is done, it will be possible to resolve our differences in a civilized manner. And then people – both Jewish and gentile – will be able to work together to create a livable world.