Welcome to Bible Believers Fellowship and the ministry of bbfohio.com. I'm Pastor Greg, and I welcome you to our 16th study in our Israel and the Jews series titled Christ Killers. We begin in Matthew chapter 27, verses 11 through 25. All right, tonight our study is Christ Killers. Matthew 27, 11 through 25. I'm gonna read a few verses here. We consider the accusations that the Jews killed Jesus. And it's going to be an exercise in partial truths. So Matthew 27, read the odd with me, beginning in verse 11. And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would, and they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas, Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man? For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whither of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried the more. led him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Amen. In our previous study, we discussed the reality that the Jews killed Jesus. It's what 1 Thessalonians 2, 14, and 15 says, the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets. So the problem isn't with what's said, it's with what's not said. You'll hear me warn you of this many times, the issue is what's called the missing note. We'll just use classical music as the illustration, but I love classical music, most of it anyway, a lot of it. I love it. We listen to it a lot at the house. You walk in my house, you could hear anything from bluegrass to classical to the old hymns to kids' music because of the grandkids, you know? Very eclectic. But the classical music, I love, but I can't tell you the names of all the pieces. I know some of them, but not very many, and I would love to have that kind of in-depth knowledge. But go even further, if you play and you read music and you really understand, people will actually listen and read the music along. And you and I would listen and say, wonderful. But the real critic would say, over here, right on this measure, missed it. We didn't hear it, but the guy who knows what he's listening for noticed the missing note. Well, that's how Satan gets things over on people, to get you careless and not paying attention to the missing note. And that's what this whole thing with calling the Jews Christ killers. It's what's missing. In our text we see this additional information to the fact that the Bible says the Jews killed Jesus. It says in verses 22 and 23, they all say unto him, let him be crucified. These are Jews in the streets of Jerusalem. But they cried out the more saying, let him be crucified. And then they're yelling, crucify him, crucify him. I mean, it's real clear. Not only did the crowd of Jews and their leaders demand the death of Jesus, but then 24 and 25 says, then answered all the people and said, his blood be on us and on our children. Now folks, there are a lot of well-meaning people who deny that this is true, but it's true. And people say, well, that was only talking about a handful of Jews there. Well, you got 2,000 years where you can see that it's come to pass. We did not say we're happy about it. We didn't say anything about the fact that we think we should help. make sure that they continue to suffer. But history is history, and for 2,000 years since killing their own Messiah, the Jews have been suffering, and His blood has been upon them. Yeah? I just want to point out that it is all Israel, because if you go back to Exodus 12, it says all Israel should gather together to kill Pharaoh. Yeah. And at these feasts, all the males above 20 years of age were supposed to be there. So they were all in the crowd and they may have been far out there, but they were all there. It's quite serious. And this statement is referred to as a blood curse. And we are not going to, some might have expected that I was going to get up here and somehow talk you out of it. No, it is what it is. The Jews killed Jesus. They put a blood curse on themselves. That's all true, but as I said, at this point, it's a partial truth. When you say the Jews killed Jesus or call them Christ killers, you're not telling the whole truth. Augustine, Chrysostom, and many others. What's his name? Justin Martyr was another one. There's several church fathers. They built a case on partial truths to accuse the Jews of deicide. I mean, you hear that word, deicide. You hear the word, deity of Christ. That's the deity, divinity of Christ. Deity. Deicide is to kill God. Deity meaning God. It's the idea that since Jesus was divine and was murdered by the Jews, then the Jews killed God. That's the case they make. That's why Webster defines it as the act of putting to death Jesus Christ our Savior, because true Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God in flesh. Now this theological doctrine of deicide led to centuries of persecution, including mob violence, expulsions, forced conversions, and the creation of ghettos. One of the reasons we say, we believe, I believe, that the final pope will be the Antichrist. He will be a Jew in his DNA. He'll have Jewish DNA. And a lot of people said, oh, I don't figure how that could happen. You don't know history. A huge percentage of Roman Catholics come from an ancestor who was a Jewish child who was taken from his family. Their family was killed and then they took the child and put him in with a Catholic family or in an orphanage and raised him Catholic. And from that point on, all of his descendants are Catholics with Jewish DNA. Yeah, that's what they say about George Soros, his connections. Some claim Hitler. I don't know, I'm not convinced by it, but some claim Hitler had Jewish deicide because of a distant relative who was one of these children. And again, there is some truth to this charge of deicide against the Jews who had killed Jesus. The Jews called for his crucifixion, as we saw. They swore a blood curse on the race, on their children and their children's children, and killed God in human flesh. That would be deicide. But there's more to the story. First, Jesus was actually killed by Roman soldiers. The Jews called for his death. But who killed him? The actual execution was carried out by Roman soldiers. John 19.23, then the soldiers, talking about Roman soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every soldier apart, and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. You know what some of the bum I saw tried to claim that the Romans, in order to keep the Jews at bay, they actually put Jews in as Roman soldiers. And so they said, so it was probably a Jew who even did that. Of course, they can't prove any of that. But like evolutionists, you can just make it up as you go along, you know. That's what they do. But it was Pontius Pilate was not a Jew. And he was the one who commanded that the Roman soldiers kill Jesus. The Roman soldiers were acting under the authority and orders of the Roman government. Now, so you have who is the authority? Not the Jews. The Jews did want him killed, but it had to be Roman authority. And who carried it out? Roman soldiers. Secondly, you killed Jesus. I killed Jesus. Every sinner is responsible for the death of Jesus. We can quote how many verses, but Romans 5, 8 is very familiar. