Why exactly did the Jews kill Jesus?

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BigMike1 said:
Why exactly did the Jews kill Jesus?
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For several reasons. They considered him a blasphemer, but they couldn’t act on that because of the crowds of followers. The final straw is clearly spelled out by John: Jesus raised Lazarus, was gaining a large following in Jerusalem and area, and they feared Roman reprisal.
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” John 11:45-50.
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It wasn’t the Jews specifically so much as it was man-and they were in the unique position of being man who should know God, as He had chosen to reveal Himself to them as to no other men before. God was working out His plan of salvation through them and that plan included their reaction to actually meeting Him in human flesh. Because when we meet God as expressed in the person of Jesus Christ at some point we should recognize that we’ve met Him, we should recognize the innocent truth and beauty and superiority and glory and admit to it- just by experiencing it, experiencing that light and goodness. But men preferred darkness as the bible says, they continued to prefer themselves as the catechism teaches that Adam did to begin with. “They hated Me without reason”, Jesus said of His persecutors, quoting Psalms. Evil always opposes and denies reason in some manner or another. And we often do the same even when we meet other humans who are superior to ourselves in some way or another.

It’s one thing to pay lip-service to God but what happens when we actually encounter godliness; are we obligated to bow to it? Or do we prefer to rid ourselves of it? Is the light too bright? Is our pride too strong to allow for anything that much better than us to exist, to challenge our position? So the Jews, at least some of them in this little drama in one dusty corner of the world two millenia ago, acted for man-and thereby showed us the heart of man-unless and until we have a change of heart and begin to truly see our need for God, for the light that’s missing in this world without Him, the light that Adam basically rejected but the light that, truth be told, man cannot live without. The Jews and their reaction to God are part of God’s revelation to us all, part of the lesson we must come to learn. They played their part, representing all of us, and now we must all come to our senses and finally bow to the Greater Goodness that we encounter when we meet Christ, when we meet God. “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
 
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1 Thessalonians 2

[14] For you, brethren, are become followers of the churches of God which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered the same things from your own coutrymen, even as they have from the Jews, [15] Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us, and please not God, and are adversaries to all men;
 
They demanded his death due to him claiming divinity, being the Son of God which is claiming divinity. John 10:30-33 "The Father and I are one. The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” Which he affirmed at his hearing in front of the Sanhedrin saying “I Am”.
 
I think we also need to remember that Jesus said, “No one takes my life from me, I lay it down of my own accord.”
 
It was me 😦

I did not hand Jésus to the authorities, but it was done because of my sins.

I did not use the hammer to nail his hands and feet to the cross, but every strike of the hammer was because of me and my numerous sins.

I did not use the whip or push down a crown of thorns on his head, but because of my so many sins it might as well have been me.

Don’t blame anyone else for Killing the Son of God. I am responsible.
 
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As a purely factual matter, the Jews did not kill Jesus.

Theologically, the Church clearly teaches that the Jewish people are not responsible for Jesus’ death.

Perhaps most importantly, this question is historically an anti-Semitic dog whistle, which makes one wonder why it is being asked here.
 
Yes yes, it was my sins that sent Jesus to his death. That is not the OP’s question. There is the pious answer, and there is the historical answer. The OP’s question was clearly from the historical context.

It was Jews who conspired and plotted to have Jesus killed. It was Romans who executed him because the Jews were forbidden by the Romans to carry out the death penalty (not that they didn’t do this when it suited them, e.g. Stephen). So to ensure he died by Roman hands, thereby making his death “legal”, the Jews had to spin the religious crime (“blasphemy”) into a political one (usurpation/rebellion).

And by the way, the Romans actually acquitted him of the political charge. They just executed him anyway to preserve the peace, a really flimsy reason.
 
I think it’s worth saying that when John writes Jews, he means the Pharisees and the Sadducees, not the Jewish race.

I’m sure most here know that, but just in case.
 
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TMC said:
As a purely factual matter, the Jews did not kill Jesus.

Theologically, the Church clearly teaches that the Jewish people are not responsible for Jesus’ death.

Perhaps most importantly, this question is historically an anti-Semitic dog whistle, which makes one wonder why it is being asked here.
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This

and this
steph03 said:
It was me 😦

I did not hand Jésus to the authorities, but it was done because of my sins.

I did not use the hammer to nail his hands and feet to the cross, but every strike of the hammer was because of me and my numerous sins.

I did not use the whip or push down a crown of thorns on his head, but because of my so many sins it might as well have been me.

Don’t blame anyone else for Killing the Son of God. I am responsible
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Because their heart was not in the right place. And Jesus knew it: ‘The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will yield a rich harvest.’ - Matt 21:43
 
Jesus was seen as a rabble rouser. When he overturned the money changers business while he was at the Temple he threatened the economic interest that many of the well connected priests and scribes had. Follow the money and you will see where it leads. You will see that there is a correspondence between the money and the plot to kill Jesus.
 
Hightop said:
I think it’s worth saying that when John writes Jews, he means the Pharisees and the Sadducees, not the Jewish race.

I’m sure most here know that, but just in case.
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Yes right. Scripture clearly records Jewish followers of Jesus following their faith. The problem Jews were the ‘letter of the law’ pharisees and scribes who wanted to retain the authority of tradition against the authority of the Holy Spirit.
 
They did not believe Him to be the Messiah. And they believed Him to be guilty of a capital crime.
 
Again, the Jews did not kill Jesus. That is the teaching of our Catholic Church.
 
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