The issue is not racial—Jew vs. Gentile. The issue is faith in Jesus.

Who was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus? Perhaps the question has just become important since the Holocaust. Were the Jews responsible? The Anti-Defamation League is keenly interested in the answer; their purpose is to oppose any anti-Semitism and seek justice and fair treatment for all people.

Pope Benedict recently published a book in which he maintains that the Jews as a whole were not responsible for the death of Jesus. Instead, he maintains that only a few Jewish leaders and a small group of supporters were responsible. He restates a position the Roman Catholic Church has maintained since the Second Vatican Council. We could comment on much of this book, but for now I want to address only this question.

Yes, the Jewish leaders were responsible for the death of Jesus, and they brought down a curse on themselves: "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:25). But that curse is not a curse on all Jews. Peter, James, John, and the early disciples were Jewish and accepted the prophecies of the Old Testament, which pointed to Jesus as the Messiah.

When the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, Peter spoke to the crowd of Jews assembled for the festival, and three thousand Jews from all over the Mediterranean world came to faith in Jesus and were baptized. Did the curse apply to them? It was not the entire Jewish race that rejected Jesus. Yet Jesus shed tears over Jerusalem because he wanted to gather its people to himself but they were not willing (Matthew 23:37). Jesus also foretold the consequences of that rejection, "Not one stone here will be left on another" (Matthew 24:2).

Later when Paul, a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin and a Pharisee, came to faith in Jesus, he became the apostle to the Gentiles, that is, the non-Jews. God intended that the Gentles also enter the kingdom of God by faith in Jesus. Paul's mission work started most often in the Jewish synagogues of the Mediterranean world. When he was rejected by his fellow countrymen, he proclaimed the gospel to non-Jews. They believed and received the blessings Jesus achieved for Jews and non-Jews alike. Paul wrote, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart" (Roman 9:2) because his own race, the Jews—in spite of all their advantages—had rejected Jesus.

Why ask who is responsible for the death of Jesus? Sadly, persecution of the Jews has occurred over the centuries—a sin that flows from the sinful human heart still active even among Christians. Anti-Semitism cannot be justified by claiming that the Jews killed Christ. Jesus was a Jew and so were all the early disciples.