Christ Killers

We probably all heard the anti-Semitic term, "Christ killers," applied to Jews. That came to mind as I re-read the story of Jesus' trial before Pilate in Matthew 27. Pilate attempted to dodge the question but was resisted. So...
24 When Pilate saw  that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves." 25 And all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!"

That last phrase was seized by people though out history as a justification for persecuting the Jews. Logic refutes that decisively. The context is quite helpful here. When Pilate declared that he was "innocent of this Man's blood," did it absolve him? No. So did the "assumption" of guilt on behalf of their progeny bind future generations? No.

I like Abraham Lincoln's response to a question about how many legs a dog has if we call his tail a leg. Lincoln's typical homespun wisdom prevailed. "Four. Calling a tail a leg does not make it a leg." Likewise the pronouncement of guilt on their "children" was not binding nor even logical.

Pilate can claim innocence for all of eternity, but he was, and is guilty. So apply the same analysis to the Jewish leaders. Did their short sighted outburst actually make their children responsible for their acts?

On top of that we can appeal to the Bible here. It is helpful.  (As it often is.)  Deuteronomy 24:16 
"Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.

We can't get much clearer than that, can we? Ezekiel just puts a spike in that nonsense. 18:20
20 The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

That sounds like he was quoting Moses, doesn't it? He probably did. The key thing here is that foolish people (using a nice word here) do and say foolish things. They, and we, would be well served and wise to think twice before flapping our jaws.

If you ever encounter the term, "Christ killers," you have my permission, and Moses' and Ezekiel's to unload a little Scripture on them. They are not compliant with either Scripture or logic. Let that be enough.

How many times does the Old Testament bail us out of troublesome times? Keep reading.