Safe Space in Christ

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Is it safe to learn to play the organ like Johann S. Bach?

I remember hearing a short “Public service” message several years ago on a local Public radio station where a mother was talking about providing a safe place for her daughter. This did not sound so bad at first. Parents should want to protect their children from harm and from all who would seek to hurt them or take advantage of them. However, this is not what the woman meant. She went on to define what a “safe place” meant to her. She wanted her daughter to be “safe” from criticism, and from people who would tell her that she couldn’t do something!

I thought that this was extremely strange, especially considering the context that this was a classical music station and I presumed the mother paradoxically wanted her child to learn to play a musical instrument. It is impossible for someone to learn to play an instrument without receiving all kinds of criticisms about technique and note choice and style and encouragements to practice and the like. I thought to myself that this woman’s child will not only never learn to play an instrument, but would also grow up so spoiled that she would never be a productive member of society if she embraced this attitude.

Wikipedia defines “safe space” as “an autonomous space created for individuals who feel marginalized to come together to communicate regarding their experiences with marginalization.” That is the politically correct view, though even that brings up the images of a group of whining complainers who can’t take a little criticism. A more honest definition can be found at the urbandictionary.com where the most direct definition defines a “safe space” as “A place where cowards with cultural authoritarian and pro-censorship leanings go to in order to evade criticism and exposing of whatever absurd ideas they may express, as well as ideas that are even slightly opposed to the safe space dweller’s ideas. These are labeled as whatever kind of bigotry would make the safe space dweller look like a victim the most.” This accurately shows how such “safe places” are not really safe, and are quite bad for all concerned.

Jesus taught the people in Nazareth but they sought to kill him. See Luke 4:16-30

One big problem with shielding children from criticism is that they never get the chance to test or defend their ideas or point of view. They can thus be more easily manipulated and controlled by whoever is moderating the information that they take in. In the real world where people have all sorts of crazy ideas it is necessary to learn what is good and true, and separate that from what is bad and false. When a real person in the real world is challenged on his worldview, he has to be able to defend his position and show how his ideas are better than the ideas proposed by his opponent. If he finds that he cannot defend his point of view, then he must consider rethinking his position to account for the truth, and thus make his resulting worldview much better.

Children need to be sheltered and protected from harm, but the process of maturation should be a gradual removal of the shelters as the growing child is better able to discern the truth from lies. The sheltered child who is never challenged until later in life doesn’t know how to deal with criticism, and is not likely to be able to distinguish the truth from lies. This can be very unsettling when they are faced with people who have a different view of the world. This is true even when someone has a better view of the world, and can effectively communicate that to others.

It is also ironic that many of the Internet definitions of “safe spaces” make reference to activities going on at college campuses or universities. One cannot learn unless one admits that he doesn’t know all things and maybe he has to broaden his view of the world or learn to stand up and defend what he knows to be true against false views of the world. Christians have known for years that there are no university campuses (including Christian universities) where we are “safe” from criticism and ridicule and sometimes outright attacks (mostly verbal, but increasingly some physical) on us, and on our faith. Many of the attacks on Christianity come from unfounded assumptions by teachers and others that Christians are non-intellectual and the Christian faith is somehow irrational. Sometimes people come right out and question the morality of Christianity without providing a basis for their own moral view. I faced some of this when I was in college in the 1980’s, and it has only gotten worse in the subsequent decades.

There is a saying that “No one is useless. You can always serve as a bad example.” If you want a textbook example of the tragedies which ensue when children are never disciplined or challenged, then look at the former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick. Kwame’s mother was a U.S. Congress representative from Michigan, and she apparently never told her son that he couldn’t do anything. The result of this is that he thought he could do anything, and so he did. He cheated on his wife with another man’s wife. He abused his authority as Mayor of Detroit. He extorted bribes to enrich himself and his cronies at the expense of the people of Detroit. He also had something to do with the murder of a prostitute and was instrumental in the cover-up obstruction of the investigation into her death. Kwame is currently where he belongs in prison for federal crimes of corruption and accepting bribes and various other crimes related to his abuse of power.

