Who Was Responsible for the

Death of the Messiah?

by Matthew Janzen

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INTRODUCTION

There are many doctrines which are not taught in modern day Christianity that need to be.  Just a few great truths not understood by the majority of Biblical believers today can be found in a single passage in the book of Hebrews.  Notice the emboldened words as you read the passage. 

For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh^[1], when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith Yahweh. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Yahweh; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a Mighty One, and they shall be to me a people:  [Hebrews 8:8-10]

This passage is first a quotation from Jeremiah 31:31-34 where we find that the name of the one making the covenant is none other than Yahweh.  A name which is seldom if over mentioned across the pulpits of Christian churches today.  Secondly we find that this covenant was made with physical Israelites; descendants from both the houses of Israel and Judah.  This too is not taught by the majority of Christianity.  Last but not least we find that the covenant made is actually the law of Yahweh written upon Israel’s hearts and minds; the same law many in Christianity has attempted to abolish or nail to the tree.  These truths are great, and they each need to be taught to those who are ignorant of them.  They would have tremendous results if only enough people, willing to take a stand, could begin to realize their necessity.

However, sadly to say, sometimes among great truths there can also be great error.  For instance, Most Biblical believers who do not adhere to the previously mentioned beliefs, still maintain that the Messiah shed his blood for the remission of sins, and in doing so justified us freely for those sins committed.  This is a very scripturally sound belief, and can be proven quite easily; Isaiah 53 comes to mind.  The point is that just because one doctrine they teach has great truth, it does not mean everything they teach is an absolute.  And so it is with many in the “Identity” movement today.  Many, who understand Yahweh wrote His law on physical Israel’s hearts and minds, have made a giant leap in another area of Biblical identification.  Instead of focusing in on the real problem, some ministers have begun to teach the identity of the people who were responsible for Yahweh-shua’s death were not the Israelites, but rather the very offspring of “Satan” or descendants from Esau… Edomites.

It is not my intent to delve into how they attempt to prove such a belief, let me assure you, this belief is out there.  We should however examine this belief with the measuring stick of scripture.  Does the Bible inform us of who killed the Messiah by hanging Him on a tree?  Or are we left to wonder, and possibly accept this “Satanic-Edomite doctrine”?

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY?

A person must always realize that when he is searching for truth all biases must be laid aside.  We do not judge truth by our emotions or experiences, or by what we feel in our heart^[2].  Truth is judged by Scripture and Scripture alone; there is no appeal to the authority of Yahweh’s word.  If we are willing to accept what the Bible has to say on this issue, then it should be rather easy to determine just who was responsible for the death of the Messiah.

ACTS 2:22-23

The apostles had seen the Messiah ascend into heaven before the day of Pentecost came.  The savior had told them that “…they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father..." ^[3]  This promise concerned the baptism of the Holy Spirit which Yahweh-shua^[4] knew would be given to the Apostles shortly after his removal from the earth.

On this particular Festival there were “…dwelling at Jerusalem Judahites, devout men, out of every nation under heaven..." ^[5]  These men were whom Peter addressed his sermon to in Acts 2:16-21.  After his quotation of the prophet Joel, Peter says to these Israelite men:

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Yahweh-shua of Nazareth, a man approved of [the] Almighty among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which [the] Almighty did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of [the] Almighty, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:  [Acts 2:22-23]

Notice who the Apostle Peter staked the blame for the Messiah’s death upon: none other than the men of Israel.  Are we willing to accept the inspired statements of one of Yahweh-shua’s very Apostles?

ACTS 3:12-15

Peter not only made that one statement in the second chapter of Acts, but he gives us another witness in Acts chapter three.  This witness comes right after a certain lame man had been healed in the name Yahweh-shua of Nazareth.  This man went away “…walking and leaping and praising [the] Almighty…” ^[6] The men who were eyewitnesses of this miraculous event all ran toward Peter and John, and as they drew near Peter spoke up and said:

…Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The Almighty of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the Almighty of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Yahweh-shua; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.  [Acts 3:12-15]

Peter and John would mock at a teaching which claimed someone other than Israelites were responsible for the death of the Messiah.  As Peter says here; they were witnesses of these very things.

