In his work Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI officially absolves of the Jews of any complicity in the execution of Jesus Christ.
He supports his denunciation of the Jews' supposed deicide through enlightened analysis of previously controversial passages from the Gospels of John and Matthew.
In the Gospel of John, the religious leader Nicodemus visits Jesus secretly at night (John 3). Later on, John exposes the religious community's cowardice in hiding their enthusiasm for the new Messiah (John 7). The parents of the healed beggar blind from birth refuse to acknowledge their son(John 9) . The apostles hide trembling in the upper room following Christ's crucifixion (John 20). These different parties represented in John's Gospel exhibit extreme reticence because of their "Fear of the Jews."
These passages suggest that "the Jews" tormented Christ's disciples, frustrated his witness, and even engineered his untimely and unjust death.
Pope Benedict succinctly refutes these misconceptions. Jesus was a Jew, as were his disciples and those who sought him, whether in the dead of night or within themselves. Which Jews posed the greatest threat to Christ and his ministers? The religious authorities!
Consider John's record of Caiaphas the High Priest :
"Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them [the religious authorities], Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. (John 11:50-53, KJV)
John's text indicts those immediately responsible for Jesus' death: the religious leaders of the day, not the entire Jewish nation then, or now.
In passing, this refutation of Gospel-induced anti-semitism is not new. Moreover, Pope Benedict XVI restates a position which the Catholic Church had articulated over forty years ago. One thousand years before, when persecuted Jews were fleeing Spain and Portugal, Pope Alexander VI welcomed them to resettle in Italy. Whether for political or partisan reasons, Benedict's insistence on refuting medieval justification for acts of anti-semitism is appropriate, and timely.
However, it may prove fundamentally fruitless.
Through simple yet rigorous hermeneutics, the Pope absolves the Jews of deicide, yet anti-Semites will still cling to their bitter hatred of God's initial chosen people, regardless of sound scriptural interpretation. Conviction through scripture must hold every one of us accountable to God for we are apart from him.
Despite the advocacy of modern-day religious authorities for respectful recognition for the Jewish people, only the full glory of the Gospel will free man from hatred of his fellow man, whether Jew or Gentile. As John the Evangelist penned: "We love, because He [God] first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
How did He love us? By His death on the Cross, taking upon himself God the Father's justified wrath against mankind, all of us sinners who have fallen short of God's glorious ideal. Yes, Christ's blood was shed to be on us and on our posterity--for repentance and remission of sin! This eternal act of grace sheds proper light on the thunderous demands of the crowd just before Christ's Crucifixion, Pontius Pilate presents Jesus to the people, who cry out "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" According to Matthews' Gospel, they also shout: “His blood be upon us and on our children.” (Matthew 27:24–25) They were not calling for the blame to be placed on themselves, but inadvertently
In all actuality, the world should be thankful for the religious authorities' criminal scheme, for it set in motion the greatest act of love which the world --no, the universe will ever witness!
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