Christianity is one of the world’s largest denominations, uniting billions of people around the globe.
Many people think about its founder and progenitor and they know about the terrible death of Christ, but they don’t know who exactly killed Him. We will tell you about this in the article.
What Do We Know About Christ?
Regardless of which denomination a person belongs to, what he does, and how his life is arranged, almost the entire population of the Earth is familiar with Jesus Christ, with the exception of the most remote places on the planet where religion hasn’t been reached due to geographical location. But what exactly do we know about Christ?
Jesus Christ is the Messiah in Christianity. He came to Earth according to the predictions of the Old Testament
He sacrificed himself for the sins of people, healed human nature and thereby showed the strongest example of self-sacrifice in the name of people.
The Life of Christ
According to the Christian doctrine, the appearance of Jesus is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy about the Messiah – the Son of God.
Jesus was immaculately born of the Holy Spirit by the Virgin Mary, in the city of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1), where the magi came to worship him as the future king of Judea.
After his birth, Jesus was taken away by his parents to Egypt (Matthew 2:14). He returned back only after the death of King Herod, who ruled Judea.
At the age of about 30 years old (Luke 3:23), Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. After the baptism, Jesus began to preach a new faith about the one and loving God.
People reached out to him, he talked to everyone, treated, fed, calmed, and told them the truth.
Jesus asked His disciples, «Who do people say the Son of Man is?”… Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven; And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it”» (Matthew 16:13-19).
Jesus Christ gave this world the truth, which attracted many people, and then over time, it caused countless followers. In order to convey this truth to people and to overcome death, Christ suffered torments during the execution for the sake of each person.
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Who Wanted Him Dead?
The Pharisees in Judea weren’t satisfied with the “new church” of Jesus Christ and it was crushing for them because Jesus Christ preached the truths that revolted them.
The Pharisees decided that Jesus Christ should be put to death, out of their own fears and selfish motives. But in those days there was no camera, and therefore only someone close to him could point specifically to Jesus Christ. Such was Judas Iscariot.
The Traitor of Christ, Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, but he was very different from the others.
He was angry, selfish, cowardly, and ambitious. Six days before Easter, in the house of Martha and Mary, Lazarus’ sister, when Mary, “Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.” Then the disciple Judas said: ” Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?” (John 12:1-5).
But he wasn’t going to “give it to the poor”, because he kept all the precious things that came to him for himself. “He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.” (John 12:6).
After another indignation of Judas about the alleged distribution of money to the poor, he decided to betray Jesus Christ – “… Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him. Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.” (Matthew 26:47-49).
Pontius Pilate
The Pharisees brought Jesus Christ to trial before the Roman prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate (the Roman Governor), who at first, in honor of Easter, wanted to grant Jesus Christ freedom, but the people insisted, accusing Christ of blasphemy and telling lies about him, and Pilate submitted to the will of the people, although he knew that Christ wasn’t guilty of anything.
Judas couldn’t stand the pangs of conscience and committed suicide:
“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:3-5).
The Crucifixion
Condemned to execution, Jesus Christ was subjected to beatings and ridicule. The legionaries of Judea, who accompanied Him to execution, put a crown of thorns on the head of Jesus Christ, which had sunk into His head, and placed a cross on His back.
Jesus Christ carried his cross all the way to Golgotha, the place of the crucifixion, “And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.” (Matthew 27:30).
On the way to the place of execution, Christ was accompanied by many people, both His enemies, and friends.
The women who had followed the Lord before were still walking now, weeping for Him. However, the Savior told them not to weep for Him, but for themselves: «Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then “’they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”» (Luke 23:28-30).
On Golgotha, everything was already prepared. The warriors even had a special drink for those condemned to death — a mixture of sour wine, vinegar and other substances. This drink introduced the crucified into a state, in which they partially didn’t feel pain.
Together with the Lord, two more criminals were awaiting execution on the crosses. They crucified Jesus Christ on the cross between two other crucified robbers «A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”» (Matthew 27:37).
They crucified Him, nailed His wrists to the horizontal part, and His legs to the vertical, and put Him under the scorching sun. Jesus Christ was suffocating, any movement caused terrible pain, He was also thirsty.
The passers-by mocked him, telling Him, while He was being crucified on the cross, that he couldn’t come down from the cross, that “he trusted in God; let him deliver Him now if He pleases God. Because He said, “I am the Son of God.”
The Prayer to God
In the evening, at about nine o’clock, Jesus Christ prayed to God for help. The warriors who heard this gave him a sponge with vinegar. Jesus again prayed loudly and passed away.
At that moment an earthquake began and the Sun went dark, and even the centurion, surprised by this, exclaimed: “Truly, He is the son of God!”.
Before Easter, the warriors removed the bodies from the crosses, breaking their shins, but they didn’t break the shins of Jesus Christ. ” But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” (John 19:33-34).
The soldier who pierced the side of Jesus Christ was called Longinus. Later he repented of this and became a saint.
After the Cursifixion
In the evening after the execution, at the request of one of the secret disciples of Christ, Joseph of Arimathea, His body was given to people who were close to Him.
After the necessary ceremony of anointing with incense, the Savior’s body was wrapped in a shroud and placed in a coffin carved into the rock. After that, Christ rose from the dead and gave everyone eternal life.
Final Thoughts
The Bible lets us know that the Pharisees and many others from the Jewish people demanded the death of Christ. He was betrayed by his disciple Judas Iscariot, after which Pontius Pilate condemned Him.
Christ was tortured by Roman legionaries, and He was also subjected to ridicule by ordinary people. In the end, the Roman legionaries crucified Christ. All these people can be called the murderers of Jesus.
We should remember that having gone through so much torment and suffering, Christ still asked God to forgive those who killed him, because God’s love is boundless.
Charalampos
Charalampos is an Orthodox Christian who wants to help others learn about Christianity. His main goal is to help people understand the Bible and how to apply its teachings in their everyday lives. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing sports, and hiking.
Connecting with God is essential to praying effectively and receiving answers. Our FREE cheat sheet will help you build a strong relationship with God and create an effective prayer life.
