Why did they put Jesus to death?
Good Friday service at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Penang
Christians believe Good Friday is the day Jesus was crucified and died for our sins.
But that doesn’t answer the question - if he was a good man, even a prophet or claiming to be divine, preaching love, compassion and forgiveness, why did the authorities at that time put him to death - and that too, not any kind of death, but the harshest punishment possible under the Roman Empire: scourged, stripped naked and nailed to a cross in a public space as an example to everyone.
Crucifixion was reserved for those who rebelled against the Roman Empire or for slaves who defied their masters. Both were considered a serious threat to public order.
Jesus’ passion for the kingdom of God that would raise up the oppressed and the downtrodden inevitably brought him on a collision course with the Empire. His passion for distributive justice led to his Passion through punitive justice meted out by the local rulers. All the values he stood for were diametrically opposed to the values of Empire - violence, greed, selfishness, domination and exploitation. Moreover, he preached the kingdom of God at at a time when Roman imperial theology regarded Caesar as a “son of God”.
He was passionate about the kingdom of God based on love, justice and peace. He empowered peasants and the dispossessed. Not only that, he led his new followers in a movement for radical change into the heart of local power, Jerusalem, in the run-up to a major religious festival.
He was sharply critical of the elite in Jerusalem who were collaborating with Roman imperial rulers in the domination system of the time. The local people were groaning under the weight of taxation and oppressive rule. Their local leaders even had to pay tribute to Rome. It was a national humiliation.
His presence in Jerusalem did not go unnoticed. And his passion for the kingdom of God led to His Passion - his suffering and death - as we know it.
(Ideas from Borg, Marcus “The Last Week”)
- Return the denarii to Caesar
- He is risen!
- Constantine, Christianity and the values of Empire
- Misguided Christian Zionists
- “I don’t know anything about politics”
Loading ...
He paid the ultimate price
That we may have eternal life
With sins forgiven more than thrice
That we may live freely free from rife
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
http://msi.Rocky101.com
Sat. 22nd March 2008.
of course, the other profound truth is the fact that Someone actually needed to die for our sin and in our stead. the road to faith starts here i think
Blessed Good Friday & Easter, brother.
Keep up the good work.
My post on Good Friday:
http://takenotetakeheart.blogspot.com/2008/03/jesus-ever-engaging-saviour.html
Jesus had to die so that man kind can be saved. It was God’s plan for Him to be crucified on the cross for the sins of all man. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Jesus Christ did not come so that we can have another religion to choose from so many that are available in the world. He came exactly according to the Old Testament prophets that a Messiah will come and He will fulfill all the prophecies made(more than 300 direct prophecies)about Him.
One of the prophecy tests is that the Messiah will be put to death.This is the sad part like what you have posted. Jesus died on a Friday being hanged on a cross at Calvary hill for the sins of the whole world. Fancy why people called it GOOD Friday?
But there is also the prophecy that He will rise from the death on the 3rd day. And Jesus Christ did exactly that and this is the real GOOD & happy part that all Christians (followers of Jesus Christ, not followers of a religion) will celebrate come Easter Monday with a heart of thanksgiving.
So on good Friday, all Christians will come together to remember what Jesus has accomplished through that rugged cross so that all men have a way to be reconciled back to God, to have a daily unbroken, walking & living relationship with God, not just a legalistic dry religion.
Romans 3:23-24
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death,but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away our both our place and our nation.]John 11:48
[So from that day on they plotted to take his life.]John 11:53
John 11 verses 48 and 53 tell us that the chief priests and the Pharisees saw Jesus as a threat to their positions, so they plotted to kill Him. In other words, it was job security that killed Jesus.
I penned this comment on August 24th 2007 on the Makkal Osai affair and offered it to the letters’ columns of the mainstream but it was not published. It may digress from this post but I hope this blog gives it some traction.
The Catholic Archbishop Datuk Murphy Pakiam and the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, publicly expressed consternation over a disparaging image of Jesus Christ depicted in the Makkal Osai, a Tamil daily.
The Archbishop said “It is very sacred to Catholics. As such, this caricature of Jesus is a desecration and therefore hurtful to the religious sentiments of Catholics,” (New Straits Times – August 23rd 2007)
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi said “I am sure the Christians, as we Muslims, cannot accept this” (New Straits Times – August 24th 2007)
The Prime Minister also said “Do not do things which may offend the believers of other religions .. this is not good” (The Star – August 24th 2007)
The Prime Minister also said “it was very hurtful and would anger the Christians just like the Muslims would not also accept such action” (The Sun – August 24th 2007)
The Prime Minister as well as the Archbishop appeared to take refuge in the well worn concept of ‘Moral Equivalency’ amongst religions and its founders, even when the concept is found wanting, irrelevant and unnecessary.
In word and deed, Jesus is a hard act to follow. He asked his followers to expect torment and disparagement in his name and in his most extreme deed on the cross, he asked them to pray for and embrace his tormentors and disparagers with the same love they have for him.
To the Prime Minister and in particular, the Tamil daily who have since apologized, your fears are misplaced. The subject in question embodies the very love we have in our hearts, hence the notion of defending or protecting him or his followers from the very people he loves, is a non-issue.