Though prison keeps the greater society safe from uncontrolled wicked people like Kwame Kilpatrick (and more openly violent people), prisons are the opposite of what is now commonly referred to as “safe spaces”. In prison the inmates are continually told what they can and cannot do. Prison is a good lesson in obedience, which has saved the lives of many people who didn’t learn the lesson earlier in life.

It is certainly not safe to be tempted by the devil, but Jesus endured without sin to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil.

Jesus was quite familiar with opposition throughout His ministry, and He was well prepared for it. When Jesus began His ministry at around age 30 He was challenged by St. John the baptizer when Jesus came to be baptized. John’s baptism was for sinners, and John asked Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Now, John was not a hostile opponent. He was a prophet sent by God, but he still didn’t fully understand why Jesus would “dirty” Himself with a sinners baptism. Jesus responded, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (See Matthew 3) Immediately after Jesus was baptized by John He was sent to the wilderness by God to fast for 40 days, and at the end He was tempted by the devil. (See Matthew 4) The devil was certainly a hostile antagonist, though he portrayed himself as a sympathetic friend. Even when tired and hungry Jesus responded to the devil’s temptations by quoting Scripture passages and remaining faithful to God the Father.

Though Jesus never sinned in anything He did or said, some sinners considered Him to be their enemy and several times in His life they tried to trap Him and catch Him doing or saying something wrong, or even giving the appearance of doing wrong so that in their wicked plans, they could hang Him (literally). In a famous story (see Matthew 22 or Luke 20) they asked Jesus whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar or not. This was a clever trap because if Jesus said it was right to pay taxes to Caesar they could portray Jesus as being allied with the Roman oppressors, and make Him lose respect with the Jewish people. If Jesus said it was not right to pay the Roman taxes, then they would report Him to the Roman authorities as someone who was leading a rebellion against them. Jesus responded by asking His accusers to show Him a coin used for paying the Roman tax. Jesus asked, “Whose portrait is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” Jesus then said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” This was a brilliant response which left them amazed. This was an answer that they could not use against Jesus without lying completely about what He said (though they later did exactly that). The coin showed the image of Caesar, but when God made people, He made us in His image. Our whole lives ought to be dedicated to serving God, but as God has instituted the governments that exist we also owe them service and allegiance.

Jesus did not defend Himself at trial yet Pilate declared Him innocent. Though the political schemes of the Jewish leaders convinced Pilate to sentence Jesus to die.

The trials of Jesus before the High Priest and Pilate and Herod are other examples of antagonistic opposition to Jesus and His teaching. Though Jesus did not invoke His rights to defend Himself, because He knew it was His Father’s will that He die as an innocent lamb for the atonement of all people, Jesus did answer some questions that were given to Him. When the High Priest asked Him if He was the Christ, Jesus answered “Yes,” which made the court want to kill Him all the more, even though it was true (see Matthew 26). Jesus also engaged Pontius Pilate in some conversations about the nature of His Kingship, and the nature of truth, but Jesus did not otherwise defend Himself against the false accusations of the Jewish leaders. This led Pilate to publicly declare Jesus innocent several times. This public proclamation was necessary to fulfill the role of Jesus as the sacrificial atonement lamb to be without blemish or fault. When Jesus was taken before Herod, He said nothing whatsoever.

The Christian life is in many ways the opposite of the popular view of “safe spaces” in our society. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12) Jesus knew well that He would be hated for loving God above all and loving His neighbor as Himself. If Jesus was hated and persecuted, so would His disciples and followers suffer persecution. There is also much temptation and violence here in this sinful world, and that is not “safe” for anyone.

Jesus also taught, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. … a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34, 36-39) Jesus is certainly not advocating violence, but rather patient endurance of persecution, and love for one’s neighbor. Jesus Himself practiced this in His life, even to His death on the cross.

