In this light the cry “Crucify him” is exactly what we should expect of the Sadducean leaders, “the chief priests and their officials” (John 19:5). The high priest had torn his garments when he heard Jesus talking about himself as the heavenly Son of Man seated on God´s right hand: “He has spoken blasphemy!” After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead the Sadducean high priests viewed Jesus as a threat against the temple and the people (John 11:46-50). And they, the chiefs of the temple, certainly perceived Jesus´ saying that he could rebuild the temple in three days (John 2:19 with parallels) as blasphemy or national treason. Consequently, they deemed him as one who should be hanged on the tree. According to political reality, this had to be implemented by the Roman rulers of the land. When it was not in their own power to hang the blasphemer on the tree, they pressured Pilate to do it. For the chief priests a Roman crucifixion would certainly fall within the category “to hang on the tree”.
At this point of argument it must be remarked that it is historically incorrect to make the Jewish people as such responsible for the execution of Jesus; those responsible were the Sadducean temple leadership together with the Roman authorities. Neither is it plausible that those Jerusalemites who greeted Jesus with “Hosianna” when he entered the city were the same who later shouted “Crucify him!” It was a group handpicked by the high priests who shouted “Crucify him!” It is a sad aspect of church history that these verses have been misused to justify antisemitism and persecutions of the Jewish people.
At this point of argument it must be remarked that it is historically incorrect to make the Jewish people as such responsible for the execution of Jesus; those responsible were the Sadducean temple leadership together with the Roman authorities. Neither is it plausible that those Jerusalemites who greeted Jesus with “Hosianna” when he entered the city were the same who later shouted “Crucify him!” It was a group handpicked by the high priests who shouted “Crucify him!” It is a sad aspect of church history that these verses have been misused to justify antisemitism and persecutions of the Jewish people.
Preachers must be on guard against generalising derogatory statements such as “the Jews rejected Jesus”, “the Jews did not understand that Jesus was sent by God”, “Jesus reacted against the legalistic views of the Jews”.
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