It is safe to assume that true followers of Jesus would hardly be angry with those who torment and disparage him, but instead, they would be embraced with prayer and love.
It is also safe to assume that true followers of Jesus would actually be disappointed with those who express frustration and anger in his name.
Let the man himself answers the question:-
http://cpwaterman.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-did-jesus-choose-to-die.html
Dear Anil
Yes, I read your article as to why they put the Christ
to death. It is a searching question.
Although I am a muslim and learnt Al-Quran as a child
I have not been able to follow the religious practices
religiously due to poverty. I have not been able to pursue
religious studies but from what I understand all religions
preach, peach and to live in harmony with one another - but what in reality happens is different.
Read our Federal Constition - Articl 11 clearly states
that Islam is the religion of the Federation but other
faiths can practice their religions peacefully. I am sure you have been watching what happened during the past 3 years - more than 30 hindu temples have been demolished by Local Authorities under very the nose of the State Governments and the Federal Government - without complying with the Constitutional direction. That is why they paid in the recent general election.
There must be toleance amongst all citiznes towards their
respective religious practices. I also read in the Press that the government has not approved applications for Churches and Buddhist temples in Petaling Jaya and Shah
Alam for more than 10 years.
Hope for the best. I trust the new BN goverment will consider the applications from the Churches and Buddhist
temples to be built in PJ and Shah Alam - Comply with the
Law - which is our Guide to good living.
Allahu Akhbar (God is Great)
Regards
Hamid Ibrahim
lawhamid@tm.net.my
If you’re not A Christian, you could still honor Easter.
Many people have died for their beliefs. There are others who survived and live on to pursue theirs. Jesus died for his, too. And so did many others before his time. Socratis was forced to drink poison for the rulers’ fear he had poisoned the minds of youth.
Christians believed Jesus died for mankind and thereby he offers redemption.
In post modern age, what we understand is that there will always be the few people who will get killed for their beliefs. If they give up their beliefs and therefore they live, the good values they adhere to will be said to have died, too. There will be no redemption! Not with the spread of bad values!
A lot of bad values are perceived by Malaysians to be practised by leaders and community heads. Some of us can now slowly understand the value behind the privilege of the Malay Rulers in their constitutional function for the appointment of Chief Ministers. Politicians who cannot uphold the trust the rakyat give them, cannot be put in positions of authority. When the Judiciary sytem flops, the last remaining bastion for belief in Malaysia is the Malay Rulers sonstitutional role.
Let us honor Jesus and the many who died for us, so that we can continue to uphold these noble values.
Hi, Anil.
Alleluia ! A Blessed & Victorious Easter to you & loved ones.
…peaceout
God had loved the world that he gave his only son Jesus to die for our sins. If we look at the normal human thinking none of what Jesus did was logic or deemed possible but looking at the way that the almighty Syaitan was doing his works God had no other choice at all. If it was not for Jesus we all could be doomed in hell for good. if Jesus did not go through all the said pain in the bible than we human could have never accepted him as our saviour.Thank you lord
Dear Anil,
Let me share some of my views of the Passion and crucifixion of Jesus.
Why was Jesus crucified?What crime did he commit that deserved to be punished in that most inhumane way? It was for proclaiming the TRUTH. Yes, Jesus was tortured, humiliated and killed for telling the truth, the truth which caused so much fear among those in positions of power and comfort. He had to be eliminated at costs so that they can continue to live in power and comfort.
Throughout the journey of his passion, what was astonishing was the way Jesus humbly accepted his punishment which he knew was unfair and unjust. However he accepted all that willingly without fighting back or defending to set him free him. He did not show even the slightest anger or retaliation for being falsely accused and sentenced by the kangaroo court that tried him.
He did not get angry with the Jews who accused him, Pilate who sentenced him and the Roman soldiers who executed him. Instead he had the great magnanimity to forgive all of them who took turns to insult, torture and kill him. It was the highest level of humility that no ordinary man can have.
What lesson does the Passion of Christ provide us in our own lives? We too in own small ways are often falsely accused, humiliated and punished for standing up for truth, by the authorities in the government, our places of work, families and even in the church. When we are denied our rights we fight back by protests, demonstrations and legal recourse. At time we may even resort to violence and wars to redeem our lost rights.
Many of us behave like the Jews who made false accusations against Jesus and wanted him out. We too make false accusations against those who are against us in order to get them out of our way. We resort to all forms of high handed tactics to succeed against our adversaries. We fail to realize that our actions cause so much pain and suffering to the person involved and his family.
There may be among , us especially those in positions of power who behave like Pilate, refusing to stand up to public pressure for fear of losing power. Due to our greed for power, we succumb to the wrongful demands of the public and wash our hands of the problems of those in need.
Like the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus, there are many among us, who carry out the execution of others without feelings or compassion. Even if we know it is wrong, we carry them out anyway for fear of the authorities or for some material reward.
It may be pertinent for us reflect to on the relevance in our own lives, of Jesus’ actions during his agonizing times. Let his Passion be something just not to sympathize or sorrowful about but a real lesson for us as we cruise along own lives. Christ’s humility and forgiveness even towards his adversaries is infinite which is what not just Christianity but humanity is all about.
Dr.Chris Anthony