Who Crucified Jesus?
John 19:31-42
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
The Burial of Jesus
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Finally, Jesus was dead, with His side pierced by a spear and bleeding blood and water in His body, as the scripture was prophesized about Him. Ironically, the Jewish leaders were the ones who had been reading the scriptures day and night, even memorizing them all and teaching others as teachers of laws, but they forced the Messiah to die on the cross. They were spiritually blind and deaf and even hypocritical, as they showed the attitude of keeping the laws as it was written.
What could make them do this act of killing an innocent man and, on the other hand, they were trying to keep the law as well? These could be performed by God's will, but they couldn't avoid the responsibilities for that, according to the history of Israel. What is the essential problem to them and I want to get a lesson from them as well?
First, they must have wanted to save their faces as leaders and teachers, but Jesus was beyond them in many ways. People said that Jesus' teaching was not the same as their own teachers, and they couldn't even pretend to perform Jesus' miraculous signs. This led them to feel jealous of Jesus, and they determined to kill Him, trying to find any reason for that.
Second, they wanted to keep their lives with the spiritual authorities and powers they have kept for long, because their lives were stable in some ways, though they had been colonized by Romans. Therefore, they didn't want any change for their lives at all, as they could be satisfied financially supported, socially respected, and spiritually honored by people. However, when a crowd of people was following only Jesus, they could feel like being disregarded or disrespected from them.
Third, they were literally and spiritually blind, so their religious behaviors of praying and offering and even doing good acts are all not from their hearts, rather they wanted to show off and reveal themselves to people as a role model, etc. They didn't know God, either, and they could be just following the laws, cheating themselves, as true believers. I mean, they were not true believers.
These are all from my imagination, but it helps me think about me and Christians and leaders of Christianity, including so-called religious leaders. If I measure the hearts with these rulers of problems, no one could be freed from the judgments. I feel like it's the best moment of seeing ourselves through the act of crucifying JESUS on the CROSS. Sadly, it was me who had done that cruel and brutal work, because I have almost done the same thing as they did. I am the one who crucified Jesus.