A Christian’s safety does not consist in peace with the world. Indeed, it is written in the Scripture, “Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) Everyone in the world is a sinner, and sinners are, by nature, enemies of God. Those who love their sin more than God view themselves as enemies of those who side with God against the world.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to learn. It was not safe to be seen as a disciple of Jesus. Later Nicodemus assisted in the burial of Jesus. See John 3 and John 19:38-42

And yet, Christians do live in a “safe space” that the world cannot know, nor imagine. Psalm 46:1-2 tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” God Himself is our “safe space” because not only does He protect us from all evil, but He has also redeemed us from our sin. We have peace with God through the forgiveness of our sin which Christ won for us. It is sin which puts us in danger, and estranges us from God. Because Jesus has taken the guilt of our sin upon Himself, and took the punishment for our sin, God the Father is not our enemy, but our rescuer and defender. We need not fear God’s wrath, because He took it all out on Jesus at the cross. We now have peace with God and are therefore safe from all harm and evil. If God would go so far as to become incarnate as a man, and then suffer and die to take our place in suffering the punishment for our sin, then He certainly will not let any evil do us any lasting harm. Thus, we can be at peace even while in the midst of the worst chaos of this sinful world. Psalm 32:7 says of God, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”

Sinful people have a far too high opinion of themselves and their cleverness and power and worth. We think that we can find a solution for all our problems, and work everything out on our own. When Adam and Eve first sinned against God’s law they were ashamed of themselves, and that manifested itself in a feeling of shame in their bodies. They sewed fig leaves together for a covering of their shame, as if God would not know exactly what that meant. Likewise, we ought not think that we can hide our sin and guilt from God. In Psalm 139:7-12 David writes:

Atheists think that the grave will be a place to hide from condemnation. But Jesus conquered death for all. There is no hiding from Christ’s final Judgment.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,  
even there your hand will guide me,  
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,’  
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

This passage is surely a condemning passage for those who do not love God or trust in Him for salvation and rescue. No one can escape God’s judgment. However, these are also words of great comfort for those who know God loves them and has rescued them from sin and guilt and all that would trouble us. If we live in faith in Jesus as our savior from sin, our sins are completely forgiven, and God considers us His beloved children, not His enemies. We need not fear God’s wrath and anger over our sins. Nor do we need to fear death, because Jesus has conquered the power of death by dying an innocent death in our place. God knows where we are at all times. Even when we have been in our graves for a thousand years or more, God remembers us, and Christ will call our names on the last day to resurrect us to glory so that we may live with Him in His heavenly paradise forever. “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)

David sought shelter in God. There is no safer place, even in the midst of trouble and persecution.

“Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you.” (Psalm 143:9) What could be safer than to be hidden in the protective care of the Almighty God? The first century Jews should have better remembered David’s Psalms. Many did, and those were the great crowds which followed Jesus and rejoiced at His teaching and benefited from His miracles. The leaders, however, refused to repent, and even when they knew that Jesus was the Christ sent by God, they envied and hated Him and plotted to kill Him. Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matt 23:37) Jesus yearned to shelter His people as a hen shelters her chicks, but they would not have it. Part of this was the rejection that the Messiah had to suffer in payment for the sins of the world. Jesus was abandoned by all as He paid for our sins on the cross, even God the Father turned against His beloved Son to punish Him for the world’s sin. Jesus, however, remained faithful to the Father, and continued to love us, even though it was the guilt of our sins which caused Jesus so much pain and torment. This is the love of God which rescues us from all troubles. Who would not love the true God who went to such great lengths to suffer to rescue us from sin and death so that we may be redeemed and live forever with Him in Paradise?

Can You Forgive Yourself?

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Would you? Could you? Should you? Can you forgive yourself ? These are the questions that everyone should be asking when someone says that you have to forgive yourself. Few people, however, ask these important questions. Forgiving yourself sounds like a good idea, so people take it for granted that it actually is a good thing.

It is not uncommon to hear people say that you have to forgive yourself. Christians will even sometimes say this. This kind of sounds like a Christian thing to do, but where in the Bible does it say that we should or could forgive ourselves? The answer is that the Holy Scriptures nowhere tell us that this is something that we ought to do. In fact, it says quite the opposite.

