Brett A. Todd
“...our history, the history of European Jews...they will never forgive us for the evil they've done to us”
― Marceline Loridan-Ivens
It is troubling for some to accept the idea that there may be anti-semitic elements in the Bible, but in fact, there are a few here and there. However, before we look at one of these Bible passages, we will first need to take a step back and talk about Jesus and his disciples.
From a historical perspective, there is one thing that is particularly evident about Jesus and his disciples: they were Jews from the Galilean region, located in northern Israel. They attended synagogue, followed the traditions and teachings of the Hebrew scripture, and more. In Matthew 23:1-3, Jesus tells the crowds and disciples to obey the Laws of Moses, it reads, “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.’” In Matthew 5:17 he tells his followers that he did not come to destroy the words of the prophets, but to fulfill them.
Nevertheless, when we get to the Gospel of John (8:37-47), we discover some disturbing words communicating the idea that the Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. Not the Romans, mind you, it was the Jews. Here, Jesus tells a group of Jews that their father was not God, but the devil because they wanted him dead (John 8:44). Verse 47 supports this notion by saying that the Jews do not belong to God. Now, we must not forget, that Jesus never actually said these words, as we have discovered in past articles, Jesus did not say a lot of things the Bible says he said. This is certainly true of the Gospel of John. Rather, the author of the Gospel of John put these words into the mouth of Jesus, so to speak.
Curiously, as you look at this story closely, these were Jews who sincerely believed in Jesus but would later turn on him, like Judas calling for his crucifixion. (John 19:15). How did Jesus know these Jews would turn their back on him? For the author of the Gospel of John, Jesus is God and God knows everything (John 16:30). It was the Jews who were to blame for the death of Jesus. They are children of the devil.
As you can imagine, this passage from the Bible has had and continues to make a huge impact on the church. From John Chrysostom to Martin Luther, and on to this present day, for some Christians, Jews are Christkillers. Luther once wrote:
Therefore be on your guard against the Jews, knowing that wherever they have their synagogues, nothing is found but a den of devils in which sheer self-glory, conceit, lies, blasphemy, and defaming of God and men are practiced most maliciously and veheming his eyes on them.
In our next study, we will talk about a rather strange story found in the Bible where a young man flees from Jesus' presence butt naked.
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