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Over and over through the scripture, it's clear there's a reason why Jesus had to die, and it was because of me and you, sinners. It is absurd to single out the Jews and lay the blame for Jesus' death on them alone. especially in light of the fact that Jesus came to die. And I'll come back to this in a second, but it's amazing how many times I've talked to people who just want to lay the blame on the Jews as Christ killers, and they don't want to even talk about the fact that if he hadn't died, we're damned. Look over at John 10. If you're in Matthew, go to the right. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, chapter 10. Verse 11 to start with, through 18. John 10, verse 11. It's very familiar to most of us, but let's start in verse 11. I'll read 11 and you join in on the even. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep have I, which are, I'm sorry, let me dyslexic there, start over. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. That's not the Mormons, it's Gentiles, just for the record, for the record. For the record, therefore doth my father love me because I lay, look at that, he says it twice now, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father. If you're going to read the whole Bible and still just lay the death of Jesus at the feet of the Christ-killing Jews, you just have a real problem with your heart. Because Jesus himself has told us two or more times, too clearly, in this text alone, I lay down my life. No man can take it from me. You know what? Just think this through. If you call the Jews, I want you to hear me, listen close. If you call the Jews Christ killers, you're calling Jesus a liar. Because Jesus said, I lay down my life. You get that? So that's why I want you to get that clear. You're talking to somebody and they bring this stuff up, take them. You may not remember the exact verse, but you know it's John 10. Go to John 10 and find the verse there where Jesus says, I lay down my life. And in verse 18, he even says it's because he was commanded of the Father. And so if you're going to lay it at the feet of the Jews alone, you're trying to make Jesus a liar. Because Jesus said, no, it's not those Jews. I came to lay my life down. Now, it was a terrible thing, and it's not something that, you know, we don't look at the death of Jesus with celebration. We take communion and it's a very sober and somber time when we think about what he's done for us. But we can look forward to what he said, though, that he said, he lays it down, that he said, I have power to take it again. No, the resurrection brings us joy. We can look at the cross and not be angry at the Jews, you know, because He said He came to do it and He rose again. What are you still mad about the death of Jesus for? He is risen! The killing of Jesus was God's plan. We're not going to applaud the Jews for killing him. We're not going to thank you. We're not going to do that. That's going a little too far. But at the same time, what are you mad at him for when it was God's plan? Condemning the Jews for his death is like being angry at the surgeon who cut you, even though it saved your life. You wake up in bed and you got a scar. I'm going to kill that doctor. Wait a minute, he took your appendix out. It exploded. It was going to kill you. I don't care. Look what he did. That'd be crazy, right? Well, that's as crazy as getting mad at the Jews over the death of Jesus and trying to use it as an excuse to persecute them, which is something that the Roman Catholic Church has done throughout its history. And too many ignoramus, non-dispensationalist Christians have done it through the centuries as well. So here we go, the facts about who killed Jesus. The Jews killed Jesus. I mean, we have to agree with the Bible, amen? But Roman authorities demanded it. Roman soldiers enforced it. All sinners necessitated it. Jesus voluntarily accomplished it. That's the whole story. And the necessity of Jesus' death is spelled out in Hebrews. Go to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews 2, 9 through 18, there we go. Hebrews 2, I love these first four words, but we see Jesus. That clears things up, doesn't it? Read the even with me, I'll start at verse 9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. For it became Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. for both he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee, and again I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. I mean, he had to die. It's just so insane, this whole Christ killers thing. It had to happen or we were doomed. Verse 15, and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." It's just so, the incarnation that God himself in the person of Jesus Christ would empty himself as Philippians 2 describes, empty himself of his deity. take upon him the appearance of a servant in flesh, and then let his creation abuse him the way they did, and crucify him, and then He rose from the dead, conquering sin and death. He has saved untold millions of souls from hell for 2,000 years. And then you got this nut who wants to then make an issue of the fact that 2,000 years ago, it was Jews that killed Jesus. Whenever the reality is, it was a Roman authority with Roman soldiers on behalf of sinners. And Jesus said, I lay down my life. I hope you can grasp that and bring it all in and then present it to people if you ever hear somebody talking that stupid. Notice that nearly all those calling Jews Christ killers are unsaved Roman Catholics and other cultic unregenerate types. When you talk to these people who, Christ killers, they're Jews, you talk to them, And you try to present to them how the point is that he died for you. The point is he paid for your sin and he did it voluntarily. And the point is he proved he was able to forgive you, to give you eternal life when he rose from the dead by his own power. You talk about missing the point when your whole thing is who killed him. You just totally missed the point. Well, you didn't relax that term the most. Satan, because