{"id":35088,"date":"2014-05-01T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=35088"},"modified":"2014-04-26T13:17:46","modified_gmt":"2014-04-26T21:17:46","slug":"why-i-would-have-killed-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/why-i-would-have-killed-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Would Have Killed Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"killed<\/p>\n

One of the truths about ourselves that we learn from Jesus is that the violent portrayals of God in the Old Testament are really the reflections of violence that resides in our own hearts.<\/p>\n

Through Jesus, our depravity is laid bare and uncovered.<\/p>\n

Through Jesus, the veil is pulled back, not just so that we can see God more clearly, but so that we can peer into our own hearts as well.<\/p>\n

Just as the revelation of a loving Father is central to all of what Jesus said and did, so also, this truth about the violence that resides in the hearts of mankind also lurks beneath the surface in much of what Jesus teaches. Jesus came, not just to reveal God to us, but to show us our own hearts as well.<\/p>\n

If I had lived in the days of Jesus…<\/h2>\n

Most of us Christians believe that if we had lived in the time of Jesus, we would have been one of His disciples.<\/p>\n

Realistically, however, it is much more likely that we would have been numbered among those who called for His death. If we had been in Israel during the ministry of Jesus, it is quite likely that we would have killed Him too.<\/p>\n

…I would have killed Jesus<\/h2>\n

Maybe I will just speak for myself: If I had been in Israel during the ministry of Jesus, it is quite likely that I would have been among those calling for the death of Jesus. <\/p>\n

I can only say this because Jesus said it first.<\/p>\n

\"killed<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t say it to me, but He said to the people of His day, which means that if I had been living at that time, He would have spoken to me as well. In all likelihood, if He appeared today, He would say much the same thing. What is it that He said? In Matthew 23:34-36 Jesus tells the Jewish people that they murdered all the prophets, wise men, and scribes whom God had sent. From Abel to Zechariah, the blood was on their hands (cf. Luke 11:50-51). <\/p>\n

Clearly, the people alive at the time of Jesus had not actually committed these murders. But Jesus is telling them that their actions and behavior reveal the same mindset and perspective which led their ancestors to kill those whom God had sent. It was this same mindset and perspective that would lead these very people to kill Jesus.<\/p>\n

And it is this exact same mindset and perspective today which leads Christians today to call for the death of others. <\/strong><\/p>\n

What is this mindset and perspective which pervades human history?<\/p>\n

It is the mindset that some people must be killed because God commands it. It is the perspective which says that because of something someone does, they are under the judgment of God, and must therefore be killed.<\/p>\n

The mindset and perspective which killed all the prophets, wise men, and scribes from Abel to Zachariah (and everybody in between), is the same mindset and perspective which killed Jesus, and the same mindset and perspective by which we call for the death of people today. It is the mindset which blames our own violence tendencies on God by saying that our enemies deserve to die, that God has commanded their death.<\/p>\n

We \u201cfail to understand that in the murder of the Prophets people refused to acknowledge their own violence and cast it off from themselves\u201d (Girard,

I See Satan Fall Like Lightning<\/em><\/a>, 20).<\/p>\n

So when we feel morally superior to our forefathers, this reveals the same mindset that condemns contemporary people to death out of a sense of moral superiority to them. <\/p>\n

We are violent and we justify our violence by attaching God\u2019s name and God\u2019s cause to our violence.<\/strong> But if Jesus tells us anything about God and about ourselves, the time has come for us to recognize that violence comes not from God, but from ourselves.<\/p>\n

We are the murderers and the liars, and although God has willingly taken the blame and borne the responsibility for our actions, He is now, in Jesus Christ, calling us to recognize what is in our own hearts.<\/p>\n

God Wants to Rescue us From Ourselves<\/h2>\n

We are the violent ones, and God wants to rescue and redeem us from ourselves. <\/strong><\/p>\n

As it happens, when we ask about God\u2019s role in violence, later revelation in Scripture makes it pretty clear that God\u2019s only activity was to rescue us from our own violence, redeem us from the consequences of violence, and reconcile us to Himself and to one another from the schisms caused by violence. The early church understood this quite well. Look at this sampling of quotes from the book of Acts: <\/p>\n

\u2026 Him \u2026 you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up \u2026 (Acts 2:23-24).
\n\u2026 [you] killed the prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead \u2026 (Acts 3:15).
\n\u2026 Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead \u2026 (Acts 4:10).
\nThe God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered \u2026 (Acts 5:30).
\n\u2026 whom they killed by hanging on a tree, Him God raised up on the third day \u2026 (Acts 10:39-40).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do you see? This small representation of verses shows a pattern which was revealed in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

We humans are the violent ones; God is the one who rescues, redeems, restores, reconciles, and reverses the violence we commit, even when it is committed in His name.<\/p>\n\"GodHow can a God who says \"Love your enemies\" (Matthew 5:44) be the same God who instructs His people in the Old Testament to kill their enemies?<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n

These are the sorts of questions we discuss and (try to) answer in my online discipleship group. Members of the group can also take ALL of my online courses (Valued at over $1000) at no charge. \r\n\r\nLearn more here: Join the RedeemingGod.com Discipleship Group<\/a>\r\n\r\nI can't wait to hear what you have to say, and how we can help you better understand God and learn to live like Him in this world!\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I would have killed Jesus because the same mindset mindset that put Christ on the cross is the mindset that allows me to call for the death of others. We humans are the violent ones; God is the one who rescues, redeems, restores, reconciles, and reverses the violence we commit, even when it is committed in His name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1306,1926,495,38,1523,1213],"class_list":{"0":"post-35088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-crucifixion","8":"tag-killing-jesus","9":"tag-theology-study-god","10":"tag-theology-jesus","11":"tag-violence-of-god","12":"tag-when-god-pled-guilty","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhy 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