Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

Who, Exactly, Murdered the Messiah?

by Sheldon Emry and John D. Keyser

WHAT does YEHOVAH's Word, the Bible say? Being a treatise on the Bible account of the Messiah's death on Calvary’s Tree, and on the true identity of those who hated and crucified our Messiah, in any murder investigation the authorities usually seek answers to the following questions:

1) Were there any previous attempts to kill the deceased, and if so, by whom?
2) Had anyone shown hatred enough of the deceased that it might bring about a desire to kill him?
3) Had the deceased, prior to his death, named any who might kill him?
4) Who was last seen with the victim? Or who might have had him under their physical control?
5) What is the testimony of witnesses to the murder?

In the case of a murder committed many centuries ago, such as the death of the Messiah, we must avail ourselves of the historical record of events of that time. In this case we have quite a complete written account of the first years of our Christian era. We shall take each of the above questions in the order asked.

1) Who Attempted to Kill the Messiah?

We read but a short way into the Gospels before we find the first attempt to kill the Messiah. In chapter 2 of Matthew we find that King Herod of Jerusalem attempted to trick the Wise Men into revealing the location of the child Yeshua. When YEHOVAH God prevented that, we find that Herod “was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under” in a vain attempt to kill the infant Messiah.

Mark tells of the healing of a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day, following which “the Pharisees went forth, and straightaway took counsel with the Herodians against him [the Messiah], how they might destroy him” (Mark 3:1-6). So here we see the Pharisees planning with others the killing of the Messiah. The Herodians are identified in secular history as Edomites. The Herodian Dynasty, which had ruled over Judea, was founded by Herod the Great and said to be of Jewish blood but, in reality, only a proselyte to Judaism. It was through Roman military aid that Herod had solidified his position in Judea by defeating the Jewish Hasmonean kings.

It was Herod who instituted the Hellenic Babylonian-Alexandrian priesthood in Judea. He appointed, as the first high priest, one Hanamel -- a Babylonian. The Hellenistic and Babylonian influence upon the Jewish priesthood would forever change Judaism; these individuals were known to have demonstrated the views, political, religious, and economic, of their monarch. Together, the Herodians and the priesthood became the aristocratic ruling class in Judea, reflecting Roman politics and Greek culture and learning so prominent in the pagan societies surrounding Judea.

Writes Nancy L. Kuehl,

"From the time of Alexander's [Jannaeus] death in 78 BCE, with a brief respite until 69 CE, the nation of Israel was primarily ruled by the Babylonian-Alexandrian priesthood, having been imported by Herod the Great from both Babylon and Egypt...this priesthood (the Temple Cult) was both illegitimate and corrupt. They had Hellenistic origins and were associated with the Romans and the self-seeking Herodian dynasty....The Temple itself had evolved into a corrupt financial institution, and the priesthood served as its bankers. It was not until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE that the Pharisees again gained control of Israel's religious affairs..." (A Book of Evidence: The Trials and Execution of Jesus, page 192).

After another healing, we read in John 5:16-18:

”And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him…(and) sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father.“

John 8:59 says:

“Then took they [scribes and Pharisees] up stones to cast at him…“

Many other instances of thwarted attempts by the religious leaders to kill the Messiah in Jerusalem are told in all four Gospels.

It became so bad that John says in chapter 7:1:

”After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.“

2) Who Hated the Messiah?

Other than actual attempts to murder the Messiah, we find the Gospels tell of open ridicule, trickery, and hatred of the Messiah by the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees. In Matthew 15:12 we see the Disciples told the Messiah the Pharisees were “offended” by what the Messiah had said.

Luke tells us that after one miracle,

“they [scribes and Pharisees] were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus” (Luke 6:11).

At the same time the religious authorities hated the Messiah, we find that all four Gospels tell of the multitudes of the people who came to praise him for his miracles. No antagonism was evidenced from the people, although not all believed, of course.

After the Messiah overthrew the tables of the money changers in the Temple, Mark says:

”And the scribes and the chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people were astonished [impressed] at his doctrine” (Mark 11:18).

Fear of the loss of their wealth and power made these greedy men desire the end of the Messiah’s miracles. After the Messiah raised Lazarus from the dead we find that:

“…then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, what do we? For, this man doeth many miracles. IF WE LET HIM THUS ALONE, ALL MEN WILL BELIEVE ON HIM: AND THE ROMANS SHALL COME AND TAKE AWAY BOTH OUR PLACE AND NATION” (John 11:47-48).

