One of the shifts that we make during Eastertide is that our readings during this season increasingly focus on John’s gospel, the Johannine epistles and the Book of Acts. These texts have been chosen by the lectionary editorial committee because they give eloquent testimony to the Resurrection of Christ as a historical and theological reality and show how the early church emerged from its Jewish roots in the first few centuries of the Common Era.
As powerful as these readings are in their witness to Christ, there is a danger lurking here too: for these texts often use language that seems to depict “the Jews” as the enemies of this new religious movement. John’s gospel, in particular, is replete with such references. This last Sunday for example, in our reading from John 20, we heard that the disciples had locked themselves behind closed doors “for fear of the Jews.” Likewise, in John’s account of the Passion, which we heard on Good Friday, similar language was used to describe the “the Jews” as primarily responsible for Christ’s crucifixion.
And John’s gospel is not the only text which presents this interpretative issue. This coming Sunday, for example, our reading from Acts includes a sermon by Peter to “the Israelites” in which he accuses them of, among other things, “having killed the Author of life.”
In all these contexts, it is critical to remember that Jesus, the disciples, and the vast majority of Jesus’ earliest followers were all Jews. These texts were primarily written by Jewish Christian authors in a time and place when they were creating a new group identity, over against their fellow Jews who chose to adhere to traditional forms of Judaism. As is often the case when a religious group fractures, there was often animosity between the two groups that led to sometimes harsh name-calling. Within that historical context, it is understandable why the authors of John and Acts chose the language they did.
Unfortunately, however, throughout the centuries this language has fueled a long history of vicious anti-Semitism by subsequent generations of Gentile Christians that continues to this day. And sadly, Martin Luther, late in his life, made some particularly heinous contributions to this hateful legacy.
Such anti-Semitic hate has no place in our church. Let us once and for all put to rest the lie that “the Jews” killed Jesus. This is a pernicious myth perpetrated by the church over the centuries to make itself—to make ourselves—feel better about the Crucifixion by pinning the blame on somebody else. In truth, we all killed Jesus. Rome killed Jesus by ordering his execution. The mob killed Jesus by picking Barabbas over the Son of God. Peter killed Jesus by denying him three times. The other disciples killed Jesus by abandoning him at his time of greatest need. The religious authorities killed Jesus by turning him over to Rome in the first place. Judas killed Jesus by betraying him. And we continue to kill Jesus every time we turn to violence, or power, or other false idols, rather than loving God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
So, please, when you hear these readings during Eastertide, understand their historical context, and let us not distort the words we sometimes find there in service to misdirected scapegoating and anti-Semitic hate.