November 16, 2010 – Catechism 595-598

It is somewhat a funny notion that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus because they were accusing Him of revolting against Rome.  One must die for the salvation of the rest.  How completely right he was about Jesus and yet completely misguided.  Jesus did die for the salvation of all.  One did have to sacrifice for the many, but not in the way he was thinking.  It is also interesting that the Jewish leaders turn to Rome so quickly to condemn Christ but would not too soon down the road accept a revolutionary against Rome.  This goes back to their love of power and the position they held.  Jesus teaching was to be humble and obedient.  Future Revolutionaries would preach power and control and the expulsion of Romans from Jerusalem.  They sided with the one that would give them more power and thus Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans 40 years after Christ died, along with the Temple which has never been rebuilt. 

Here we see that not only does the Church not teach any type of anti Semitic teaching but to the contrary holds Christian believers more responsible than any Jew for the death of Christ.  How much more should a person love and adore and follow the teaching of Christ when a person believes He is God than someone who does not.  Therefore when a professed Christian sins against God, it is all the more hurtful and we are all the more responsible for driving the nails in His hands.