Different Life: 5th CommandmentSample

Cain and Abel's story isn’t the only murder story in the Bible. Jesus was murdered too. Under the guise of legal authority, Jesus was done away with by the Sanhedrin because He was getting in the way. His existence was threatening their agenda, and so they killed Him in a vicious and degrading way. Pilate was complicit. How many other onlookers too?

Jesus accepted it. He let Himself be murdered for others. Even His murderers. By it He won our forgiveness, showing love and forgiveness in the face of contempt, anger, and hate. God took His death and turned the ripple effect of murder on its head. Through His death, Jesus brings life and forgiveness to all who are connected to Him beyond what anyone could imagine.

It’s fascinating that a few decades later, the Mishnah will state: “A Sanhedrin that carries out the death penalty once in seven years is designated destructive. Rabbi Eliezar ben Azaraiah says: Once in seventy years. Rabbi Tafron and Rabbi Akiba say: Had we been members of the Sanhedrin, no one would ever have received the death penalty. Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel says: They would also have multiplied those who shed blood in Israel” (Makkot 1:10).

I wonder what motivated the rabbis to say this. Did they look back on the way their forefathers handled the “Jesus situation” with regret and repentance over His murder? Or was it more pragmatic? Did they realize they invited their own destruction by participating in Jesus’s destruction, now sitting in the aftermath of their city and life destroyed by Rome? Or was it simply what we’re all inclined to think: If I were there, “Not me!”

It’s been said that all of us have murdered Jesus. Regardless of who trumped up the charges, who signed the execution notice, and who drove the nails, all of our sins put Him there. Praise be to God that He forgives murderers!