Every Holy Week, Christians around the world gather to remember the death of Jesus. But it’s worth asking a question that has been answered badly and with terrible consequences for much of Christian history.
Who actually killed Jesus?
The short answer is: the Roman state. Crucifixion was a Roman method of execution. A Roman governor signed the order. Roman soldiers drove the nails. By any honest historical accounting, Jesus was executed by the empire he lived under.
Nevertheless, for nearly 2000 years, Jewish people have been blamed for Jesus’ death. This accusation came from early church leaders who found it politically convenient to distance Christianity from its Jewish roots and shift blame away from Rome. It fed centuries of Christian antisemitism, contributing to pogroms, expulsions, and a cultural dehumanization of Jewish people that made atrocities like the Holocaust possible.
Jesus was a Jew, executed by Rome, who spent his life and gave his death in the service of love. To remember that clearly is not just good history, it’s is an act of faithfulness.
