In a recent Time Magazine, several people wrote in to express their sentiments about this question after Time itself published an article by that name. (April 12, 04). Their sentiments show that the answer to this question is not very well understood by many. Was Jesus just a tragic historical figure, such as Hamlet, et al. Was Jesus a martyr like so many millions in history?

One reader wrote from Wisconsin commenting the article: “Jesus stood up to the injustices of the world, and was crushed in the process. That is happening all over the world to day, and not only to Christians. People of every religion who see wrongs and try to right them lose their lives. That is what the Christian spirit is all about.”

Jesus put himself as the middleman between God and man, so as no popes, priests and rabbies are longer needed for salvation. The same could not have him do that, as they this way will loose all their power and autority, so they have him executed. He established a direct link to heaven for humanity, with no need for intermediaries. He ended the superstitious offering of lambs, saying his blood once and for all is replacing this pagan customs with blood offering. No need for kosher food, for what goes into the mouth, just goes through the system and out again, but what ones should worry about what was comes OUT of the mouth beause that came from the heart of man. He made a fool out of them and their superstitious customs. They furied!

Only by believing in him and his gospel, and live by it, people will be ready for heaven, and he sits on the right side of God to be our agent in heaven, to assure this, he says. And by him beeing martyred, the gentiles got the same right as to be “Choosen People” as the jews are. He ended the racistic and apartheid divisions, saying that for God we are all alike. Many people dont like him him to say this, because they still want to be trated as ‘choosen’ and Gods ‘property people’, who shall inherit the earth for themselves, and themselves alone as rulers, with rest of the people (gentiles) as their servants.

Through the centuries, the Jews have been blamed as being the ones who were responsible for Christ’s crucifixion. Did the Jews really kill Christ? No doubt the accusers of Christ were Jews, but it would be absurd to point to all the Jews in Judea as being accusers of Christ. Let’s not forget that “multitudes,” had followed and had seen Christ’s miracles over his 3 ½ years of preaching (Matthew 15:29-31). A great many had been healed from incurable diseases. Some had been brought back from the dead. A lot of Jews, consequently, felt nothing but gratitude toward this young miraculous preacher. Many religious leaders, on the other hand, were filled with envy and bitterness, because of Christ’s accusations and condemnations and, according to the Gospels, wished to get rid of Him in any way they could (Matthew 12:14).

According to the Rabbis of the Talmud
“On the eve of Passover they hung Jesus of Nazareth. The herald had gone forth forty days before [his death], (crying): ‘Jesus of Nazareth goes forth to be stoned, because he has practiced magic and deceived and led astray Israel. Anyone who knows anything in his favor should come and declare concerning him.’ But they found nothing in his favor.”
Source: Tractate Sanhedrin 43a

According to Judaism’s most esteemed halachic (legal) authority, Moses Maimonides
“Jesus of Nazareth… impelled people to believe that he was a prophet sent by God to clarify perplexities in the Torah, and that he was the Messiah that was predicted by each and every seer. He interpreted the Torah and its precepts in such a fashion as to lead to their total annulment, to the abolition of all its commandments and to the violation of its prohibitions. The sages, of blessed memory, having become aware of his plans before his reputation spread among our people, meted out fitting punishment to him.”
Source: Maimonides, “Letter to Yemen”

According to the Bible
“For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.”
Source: I Thessalonians 2: 14-16

Christ, on several occasions, called the Pharisees “hypocrites,” “serpents,” and “brood of vipers,” and He described them as untrustworthy leaders in front of huge crowds (Matthew 23). Their status within the nation had been undermined publicly by someone the crowds looked up to and believed in. This was a great and unacceptable humiliation. Therefore, the Pharisees were always on the lookout for opportunities that would allow them to accuse and kill Christ.

Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of the sellers of doves (Matthew 21:12). Both groups, most certainly, would have thirsted for revenge as well. No doubt, when the opportunity came to get even, they were ready to make Christ pay for the affront.

The top religious leaders refused to share the limelight with the young man from Nazareth and feared that He would have become the acclaimed leader of the people. They, most of all, plotted to find fault in Him, so as to get Him killed: “Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the High Priest, who was called Caiphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him”
(Matthew 26:4).

It is interesting to note that they were conscious of the fact that the majority of the people liked Jesus and, therefore, decided not to kill Him “…during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people” (Matthew 26: 1-5). They knew that the masses had to be handled carefully, to keep them from turning against them. Thus, their plan had to be skillfully conceived so as to convince the people that Christ was a blasphemer and that He deserved death.

Furthermore, the Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Christ was brought to the Sanhedrin, “The Chief Priest, the elders, and the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death” (26: 59-61), and found several. Finally, Christ’s own words were found sufficient to condemn Him to death. Thus, in the morning, “…all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death” (27:1). Later, when Pilate tried to release Christ, they vehemently insisted that He had to be killed, and the angry crowd that was present, as well as the priests, finally prevailed (Luke 23: 23).

Who was, therefore, present when Pilate asked the crowd if they wanted Jesus freed or killed? We can safely assume that the aforementioned groups were there. Others present were probably locals who may have known little about Christ and who blindly followed the religious leaders and took their accusations as trustworthy.

Were all the Jews, therefore, guilty of Christ’s death? Absolutely not. Were most of the religious leaders guilty? According to the Gospel story, they were. They plotted to capture Christ, they found false witnesses to inculpate Him, and they refused to believe His word, though His mighty works supported His claims. The religious leaders wanted Him dead and did not cease until their aim to have him killed was accomplished.

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