By the Publisher,
Love One Another! 3/2004 → The main topic
The gospels tell us that hatred was the main reason for Christ’s
crucifixion (cf. Mark
15:10) – a hatred prompted by the fact that Jesus behaved
and taught as one who partook of the power and authority of God
Himself (cf. Mark
15:10).
Jesus made it clear to his listeners that He was divine. By forgiving
sins (cf. Mark
1:22) and claiming lordship over the Sabbath (Matthew
12:8), He ascribed to Himself the attributes of God. The scribes
and Pharisees reacted immediately by seeking to kill him, because
he not only broke the Sabbath but also called God his Father, making
himself equal with God (John
5:18). They said to Him: We stone you for no good work but for blasphemy;
because you, being a man, make yourself God (John
10:33). When Jesus said: Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham
was, I AM (John
8:58), He was clearly affirming His divinity, since he claimed the
name of God: Yahweh – I AM. We are told that they took up
stones to throw at Him, but this time Jesus hid himself, and went
out of the temple John
(8:59).
The final decision to put Jesus to death was made after the raising
of Lazarus in Bethany. At a meeting of the council, the chief priests
and Pharisees observed: this man performs many signs. If we let
him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will
come and destroy both our holy place and our nation (John
11:47-48). From that day on - we are told - they took counsel how
to put him to death (John
11:53). After Jesus was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin,
the chief priest Caiaphas said to Him: I adjure you by the living
God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to
him, You have said so (Matthew
26:63-64; cf. Mark
14: 62; Luke
22:70). To the members of the Sanhedrin this was open blasphemy.
Jesus admitted to being God, and for this they all condemned him
as deserving death (Mark
14:64). The sentence could only be carried out by permission of
Rome’s deputy, Pontius Pilate. Even though Pilate was convinced
of Jesus’ innocence, he bowed to the pressure mounted by the
Sanhedrin and the mob and agreed to His crucifixion for fear of
incurring Caesar’s displeasure.
The article was published with the permission from "Love One Another!"
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