Verse 53 says:

“Then from that day forth THEY TOOK COUNSEL TOGETHER FOR TO PUT HIM [the Messiah] TO DEATH.”

This hatred for the Messiah became so well known in Judea that we read that “no man spake openly of him [the Messiah] FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS.”

3) Who Did the Messiah Say Would Murder Him?

Sometimes a murder case is solved when authorities find that the victim knew, or suspected, that certain persons might attempt to take his life. Using that as a lead, they can then investigate further.

The Messiah told the twelve disciples of his coming death, AND HE NAMED THE MEN WHO WOULD CAUSE IT.

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of THE ELDERS AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND SCRIBES, AND BE KILLED, and be raised again the third day” (Matthew 16:21).

There are 9 places telling of his prophecy of his own death and 5 times he names the chief priests, scribes, elders, and Pharisees as those who will kill him!

In the Gospel of John we do not find these particular incidents, but we do find an account of the Messiah personally accusing these same men of seeking to kill him. In John 7, speaking to “the Jews” (verse 15), he asked:

“Why go ye about to kill Me?”

These ”Jews” are identified in the next chapter as “the scribes and Pharisees” (verse 3), at which time the Messiah delivers to them a scathing rebuke including these words:

“ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you” (verse 37).

His rebuke so angered them that verse 59 says, “Then took they up stones to cast at him,” as we have seen. (In this same chapter we find that the Messiah identified these religious rulers as NOT OF ISRAEL! We’ll show that a little later).

The Messiah also taught a parable in which he identified his murderers, at which time they again attempted to kill him. We know it as the parable of the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-46 and Luke 20:9-19. The Messiah told of the planting of a vineyard in a story similar to Isaiah 5:1-7 in which we read “the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,” identifying the vineyard of the Messiah’s parable as “the house of Israel,” and the planter as YEHOVAH God Almighty. As the story goes on, the vineyard (Israel) is under the charge of “husbandmen” to whom the planter sends servants “that they (the husbandmen) should give him the fruit of the vineyard” But, instead, the husbandmen beat and kill the servants.

“But last of all He [YEHOVAH God] sent unto them His Son, saying, They will reverence My Son” (Matthew 21:37).

But what did the Messiah teach that they would do?

“But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, COME, LET US KILL HIM, AND LET US SEIZE ON HIS INHERITANCE” (emphasis added).

Verse 45 and 46 read:

”And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet”

In Luke’s account he says:

”And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: FOR THEY PERCEIVED THAT HE HAD SPOKEN THIS PARABLE AGAINST THEM” (Luke 20:19).

They understood that the Messiah knew it was they who would attempt to kill him:

In this parable and its aftermath, again we see that those whom the Messiah said would kill him, are the same who then attempted to do so. (This story also identifies these “religious” men as NON-ISRAELITES as we’ll see a little further on).

4) Who Planned and Then Captured Him?

So far the evidence we have seen would bring these men only under “suspicion.” It would be considered “circumstantial evidence” in a modern court of law and would NOT be enough to convict the scribes, the chief priests, the elders, and the Pharisees of the murder itself. They could have been found guilty of attempted murder: but we are seeking the answer to WHO MURDERED THE MESSIAH -- not just who threatened him.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each tell of the final plans which were made to murder the Messiah, identifying the men who made the plans, AND THEN PROCEEDED TO CARRY THEM OUT.

Matthew 26:3-4 reads:

“Then assembled together THE CHIEF PRIESTS, and THE SCRIBES, and THE ELDERS of the people, unto the palace of THE HIGH PRIEST, WHO WAS CALLED CAlAPHAS, and consulted that they might TAKE JESUS BY SUBTLETY AND KILL HIM.”

A pretty plain testimony, is it not? Describing the actual capture, he writes:

“And while he yet spake, lo, JUDAS, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, FROM THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS of the people” (verse 47).

Mark 14, verse 1 and 43, tell the same story, as does Luke 22 verse 2 and 52 with Luke also adding the “captains of the temple.” All three, in the same chapters, relate how Judas Iscariot betrayed the Messiah to his captors, with Mark and Luke stating that it was the CHIEF PRIESTS who had agreed to pay Judas money for the betrayal.