What does the Bible say about Forgiveness?

Jesus and Zacchaeus - Luke 19

There is much that the Holy Scriptures say about forgiveness, but none of it is about the benefits of forgiving oneself. In summary: God forgives me so I ought to forgive others (see 1 John 4:7-12). This is the proper order. In researching this article I found a web site which claimed to show Biblical rationale for forgiving oneself. Instead, what they did was quote several Bible passages which talked about God’s forgiveness of our sins through Christ, and exhortations to us to forgive others, and for each example the article just said, “This also can be applied to forgiving ourselves.” No Biblical reason or example was given for forgiving yourself, it was just asserted as if God’s forgiving you and your forgiving others is the same as you forgiving yourself. But let’s look at some of the Biblical teachings on forgiveness.

In the Gospel accounts of Jesus healing the paralyzed man, before Jesus heals the man He says to him, “Your sins are forgiven.” The people in the house who knew the Scriptures asked, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21) Although these people mistakenly thought that Jesus did not have the authority to forgive sins, they were right to believe that only God can forgive sins.

When King David wrote Psalm 51 after he repented of his many sins in the Bathsheba affair he wrote, “O God … Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” (Psalm 51:1, 4) Though David had sinned greatly against Uriah and Bathsheba and others, he confesses that he has only sinned against God. How can that be right? It is right because it is God who makes the laws, and He determines what is right and what is wrong. The Ten Commandments are God’s commands to us. God commands us to do what is right and forbids us from doing wrong. God declares that the punishment for sin is death, and only God can rightly punish or forgive those who break His laws.

God has also saved you from the punishment for your sin through Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who fulfilled God’s commands in your place, and then went to the cross to also take the punishment that you deserved for your sins. Since Jesus paid the price for your forgiveness, He is the one who has forgiven all your sins. Then, since Christ has won full forgiveness for all your sins, why would you ever need to forgive yourself?

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus instructs His disciples how to pray for forgiveness. Jesus says, “When you pray, say, ‘Father … forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’” Note who is to forgive whom in this prayer. We ask God first to forgive our sins, and then to enable us to forgive others who sin against us. Christ does command us all to forgive the sins that others commit against us, but there is no suggestion that we are to forgive ourselves. Our personal sins are committed to God for His mercy and forgiveness, where we can be sure they are forgiven in Christ.

Are You Qualified to Forgive Yourself?

The Father forgives the Prodigal Son

The trouble with forgiving yourself is that, contrary to what we all believe about ourselves, each one of us is the least qualified to judge our own sin. Here it helps to remember how the devil tempts us to sin. The devil makes sin seem attractive to us by making us believe that sin is more profitable, pleasurable, and beneficial to us than righteousness. These are all lies, but because of this, we find ways to justify our wickedness and evil so that we often are unaware that we are sinning at all. So if we were in charge of our own forgiveness we might overlook some sin we particularly enjoy, and would then be condemned of that sin by God, our final judge.

A good Biblical example of this is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:22-35). The servant owed his lord more debt than he could ever repay, but the lord is merciful and forgives him the whole debt. Then the servant turned around and had a fellow servant thrown into prison for owing him a much smaller debt. When the lord hears about this he has the unmerciful servant imprisoned until he repays every last cent that he owed him. The problem with the unmerciful servant was not that he didn’t forgive himself, but that he did not appreciate the great forgiveness given to him by his lord.

Self-forgiveness is the wrong solution to the problem

Jesus died on the cross to win your forgiveness

Now, someone might say that I might need to forgive myself if I hold on to guilt for some sin after I have already been forgiven by God (and my neighbor – where applicable). This could certainly be a problem, but forgiving myself is the wrong solution to continuing feelings of guilt. There is no doubt that I ought to feel guilty for the sins I commit against God and against others. Some guilty feelings may linger after I have been absolved, but the problem isn’t with God or others who forgive me. The problem is with me.

