Friday, February 20, 2004
WWJD - Who Willed Jesus Dead?
I just don't get this Mel Gibson/Anti-semitism uproar. He is being accused of saying that the Jews killed Jesus.
There are several reasons why I don't think this makes sense:
There are several reasons why I don't think this makes sense:
- Can we really hold an entire religion/ethnic group responsible for the alleged actions of a small group of people 2,000 years ago? Especially based on contradictory accounts written a century after the event? I think that the Romans may have been involved a little.
-
Christians believe that Christ had to die (as punishment for eveyone's sins) in order to offer the option of eternal life. If he hadn't be crucified, and instead lived a long life as a carpenter and speaker, wouldn't we all be dammed to hell? If the Jews in fact did kill Jesus, they did us all a favor! So, what's the big deal? -
We can go a little deeper to find the real culprit. God, and Jesus, knew how things were going to turn out before the little baby was born in the manger. (Remember the whole "you will deny me three times" thing) If mankind were truly given free will, we could have surprised the deity and pardoned his son. Since God apparently knows all that happened and all that will happen, he should know the consequences of his actions. ("For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son..." He knew all along!!) If I set a booby-trap in my house that later kills a burglar, I'm held responsible for his death. Could we say that God killed Jesus? I think he set him up.
