Richard Aberdeen
Member
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2026
- Messages
- 118
In John, we find this concerning Jesus: "Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, where is he? And there was much complaining among the people concerning him. Some said, 'he is good'; others said, 'no, on the contrary, he deceives the people.' However, no one spoke openly of him for fear of 'the Jews'" John 7:11-13.
"The Jews", in this case, refers to the temple rulers and, not to the general Jewish population. We know this because it says above, "no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews." "No one", in this case, refers to the rest of the people gathered for the feast, most of whom were Jewish. Thus, when we see this phrase "the Jews" in the story of Jesus, it does not refer to all Jews or the Jewish nation but rather, it refers to the Jewish temple rulers. After all, Jesus was mostly Jewish and so were his followers.
For hundreds of years, the Catholic and later Protestant church of Europe terrorized, tortured and murdered large numbers of the minority Jewish population, because "the Jews" were said to have killed Jesus. This in spite of the fact that Mary the mother of Jesus, Andrew, James, John, Peter the supposed first pope and, thousands of initial followers, were virtually all Jewish. The truth is that the religious rulers stirred up the "crowd" to be against Jesus when he was crucified, though many did not assent to his killing, including a few leading religious Jews.
So, if we are to blame someone for killing Jesus, it was the religious leaders, who Jesus called "hypocrites", "liars", "snakes" and "blind leaders of the blind", among other choice words. Nevertheless, the Catholic and Protestant leaders of Europe treated the minority Jewish populations with horrific contempt and hostility, including crafting laws banning them from most occupations; as well as noted, they terrorized, tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews, based on a lie of complete and utter hypocrisy.
The real truth is we all killed Jesus, for "all have sinned. . ." And he died for all of us, to save us from our sins, to save us from what greatly harms us all and keeps us from being as free as we would like to be. Sin makes us less free, not more free, as many wrongly assume.
When we see Christian leaders today, who openly condemn sinners who Jesus came to save, like Ecclesiastes says, there truly is nothing new under the sun. Of such hypocrites, Paul says: "Therefore you are inexcusable, O one, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things" Romans 2:1. We have all broken God's law (singular); "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23.
In Search of the Real Jesus
Link Deleted
"The Jews", in this case, refers to the temple rulers and, not to the general Jewish population. We know this because it says above, "no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews." "No one", in this case, refers to the rest of the people gathered for the feast, most of whom were Jewish. Thus, when we see this phrase "the Jews" in the story of Jesus, it does not refer to all Jews or the Jewish nation but rather, it refers to the Jewish temple rulers. After all, Jesus was mostly Jewish and so were his followers.
For hundreds of years, the Catholic and later Protestant church of Europe terrorized, tortured and murdered large numbers of the minority Jewish population, because "the Jews" were said to have killed Jesus. This in spite of the fact that Mary the mother of Jesus, Andrew, James, John, Peter the supposed first pope and, thousands of initial followers, were virtually all Jewish. The truth is that the religious rulers stirred up the "crowd" to be against Jesus when he was crucified, though many did not assent to his killing, including a few leading religious Jews.
So, if we are to blame someone for killing Jesus, it was the religious leaders, who Jesus called "hypocrites", "liars", "snakes" and "blind leaders of the blind", among other choice words. Nevertheless, the Catholic and Protestant leaders of Europe treated the minority Jewish populations with horrific contempt and hostility, including crafting laws banning them from most occupations; as well as noted, they terrorized, tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews, based on a lie of complete and utter hypocrisy.
The real truth is we all killed Jesus, for "all have sinned. . ." And he died for all of us, to save us from our sins, to save us from what greatly harms us all and keeps us from being as free as we would like to be. Sin makes us less free, not more free, as many wrongly assume.
When we see Christian leaders today, who openly condemn sinners who Jesus came to save, like Ecclesiastes says, there truly is nothing new under the sun. Of such hypocrites, Paul says: "Therefore you are inexcusable, O one, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things" Romans 2:1. We have all broken God's law (singular); "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23.
In Search of the Real Jesus
Link Deleted
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