Even true forgiveness may not necessarily get rid of feelings of guilt. If your conscience is working properly you will feel guilty for doing wrong even after you have been forgiven and the issue has been resolved. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and will help you to resist committing such sin the next time you are tempted.

Christ’s forgiveness is sure, but if you don’t believe it then you are going to worry that you could still face punishment over that sin. (Now, you may still have to face temporal punishment by the civil authorities for a sin that God has already forgiven, but that is different than not trusting in God’s forgiveness.) I think this shows where the idea of forgiving oneself comes from. It comes from unbelievers.

Forgiveness and “feelings”

Jesus rose from the dead

A non-Christian (or an unbelieving “christian”) does not have the assurance of forgiveness in Christ, nor does he have the comfort of knowing that God does not hold his guilt against him. In order for such a person to relieve his feelings of guilt over his sins he may find himself trying to forgive himself or otherwise trying to win God’s favor. This is dangerous for his soul because although he may “feel forgiven” he is still condemned before God for the sins he is trying to deal with himself. The only possible good in this is that the unbeliever can get on with his life and do some temporal good without despairing of life, and he may be able to find true forgiveness in Christ later.

In studying this topic I found much discussion about the role of one’s feelings in self-forgiveness. One source I found said that forgiving oneself is all about feeling forgiven. Do you need to feel forgiven? There may be feelings associated with forgiveness, but they aren’t an integral part of the act of forgiveness. For example, one who is forgiven may feel relieved that he isn’t going to die for his sins. Also one may still feel guilty for the wrong done against God or the neighbor. If forgiveness results in feelings of guilt and relief, then how would you even know that you feel forgiven?

The Dangers of Forgiving Yourself

The quest for feeling forgiven is very dangerous. The danger is that I could do something that could make me feel forgiven, when I am not. A great (though extremely sad) example of this is found in Mitch Albom’s book, Tuesdays with Morrie. Morris Schwartz was a man who felt a great need to deal with his guilt as his death seemed to draw near, but he did not trust in God to forgive him. This lack of trust in God is shown by the fact that “God” is only mentioned three times in the book, and never as a solution to his guilt or impending death. (What kind of a dying man is not concerned about God?) Schwartz’ solution was to hold a mock funeral before his death so he could hear people say all kinds of good things about his life so he wouldn’t feel so guilty for his sins as he approached death. (Note: This is not how Albom interpreted the events, but this is my interpretation of what was going on with the bizarre behavior of his former teacher & friend – but if you read the book you will see that this is what happened.) Although Morris Schwartz died a happy man thinking that he surely must surely have pleased his god enough to be rewarded, he was very likely disappointed after his death because he rejected the true forgiveness that is only found in Jesus Christ’s atonement for his sins on the cross. This is just one tragic example why we cannot trust our feelings where forgiveness is concerned.

Forgiving yourself doesn’t seem to be a dangerous exercise, but that only makes it similar to most of the sins that we all commit every day. The devil would never tell you that the thing that you are enjoying so much will kill you. The danger of forgiving yourself is that when you make yourself feel forgiven without ever needing to repent and then receive that forgiveness from Christ, then you will eventually feel that you don’t need Christ at all and will lose your faith and your salvation. This doesn’t happen all at once, but slowly and without you even noticing what is happening. By the time you might notice that you no longer trust in Christ for forgiveness it will be too late and you will be lost and condemned in your sin, and/or you just won’t care any more.

True Assurance

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead

Would you? Could you? Should you? Can you forgive yourself? Forgiveness is at the heart of what it means to be saved. You might as well ask, “Can I save myself?” The answer in the Scriptures is clearly: No. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:25-27) In this passage the problem isn’t wealth, but the rich who put their trust in their wealth to save them. You cannot save yourself. Only God can forgive you and save you because of what Jesus has done to pay for your sins.

Every false religion in the world teaches that it is up to you to save yourself and earn forgiveness. Every false teaching among the Christian denominations introduces the false idea that you have to do something to achieve forgiveness and salvation. If forgiveness is not the free gift of God through Jesus Christ, then it is false, and will not save you.

