Who Really Killed Jesus Christ?

A great controversy rages during Lent, 2004. Mel Gibson, an American-born and Australian-raised actor and producer, has released his movie, "The Passion of the Christ". Even before the first public viewing of the movie in theatres, a cry of anti-semitism has been heard from some quarters, based upon scenes in the movie in which a crowd of Jews selects to spare Barabas, and not Christ, with shouts of "Crucify Him!"

While it would be wrong for me to claim any knowlege of the motives or thoughts of Mel Gibson in choosing to include this historically accuate scene, perhaps the more pertinent question becomes, "Who really killed Jesus Christ?"

Perhaps you think you know the answer to this question. Perhaps you blame the Jews, or perhaps the Romans...? Perhaps someone else?

There is one answer to this question that reflects the thinking of the majority of Christians around the world. In order to address the question, we must first mention another Christian belief... that Jesus was God in human form.

John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being."

Jesus had the powers of a creator God during his life on earth. He healed. He forgave sin. He performed miracles that violated the physical laws of his world. The New Testament records that Jesus slipped away from the authorities when they came to arrest Him prior to that night when he was finally taken into custody.

John 10:33 "The Jews answered Him, 'For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy; and because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God.'"

John 10:39 "Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp."

Christians believe that Jesus, as God Incarnate, had the power and ability to stop the crucifixion at any time. He had the power, as He was one with the creator, to elude the arrest, or to remove Himself from the trial, the scourging, or the crucifixion itself.

BUT HE DID NOT.

We believe that Jesus submitted to the events of Easter VOLUNTARILY, in order to complete the work of salvation on the cross.

So, what caused Jesus to die? Who killed Jesus?

The plain and simple answer, that is so hard for the unbelieving world to accept, is...

I did.

... and this is the answer that the true Christian believer will give. Without the need for salvation - without the necessity of Christ's death as a substitution for my sin - He need not have submitted to the events of Easter.

REMBRANDT GOT IT RIGHT.

Notice the fellow at the foot of the cross with the painter's cap? Yes, that is Rembrandt. He painted himself into his own painting, "The Raising of the Cross" to make this exact point.

Who killed Jesus Christ?

Not the Jews. Not the Romans. Not the Greeks. Not God.

I did.