That the high priest, Caiaphas, was privy to all this, is proven again when the Messiah was taken directly to his palace.

John, in telling of the people believing the Messiah’s miracles, writes:

“The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things [said he was the Christ] concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him” (John 7:32).

He later identified the Messiah’s captors as “a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees” and also, “the band and the captain and officers of the Jews” (John 18:3,12).

Some foolish ministers today try to make it appear that all the people in Jerusalem were the culprits in this betrayal and murder, but the same chapters above tell of his follower’s willingness to fight for him, and being prevented from doing so by the Messiah himself.

When Peter attempted to defend the Messiah, he said:

“Put up again thy sword into his place…Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”

The Messiah gave the Disciples to understand that he MUST be allowed to be taken captive,

“Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled” (Matthew 26:52-56).

Nowhere in all the New Testament Scriptures is anyone accused of being a part of the Messiah's betrayal and capture except those who were directly connected with, or paid by, THE RELIGIOUS RULERS OF JERUSALEM!

Now we know who captured him; let us continue with the people and events of this ancient drama.

5) The Messiah Taken to Pilate

From the time of his being taken by physical force, until his death on the tree, the Messiah came into the presence, and under the control, of the civil authorities, both of Judea, and of Rome. Because of that, many attempt to blame the Romans, through Pilate, for the murder of the Messiah.

It is true that Rome was in full military control of Judea at that time. It is also true that Rome had ordered that no one could be put to death by the local authorities. The chief priests were allowed to judge and punish for minor crimes, but the death sentence could be imposed ONLY by the Roman governor. This, of course, was Pilate.

It was for that reason that the Jewish priests, though they had pronounced the death sentence on him (“He is guilty of death” -- Matthew 26:66; “All the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death” -- Matthew 27:1), dared not carry out their sentence. They had to have Pilate’s approval of it to make it official!

This is verified in John 18:31:

“Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your Law. The Jews therefore said unto him [Pilate], It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.”

They could have whipped him, but their desire was his DEATH!

So, “when they bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor” (Matthew 27:2), and set about to FORCE Pilate to give his consent for them to put the Messiah to death.

Pilate Attempted to Release the Messiah

At first Pilate refused, and the details of his several attempts to release the Messiah are told by all four Gospel writers.

“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 and the governor said, why, what evil hath he done?” (Matthew 27, Mark 15).

Pilate went to great lengths to convince the Priests and Pharisees that they should not put the Messiah to death.

“And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, said unto them…behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him” (Luke 23:13-15).

In his attempts to save the Messiah, Pilate had sent him to Herod because Herod had authority in Galilee where the Messiah began his ministry (see verses 5-7) but Herod only “mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate” (verse 11).

Pilate then went on, “I will therefore chastise him, and release him” (verse 16).

John verified Pilate’s desire to release the Messiah:

“I find in him no fault at all…will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?” (John 18:38-39).

According to Nancy L. Kuehl in A Book of Evidence: The Trials and Execution of Jesus, we find the following:

"It is evident here that Pilate had not wanted to put Jesus to death, but was constrained to do so. The word "constrain," as defined by Webster: "to force by imposed stricture, restriction, or limitations." In other words, Pilate was blackmailed! Melito of Sardis states: 'Though Jesus must needs be crucified, Israel should have let him suffer at the hands of the Gentiles, by the oppressor's hand, not by Israel's action.'

"Melito's statement, and those of other historians and church leaders in those first few centuries, implies that it was NOT by Pilate's decree that Jesus was executed but by the decree of the judicial Sanhedrin and by Herod Antipas, those who would stand to lose the greatest political power and influence in the land" (page 140).

Much more could be quoted of the almost desperate attempts by Pilate to save the Messiah from death. But each time he was immediately threatened with mob violence and insurrection.

“A tumult was made” (Matthew 27:24), “And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them [the rulers] and the chief priests prevailed” (Luke 23:23).

The final threat to Pilate was an accusation of treason to Caesar if he were to release Yeshua the Messiah:

“Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go, thou are not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar” (John 19:12).

The Sadducean priesthood took full responsibility for the execution of the Messiah. The "crowd" of priests and Herodians shouting from the third story of the Temple offices demanded that Pilate condemn the Messiah. These, along with the witnesses (the accusers, who would have been the priests themselves), made a statement that reflects exactly upon whose shoulders the blame should rest.