True forgiveness comes only from God through Christ Jesus. Your sin is such a big problem that only God could save you from the guilt of your sin. Fortunately, Jesus loved you so that He gave His life on the cross to pay the terrible price to free you from your sin. If you want to be forgiven (and you do – whether you acknowledge it or not) then you must trust in Jesus to forgive you and save you from your sins. To rescue you from your sins it took God Himself to become incarnate as one of His created people and live the perfectly obedient life that none of us sinners could accomplish. Then He had to suffer the punishment on the cross to pay the price for your sins. It is amazing that God loved us all so that He did all that was necessary to save us from our sins. Yet, there He was – hanging dead on the cross. That is how you can be sure you are forgiven.

If you want assurance that your sins are forgiven you don’t have to forgive yourself. In fact, you can’t find true assurance by forgiving yourself – there will always be doubt if your forgiveness depends on anything you do. The only sure and certain way to know you are forgiven is to trust that God, Himself, has done everything needed to rescue you from your sins. Look to the cross. There you will see that God has forgiven all your sins and has rescued you from death and all the consequences of sin.

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“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” (Psalm 103:1-3)

“Let His Blood be on Us and on Our Children”

by Pastor Paul Wolff

From Zion Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio

(Matthew 27:15-26)

Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

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Even before Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ” came out in 2004 he received complaints from Jewish groups about the scene where the Pharisees exerted their political pressure on Pontius Pilate to have Jesus crucified. The modern Jewish groups claimed that the words of the Pharisees from Matthew 27:25, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” would incite anti-Jewish behavior from viewers. Mel Gibson at first tried to alleviate their concerns that he was targeting them for ridicule by saying, “I’ve never met a Pharisee.”

That response was not sufficient because one need not know much history to make the spiritual connection between the modern Jewish religion and their roots in ancient Rabbinical Phariseeism. After further complaints Gibson compromised by removing the captions which read, “Let His blood be on us and on our children” though he left the Aramaic dialogue (for those who understand Aramaic.)

The Crucifixion of Jesus

It is one of many ironies about this scene from the Gospel story that in trying to distance themselves from the ancient Pharisees the modern Jewish groups actually connect themselves very strongly with their ancient forebears. Although the Pharisees were willing and eager to take responsibility for the death of Jesus and the modern Jews are not, both groups are motivated by the same theology, which is that both the ancient Pharisees and the modern Jews reject Jesus as their Messiah.

There is, however, one group of people around today who is willing to take responsibility for the death of Jesus: Christians.

Unlike modern Jews, Christians are not ashamed to say of Jesus, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” and mean it in every sense of the phrase, including the sense that Jewish groups are so afraid of. The Holy Scriptures explain very well how we are responsible for the death of Jesus and how the blood of Jesus redeems us from our sins:

• “The blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
• “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? … If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”(Romans 6: 3, 5)
• “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come? … These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:13-14)

Christians regularly publicly proclaim that they are both individually and corporately responsible for the death of Jesus. We do this every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and every time we have a public confession of sins. In the New Testament St. Paul teaches the Corinthian Christians about the Lord’s supper saying, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16) The Lutheran Confessions use this verse to show that the body and blood of Christ is truly present in a bodily way in the sacrament. Jesus gives us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins and for the strengthening of our faith. St. Paul goes on to teach in 1 Corinthians 11:26, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” In proclaiming the Lord’s death we are not just saying, “it happened,” but “it happened on account of my sins, and for my salvation.” Jesus wants us to confess our sins so that we might also receive full forgiveness and salvation, so we are bold to admit our complicity and guilt in the death of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t hold our sins against us, but gives everlasting life to all who trust in Him as their savior from sin.

Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

There is also another teaching in Scripture which would deflect the so-called “blame” for Jesus’ death away from not only the Jewish Pharisees, but also the Gentiles. In John 10:17-18 Jesus Himself says, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” This is shown in the Gospels by the fact that several times people tried to kill Jesus, but until He had completed His work He wouldn’t allow them to lay a hand on Him. The first time this happens is soon after Jesus is born and King Herod sends his troops to Bethlehem to kill Jesus along with all the baby boys in the town. The last time this happens is in the garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers come to arrest Jesus. Before Jesus allows the soldiers to take Him He causes all of them to fall on the ground simply by saying the words “I am” (see John 18:1-11 especially v. 6). Jesus did this to demonstrate that He wasn’t overpowered, but that He went willingly.

This is not to say that we are guiltless. We are all guilty. Our sin makes us enemies of God, and by our very nature we all wish to kill God and put ourselves in His place of power and authority. This is what we do whenever we commit actual sins. When we sin we are exerting our own sinful will against God and trying to push Him out of the way. God knows this very well. In fact, this is the very reason God became incarnate in Jesus Christ in the first place. God knew how hopeless our sinful situation was from before the beginning, so He decided to take care of our salvation Himself and that is just what Jesus did in His life and in His death. This is why Christians are not afraid to both confess our guilt in the death of Jesus, and also to confess our faith that because of His death and resurrection from the dead Jesus has forgiven us all our sins and will give eternal life to all who trust in Him.

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Note: Although I used Mel Gibson’s movie and the surrounding objections as an illustration for this essay I am not unaware of the subsequent accusations of bad behavior on the part of Mr. Gibson. Whether Mel Gibson is anti-Semitic or not is irrelevant to this issue. The scene in question from the “Passion” movie is an accurate representation of the Gospel account from Matthew and neither the scene nor the Gospel of Matthew is anti-Semitic. Even if it turns out to be true that Mel Gibson has sinful feelings against Jews it does not come out in “The Passion of the Christ.” This is proven by the symbolism of Gibson’s cameo appearance in the movie. When Jesus is shown being nailed to the cross it is Mel Gibson’s hands which pound the nails into the hands of the Jesus character. This was Gibson’s way of saying (along with all Christians) “I am responsible for the death of Jesus. My sins caused the death of Jesus, but His death redeemed me of all my sins.”

For further reading: Matthew 27:15-26; 1 Corinthians 10:14-17; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Revelation 7:13-17; Romans 6:1-10; Hebrews 9:11-28; 1 John 1:5-10.

See also my 2004 newsletter article, “The Passion of Christ”

Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews - INRI

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:16-22)

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Why was Jesus crucified? Ultimately it was the will of God, the Father, that Jesus should die as a substitute sacrifice in payment for the sins of all mankind so that we might be saved through faith in Him. However, in bringing this to fulfillment God used the sinfulness of man to bring about man’s salvation from sin. That is just one of many ironies in the death of Jesus.

Neither Pontius Pilate, nor the Jewish leaders had any desire to fulfill God’s plan of salvation. They were all following their own sinful selfish interests.

When they arrested Jesus, the Jewish leaders had already prejudged Jesus as deserving death because the “whole world” was following Him (John 12:19) and they were envious of His authority, power, and popularity (Mark 15:10). Pilate, however, recognized that Jesus was innocent, but let Him be crucified in order to placate the bloodthirsty Jews who were so intent on killing Jesus that they would have started a riot. Killing Jesus was the easy way out for Pilate to keep a semblance of order in Jerusalem.

It seems odd that Jesus and Pilate would speak about kings and kingdoms, except that according to Luke’s account of the Gospel (Luke 23:2) the Pharisees had charged Jesus with subversion saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.” John (18:30) shows the Pharisees being a little more coy about the guilt of Jesus saying at first to Pilate, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”

Pilate must have known that their evidence against Jesus was thin so he responded, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Pharisees, however wanted Jesus crucified as a public spectacle to discourage Christ’s followers from undermining their authority.