ACTS 5:29-30 

In Acts the fifth chapter we find that a number of the Messiah’s Apostles had been imprisoned, “…but an angel of the Sovereign by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth…” ^[7]  As the high priest requested the Apostles to be brought out of prison, the officers went to retrieve them but did not find them.  One of the officers spoke up and said that the men they had put in prison were actually standing in the temple teaching of Yahweh!  The captain and the officers captured the Apostles once again and brought them before the council.  This is when the high priest spoke up and said:

…Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.  [Acts 5:28]

Why was the high priest so worried about the Apostles accusing him and his people [Israelites] of killing the Messiah if they were not the perpetrators of the crime?  He could have simply showed the evidence of the “Satanic-Edomite Murder” and it would have been over with. 

Peter, and the other Apostles with him, answered the high priests comments with these words:

…We ought to obey [the] Almighty rather than men. The Almighty of our fathers raised up Yahweh-shua, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.  [Acts 5:29-30]

It was these very Israelites who had not forthrightly accepted Yawheh-shua as the Messiah and King of Israel, who were responsible for his hanging.

ACTS 7:51-53

“I know the answer!  It’s that Peter; he’s the culprit of these lies!”  This very well may be the claim some would now try to make, much like the anti-Paul people who simply throw Paul’s writings right out of the Bible.  It’s easy for them; if they don’t like what the Bible says, throw it out!  This is what is called smorgasbord Bible study.  A Bible study which condones picking and choosing what one might want to believe, and trashing everything which contradicts one’s own personal doctrine.

However, we do encounter a problem if one simply chooses to throw away Peter’s statements^[8] we have examined thus far.  The problem is that in Acts 5:29-30 it was not just Peter making a stand, but the other Apostles with him as well.  Also, in Acts seven, our beloved brother Stephen gives us yet another witness.

In Acts chapter six Stephen had been falsely accused of speaking “…blasphemous words against Moses and against [the] Almighty” ^[9]  False witnesses were even set up, proclaiming that Stephen spoke against Yahweh’s temple and law.  Stephen then gives his defense in chapter seven of Acts.  Reading this chapter through should show anyone that Stephen was being falsely accused, and that he was also addressing Israelite kinfolk in his speech.  At the climax of his speech Stephen states the following:

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law^[10] by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.  [Acts 7:51-53]

These uncircumcised in heart Israelites did exactly as there fathers did.  There fathers were responsible for slaying their own prophets as saith the Messiah in Matthew 23:37.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

The Apostle Paul even brings to our memory of how the Israelites had slain all but one of their prophets at a period in their history.

Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to [the] Almighty against Israel, saying, Sovereign, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of [the] Almighty unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.  [Romans 11:2-4]

Israel had killed all the prophets but one, Elijah; Yahweh did have seven thousand Israelites who had not been in on killing the prophets.

Yes, Stephen was right.  They had taken after their fathers and had slain the just one.  Stephen doesn’t even so much as hint at the notion of a “Satanic-Edomite” seed as being responsible for his savior’s death.

FATHER...DO NOT FORGIVE THEM??? 

Along with this teaching usually comes the belief that the Messiah did not actually ask the heavenly Father to forgive those who wanted Him to be killed.  Some say the Messiah actually said, “Father, forgive them not, for they know what they are doing.”

The passage we now turn our attention to is found in the book of Luke 23:34.

Then said Yahweh-shua, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

The King James Version is not alone in rendering the passage in this fashion.  The American Standard Version, New King James Version, and the Young’s Literal Translation all agree^[11] that this is how the passage should read. 

Those ministers who promote this absurd teaching claim the Greek text agrees with their theology.  However, those translators with an understanding of the Greek language beg to differ.  I might point out that both the literal Hebrew and Greek texts of Scripture are quite “choppy”, if you will, when one’s basic language construction is English.  The words must be shifted to have a proper flow in our English versions of the Bible.  This is the case with many verses, in both the Greek New Testament, and the Hebrew Old Testament.