Some diehard, pro-Jewish ministers today, in spite of all this evidence, will still insist that, “Well, it is true that the Jews urged the death of Jesus, but that what really happened was that when Pilate gave up, he turned Jesus over to the Roman soldiers, and the Romans then proceeded to crucify Him.” But, again we ask. ”What saith the Scripture?”

Pilate Returned the Messiah to the Jews and the Jews Crucified Him

“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” (Matthew 27:24-25).

This was NOT the Roman soldiers who answered; but the Jewish priests and elders.

Verse 27 says the soldiers of Pilate “took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.” Then the next verses recount how “they” crucified him. BUT, and this is VERY IMPORTANT the words “of soldiers” is in italics and was ADDED BY THE TRANSLATORS: Mark’s account is almost identical to Matthew’s, except Mark stops with the words, “the whole band.” The only “band” referred to in all these accounts is the “band” of THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE PHARISEES -- See Matthew 27:27, John 18:3 & 12.

Leaving out the words “of soldiers,” INSERTED BY THE TRANSLATORS, it becomes obvious that both accounts say the same thing, i.e. that the Messiah was taken from Pilate’s presence BY the soldiers, and then turned over TO the “band” OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND PHARISEES: Nowhere in the four Gospels are the Roman soldiers referred to as a “band.”

This also fits with what Luke tells us.

“And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they [the chief priests] required…[and] he delivered Jesus to THEIR will THEY led him away…THEY crucified him” (Luke 23:24-33).

Luke nowhere says that the Roman soldiers crucified the Messiah.

John also notes:

“And he [Pilate] saith unto the Jews, Behold your king! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The Chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto THEM to be crucified and THEY took Jesus, and led him away” (John 19:14-16).

Verse 18 says, “THEY crucified Him.”

In verse 6, John quotes Pilate as saying to the chief priests and officers,

“Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him,”

making it plain, as did Matthew and Luke, that Pilate meant that if the Messiah was to be killed, it would have to be the Jewish rulers who did it.

Ministers Today Deceive Christians

Most ministers ignore all this, usually quoting only from verse 23 and 24 to “prove” that the Roman soldiers were the ones who actually nailed the Messiah to the tree. Verse 23 begins, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts” and then follows the story of the soldiers casting lots for the Messiah’s garments. The ministers say, “See, it says the Roman soldiers crucified Jesus:” BUT -- it should be obvious, from what we have just read in the previous verses 16 and 18, that those referred to as “they” in verse 23 are NOT the Roman soldiers, BUT THE CHIEF PRIESTS, THE SCRIBES, THE PHARISEES AND RULERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE.

It would be absolutely correct to read verse 23 as follows:

“Then the soldiers, when they [the Chief Priests, etc.] had crucified Jesus, took his garments…“

This reading would be in agreement with what we have already read from these unimpeachable witnesses, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The story of the parting of the garments of the Messiah reveals another important Truth. John 19:23 says the soldiers “made four parts, to every soldier a part…” at least implying there WERE ONLY FOUR SOLDIERS PRESENT AT THE CRUCIFIXION! Hardly possible if it had been an official Roman execution! This practice of the parting of the Messiah's clothes, said to have occurred at Roman hands, was expressly forbidden by Roman law; and it was, in fact, the custom of the Jewish priesthood to divide the clothes of the accused at his death by casting lots for them.

The only reason there were any Roman soldiers at the Messiah's execution site was simply to keep law and order -- Pilate ordered the centurions there to keep the always unruly and contentious Jewish mob from causing any trouble that would reflect on his role as governor. The Roman soldiers DID NOT take part in the crucifixion of the Messiah!

The Messiah Died As High Priest

The coat, in other Gospels called a “robe,” was not divided by the soldiers, but left in one piece and they cast lots for it. This has no direct bearing on who crucified the Messiah, but it is described as made “without seam, woven from the top throughout,” and Christians should receive a blessing from realizing the robe placed on the Messiah by Herod prior to his death was NOT torn by the soldiers AND IT WAS MADE IN THE MANNER PRESCRIBED FOR THE ROBE OF THE HIGH PRIEST OF ISRAEL. (See Exodus 28:31-32). The Messiah walked to the place of his sacrificial death wearing the vesture identifying him as our HIGH PRIEST!