Note that the Pharisees tell Pilate that Jesus claims to be “Christ.” It is interesting that they would use this word. The title “Christ” is a Greek word which is a translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah” which means “anointed one.” The Pharisees had to define the word for Pilate (“He claims to be Christ, a king.”) because although it had meaning for them, it had none for Pilate. They knew that Jesus was God not only because of His teaching and miracles, but because God’s chosen Christ was the true King of Israel who would reign forever (Psalm 29:10 “The Lord is enthroned as King forever.”)

It didn’t matter to the Pharisees that Jesus was God Himself in the flesh who would reign as King forever. They only cared about their own power and rule, and if they could kill God then they would take as much pleasure doing it as Friedrich Nietzsche would take proclaiming the deed nineteen centuries later (though Nietzsche made the fatal flaw of forgetting the Resurrection of Jesus).

Jesus engages Pilate in conversation and answers his question, which is somewhat remarkable. When Pilate sends Jesus to Herod for judgment Jesus has absolutely nothing to say to Herod. I take this as a sign that Jesus knew there was hope for Pilate to be saved, and out of love explained to Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world,” (John 18:36) and “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (John 19:11) It was also out of love for Herod that Jesus did not open His mouth in response to his inquiries. Unlike Pilate, Herod was not interested in the truth. He only wanted to see a miracle. Jesus would not perform on command and so I suppose Herod was unsatisfied, but Jesus did give Herod a miracle in His death and resurrection from the dead, though I suspect that Herod didn’t appreciate that either.

Pontius Pilate was satisfied that even if Jesus was Israel’s King, He was no subversive insurrectionist. Several times Pilate declared that Jesus did not deserve to be crucified. The Pharisees were subversive insurrectionists, however, and not only were they willing to free the murderer Barabbas in order to kill Jesus, but they were beginning to start a riot against Pilate and would have continued had he not given in to their wicked demands to have Jesus crucified. Pilate showed weakness in allowing an innocent man to be killed, but in a way Jesus had already absolved him earlier saying, “the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” Jesus knew it wasn’t Pilate who was to die for the sins of all people.

Pilate, however took the opportunity to condemn the Pharisees a little bit, too. Pilate had a sign posted on the cross above Jesus’ head which read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Pilate had the message written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek so that no one would miss the message. This sign declared the reason this man was condemned to die. As far as Pilate was concerned Jesus was the King of the Jews. The Pharisees had accused Him of being a king, and Jesus had admitted it, too, saying, “You are right in saying I am a king.” (John 18:37) In effect, Pilate was saying, “If you bring this man to me claiming he is a king and insisting he be killed, then look, this is what I think of your king and your legal authority!” That is why the Pharisees objected to the wording of the sign, wanting to change it to say that this man claimed to be king of the Jews. Pilate was angry that they had forced his hand to kill an innocent man and would not change a word, saying, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:22)

Now, all this would only be a great injustice except for the fact of who Jesus is and why He died on the cross. As the only Eternal God, Jesus is the eternal King of Israel. Remember why the prophet Samuel was so angry in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 8) when the people asked for a king like the other nations. He recognized that they were rejecting God as their true king. Jesus said, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life–only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:17-18) Are the Jews guilty of the murder of Jesus? Yes. Are the Gentiles guilty of the murder of Jesus? Yes. Jesus died for the sins of all people, both Jews and Gentiles. We are all guilty of the death of Jesus, but that is why He came to be born in our flesh. Jesus came to die to pay for the sins of all people, so although we are all guilty in His death, we all may also receive His forgiveness and rejoice in His resurrection.

Jesus did not die for Himself, but neither did He rise for Himself either. He died and rose for us. Jesus overcame death and the grave so that we could receive His forgiveness and also overcome our death and grave to live in Paradise with Him forever. It is important for Christians to understand that Jesus is the “King of the Jews.” Not that there is anything special about the Jews (there isn’t), but because God had chosen the Israelite people as His servants so that through them God would bring salvation for all mankind into the world through them. This He accomplished through Jesus.

The sign “INRI” on the cross is not a condemnation of the Jews (except for those who reject Jesus as God and King), but it is an acknowledgment that God has kept His promises and has brought salvation to all who trust in Jesus to save them from their sins.