However, that is definitely not the “nail in the coffin”.  We find in Scripture corroborating evidence in favor of the literal translations given previously.  Those Israelites involved in the Messiah’s crucifixion definitely did not know what they were doing.  Notice the following:

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of [the] Almighty in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which [the] Almighty ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Sovereign of glory.  [1 Corinthians 2:6-8]

Apostle Paul very clearly shows that if the princes of this world would have known who the man from Nazareth really was, they would not have crucified Him.  However, just as the Messiah stated in Luke 23:34, they did not know what they were doing.

In Acts 3:15 Peter and the Apostles who were with him show that the men of Israel murdered the prince of life; he was also absolutely correct when in verse seventeen he stated, “And now brethren, I know that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.”

We also find that those Israelites who were in on the murder of Yahweh-shua received forgiveness, contrary to those who claim that the Messiah stated, “Father, forgive them not…”  If the Messiah did indeed state this, and the Father undoubtedly heard Him, do you not think that the Father would have kept those there from receiving forgiveness?  Absolutely!  We instead find that those responsible for this death did indeed receive forgiveness, in the book of Acts chapter two.  Acts 2:22-23 establishes the belief that Israelite men were responsible for the death of the Messiah; reading on in the chapter establishes the belief that these same men obtained pardon for their sins.^[12]

Now when they [the men of Israel in verses 22-23] heard this [what they had done to the Messiah], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? [to receive forgiveness] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Yahweh-shua [the] Messiah for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit… Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.  [Acts 2:37-38, 41]

We see here that those responsible for the death of the Messiah did receive forgiveness for what they had done.  Thus the Messiah did pray, “Father, forgive them…” in the prayer of Luke 23:34.

THE PLAN OF ALMIGHTY YAHWEH

Yahweh has His own way of doing things, and we should not question His method or accuracy in the actions He chooses to take place.  Nothing happens without His knowledge, including the death of His own Son.  As a matter of fact, the prophet Isaiah gives us evidence that Yahweh’s plan included the death of His Son, Yahweh-shua the Messiah. 

Surely he [the Messiah] hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of [the] Almighty, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed… Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…  [Isaiah 53:4-5,10]

Why was Yahweh pleased to bruise his own Son?  I do not know, nor is it my obligation to understand why; I am, however, required to accept it as Scriptural truth.  I do thank Yahweh for the offering of His Son, so that my wrong doings and yours could be forgiven by that precious ransom.

A man once told me, “Matthew, the Messiah came to live, not to die.  It was wicked hands that crucified Him, not righteous.”  The statement was made so as to sway me to believe that Yahweh did not require His Son to die, and because wicked hands did it, it was not for any type of sin offering.  Quite the contrary is actually the case.  You see, what this man, and so many others have done, is taken his personal belief system and exalted it over the Scriptures.  He only accepts part of the Bible, and in doing so rejects part of the Bible.  It’s as the prophet Isaiah’s writings [chapter 53 specifically] were non-existent to this man.  Could not the wicked hands mean it for evil, but Yahweh meant it for good?  What about the story of Joseph; his brothers were jealous, threw him away, sold him to a band of Ishmaelites, and meant all of it for evil.  However, when Joseph reunited with his brothers, what did he tell them?

Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for [the] Almighty did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And [the] Almighty sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but [the] Almighty: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.  [Genesis 45:5-8]

In other words, Joseph’s brother’s meant it for evil, but Yahweh meant it for the good.

CONCLUSION

In this short article we have learned the following things:

·         It was indeed the men of Israel who were responsible for the death of the Messiah.

·         The Messiah prayed for their forgiveness while hanging on the tree.

·         They did not realize they were killing their very own Savior.

·         Yahweh the Father had His own Son’s death in His plan from the very beginning.

I hope we are able to let go of any un-scriptural doctrines we hold, and forfeit them for what the Scripture does teach.  We Israelite brethren^[13] should stop trying to blame the Messiah’s death on someone other than our forefathers, and instead realize what we did, and repent from our wretched state into the glorious good news that Yahweh-shua is Sovereign and Savior.

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