Why Did Pilate Wash His Hands?

The conclusion that the Jewish Priests and their “band” were the actual murderers of the Messiah, rather than the Romans being responsible for his death, would also explain the strange “ritual” which Pilate and the Jewish mob went through when Pilate “washed his hands…saying I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it” (you do it); and the Jewish mob answered and said, “His blood be on us, and our children.”

The answer is in Moses’ Law regarding murder by unidentified persons in Deuteronomy 21. It is too long to quote here (but you should read it), but it required the civil authorities to go through the ritual of washing their hands in water and declaring:

“Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.”

Pilate used a purification custom "that the Hebrews claim as their own, washing the hands to allay himself of guilt. Much has been made of this incident by scholars, who claim the practice was solely of Hebrew origin. There are those who claim this portion of our gospel has been tampered with by the church to cast favorable light on Pilate. Pilate, as a Roman, would have had little personal knowledge of the nuances of the elaborate purity rituals of the Hebrews. Pilate, however, used the ritual in conformity with Jewish law to make it clear to the judges of the Sanhedrin, that he, too, claimed to be innocent of the blood of the defendant. This custom is also the method used by the Jewish high priest in silently pronouncing a verdict of guilty. When the temple guards see the high priest wash his hands, it is a signal to them to take charge of the accused and lead him to his execution" (Nancy L. Kuehl, A book of Evidence: The Trials and Execution of Jesus, page 144).

This absolved the official of guilt. PILATE COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS IF HE HAD THEN PROCEEDED TO HAVE HIS SOLDIERS KILL THE MESSIAH: The Jewish Priests, because they knew the Law, KNEW THAT THIS SIGNIFIED THAT PILATE WOULD NOT PUT THE MESSIAH TO DEATH, BUT THAT HE HAD TOLD THEM TO DO SO, “see ye to it,” and they answered Pilate’s proclamation of his innocence by saying THEY WOULD DO IT, and “His blood be on us, and on our children.” They knew Pilate’s act and words also declared, in advance, that the Messiah was the innocent victim of MURDER! What could be plainer?

The Edomite Jews had sought the sanction of Pilate, as the highest Roman representative in the land of Judea. If their ploy had failed, they could not try the Messiah again. He was considered more dangerous to the political welfare of the nation than was even the Zealot criminal they eventually released from prison. The Messiah had been acquitted by Pilate! The "crowd" that gathered with the rulers were not the common people, as is often misrepresented; they were the Herodians and the Sadducean partners of priestly mercantilism.

The clause found in the Nicean Creed that the Messiah "was crucified under Pontius Pilate" was incorporated for the first time at the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.). This creed was formed from an earlier document -- the so-called "Apostle's Creed" -- which says nothing explicitly about the crucifixion of the Messiah. These documents were created in order to bring all faiths and nationalities into one fold, into the universal Roman Catholic Church, thus separating forever the earliest Israelite histories espoused by the apostles, themselves, from their original contexts.

The Apostles and Disciples who wrote the New Testament would have known all of this, AND NOWHERE IN THE GOSPELS OR IN THE EPISTLES ARE EITHER PILATE OR THE ROMAN SOLDIERS ACCUSED OF PUTTING THE MESSIAH TO DEATH: That the Messiah considered the Jews the greater culprits is proven in his words to Pilate -- in John 19:11:

“he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”

Pilate sent a small execution detail, as was customary, to oversee the Jewish execution. Pilate, however, could not resist one final taunt to the Edomite rulers: the titulus, upon which he wrote, ironically, in three languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Latin) that the Messiah, the Nazarean, was King of the Israelites! He, ironically, wrote the truth! He had his revenge against them; the Edomite Sanhedrin would have to deal with the Israelite population after all. Although Pilate had sent a representation of Roman soldiers to be present at the execution site, it was NOT those soldiers who nailed the Messiah to the tree: it was the Temple Captains. John 19:16-18 clearly states that it was the Edomite Jewish authorities who executed the Messiah.

In spite of all this evidence, today’s ministers, almost to a man, attempt to absolve the Jews of this crime by telling Christians that it was Pilate and the Romans who put to death our Elder Brother and Messiah.