Who Killed Jesus?

" Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven,  living in Jerusalem.  The crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard heard them speaking in the native language of each other. [ Some] sneered and said, "They are filled with wine."  But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and proclaimed, ' You who are Jews, indeed all who are staying in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God, with mighty deeds, wonders and signs, which God worked through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by a set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed--using lawless men-- to crucify Him. But God raised Him up, releasing Him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held by it. Exalted by the right hand of God, He received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and poured Him forth as you see and hear. Therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made Him both Lord, and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."  -- [ Acts 2: 5-6, 13-15, 22-24, 36.]

This Scripture passage in Acts is well known. It speaks of the times of the early Christians, who were so amazed and astonished and filled with wonder at the Resurrection, that they seemed giddy to the
observing crowds.

Sadly, there is a dark side to all of this rapture. Peter addresses the Jews of the city of Jerusalem. He says, " You who are Jews, let this be known to you, and hear what I say: Jesus the Nazarene was commended to YOU by God, with mighty deeds, wonders and signs, as you yourselves know. YOU killed this man [Jesus],  using lawless men to crucify Him."[ Emphasis added].

It is these words that became the beginning of the fracture between the Jewish and Christian peoples. Generations of Christians took this statement of Peter's literally. Generations of Jewish peoples bore the brunt of the Christians' blame for the Crucifixion.

What are we to make of this?

First, if I re-read these verses, I see that after the Resurrection, at this time, each person in the crowd could hear and understand the languages of each other person, native or foreign : "Galileans, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya, Cyrene, both Jews, Cretans and Arabs."

This passage tells me that what we are witnessing here is the exact opposite of the confusion of languages during the story of the Tower of Babel. In the Old Testament, when the Tower of Babel was destroyed because of the people's sin, the people developed different languages, and had to disperse to far regions, because they could not understand each other's tongues.

After the death and Resurrection of Jesus, the peoples of God's world could understand each other again! This tells me that Jesus did not come and die, only to divide us.

Recently, the world watched as Pope Francis presided over the Canonization of two former Popes, Pope John XXIII and Pope John  Paul II.  With each of these men, Catholic-Jewish relations have improved markedly because of healing words and gestures during their papacy.

Pope John XXIII was the architect of Vatican II. His efforts with this Catholic renewal re-emphasized the Old Testament roots of central Catholic teachings.

Pope John Paul II took the dramatic step of placing a letter in the stones of the Western Wall, asking for forgiveness from the Jewish people for Catholics' sins against them. Pope John Paul II made it clear that anti-Semitism is a sin against God and against our world. [source: Times of Israel.com: The Newest Saints and the Future of Catholic-Jewish Relations, by Lazar Berman.]

Pope Francis today has said,  "We hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God [the Ten Commandments] has never been revoked."

Many times, we Christians gloss over the Old Testament and focus only on the New Testament. It is somewhat natural for us to do that, since the New Testament contains our central story of Jesus.

But, we Christians do ourselves a grave disservice if we ignore the Old Testament. Our central story in Jesus would have no resonance, and perhaps could never have occurred with such sacred meaning for us, if it were not for the events in the Old Testament.

Had there been no Moses, our ancestors the Israelites might never have been freed from slavery in Egypt, paving the way for us to receive our own Salvation from Jesus.

We might never have received Mary's Magnificat  (Luke 1: 46-55), if it were not for Hannah's Song in the Old Testament ( 1 Samuel: 2).

 In 2 Kings 4-5, Elisha the Old Testament prophet multiplies loaves of bread to feed hundreds, revives a dead man, and cures Namaan of leprosy. If it were not for the miracles of this Hebrew prophet, would we have witnessed Jesus' almost identical miracles in the same way? Did not Elisha pave the way for Jesus?

It was in the Old Testament that Jews and Christians alike were given the way to live: "Love your neighbor as yourself". -- Leviticus 19:18. And " Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength." -- Deuteronomy 6:5.

The Jewish story in the Old Testament is a powerful prequel to the dramatic turn that the Christian story took thereafter.

Who killed Jesus? I think that by our sin in not loving each other, we ALL sin against each other-- and against God.

Any animosity that kills another's soul, kills Jesus. And we kill a little bit of ourselves in that process, too.

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2014. All Rights Reserved.