he can get people to hate Jews and turn against Israel. Yeah, it's all satanic, as we said in our study on satanic antisemitism. That's right. And without his death, as I said, we would be doomed. And that just, whew, right over their heads when you're talking to these people. They seem not to grasp it. I want to close with a reading in 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, 55 through 58, the very end of the chapter. And 1 Corinthians 15, of course, starts with the gospel in verses three and four. For I delivered unto you also, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. That's the gospel. death of Jesus, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Then he talks about the necessity of faith in the resurrection. If Christ be not risen, then our faith is in vain. Of all men, most miserable. He talks about how, but how, in order to resurrect, what has to happen first? It has to die. It talks about the seed. You bury the seed, and then it comes to life. Same thing with the body. You and I, if we die before the rapture, our body goes into the grave, and then it comes up out at the rapture like a seed that's coming to fruition. It's an amazing thing. So then we come down to the celebration of Christ over death, and in Christ, Our victory over death. Look at verse 55 through 58, read the odd beginning of 55, I'm sorry, read the even, I'll read 50, no, read all of it. Everybody just read the whole thing with me. 55 to 58, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Amen. I love that. Oh, death. Ralph Stanley, oh, death. You remember, I'd love to be able to sing like that. I'd start coughing if I tried. Where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? There is no victory for death. 57, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the victory. There would be no victory without His death. And so, Christ-killers, we're not going to go thank Him. But you know it was necessary for you and I to be saved. That death of Jesus. And so, we're not going to curse the Jews, call them Christ-killers, and all that sort of nonsense. What are we going to do? We're going to preach the gospel to them. Pray that Jews will be saved. And you know what? I thought of this as a young Jewish man I got to witness to a while back, and he wouldn't receive it. But I thought, you know, I could be talking to one of the 144,000. If the rapture happens right now, man, and then even if it's not one of the 144,000, there's gonna be other Jewish converts. and there's gonna be some that are gonna do, Daniel talks about exploits and things they're gonna do in the name of the Lord and everything. You never know, you might be witnessing to one who, yeah, they might reject that gospel now, but after the rapture, you don't know. I know there's a passage that we know that says that those who hear the gospel and reject it because they did not love the truth be handed over to a strong delusion And so that comes into play, too. But I think a lot of times, like I was talking to this guy, I don't think he even comprehended what I was trying to say. But we're still going to try, amen? Amen. Father, we thank you, Lord, for helping us to understand these things. Emotionally, it's real easy to get whipped up into a frenzy like people are, and especially these churches people attend where there's a couple of hundred or several hundred people who all believe the lies. and that mob mentality or the herd mentality kicks in and people just go along with things they're taught. Father, help us to maintain biblical truth here in this local church body and in each of our families and our homes, but also to be ready to give an answer to every man for the hope that is in us, to give biblical answers to the questions people have. All for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen. Stand if you can, let's sing. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Because he first loved me. Oh, how I thank Jesus. Oh, how I thank Jesus. Oh, how I thank Jesus. Because He died for me. Oh, how I praise Jesus. Oh, how I praise Jesus. Oh, how I praise Jesus. Because He rose for me. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! Because He first loved me. The Lord bless thee. The Lord bless thee. And keep thee. And keep thee. The Lord make His face shine upon thee. The Lord bless thee. and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance on thee and give thee peace. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord make His face shine upon thee. Time is ticking away. Are you awake? We live in the day of the Savior. The time of the harvest is near The church will soon disappear Those left behind and shuddered and quaked, Those of the veil, their skin and age. God will steal them all up, false professors, no doubt. Those of Yahweh are receiving. Obey Yah's salvation, be surely today, be ready and Jesus will take you away, will take you away. Time is ticking away Jesus may come today Are you ready? Are you safe? My heavenly home is bright and fair, I feel like traveling on. Nor pain nor death can enter there, I feel like traveling on. Yes, I feel like traveling on. I feel like traveling on. My heavenly home is bright and fair, I feel like traveling on. Its glittering towers the sun outshine, I feel like traveling on. That heavenly mansion shall be mine, I feel like traveling on. Yes, I feel like travelin' on, I feel like travelin' on. My heavenly home is bright and fair, I feel like travelin' on. Let others see a home below, I feel like travelin' on. Which flames devour or waves or flow, I feel like travelin' on. Yes, I feel like traveling on. I feel like traveling on. My heavenly home is bright and fair. I feel like traveling on. The Lord has been so good to me. I feel like traveling on. Until that blessed home I see, I feel like traveling on. Yes, I feel like traveling on. I feel like traveling on. My heavenly home is bright and fair. I feel like traveling on. Amen. He'll be coming on a white horse when he comes He'll be coming on a white horse He'll be coming on a white horse He'll be coming on a white horse when he comes He'll be cold, faithful, and true when he comes He'll be cold, faithful, and true he will judge and make war when he comes he will judge and make war when he comes he will judge and make war he will judge and make war he will judge and make war Repent and believe the gospel for He comes! Repent and believe the gospel! Repent and believe the gospel! Repent and believe the gospel! If He comes around on the white horse and He comes On a white horse he'll be coming, on a white horse he'll be coming, on a white horse