For two millennia, Christians have been told that the Jewish leaders and people have been responsible for the death of Jesus of Nazareth. The evidence for this belief comes primarily from the four Gospels of the Bible.  After the Jewish Holocaust occurred during World War II, there has been much debate about the veracity of this claim. Several large Christian denominations have publically stated that the Bible can no longer be used to justify blaming the Jewish people for this death.  

Historical information combined with accounts from the Gospels themselves will show that it was the Romans who initiated the arrest of Jesus, conducted his trial, tortured him, sentenced him to death and, finally, crucified him. By understanding that this is the sequence of events that make up Holy Week, all people can celebrate the true meaning of this time which deals with hope, forgiveness, and redemption. 

Benjamin Cruz-Uribe is a retired UWGB statistics instructor and popular Learning In Retirement speaker whose courses include “An Alternative Vision of the History of Early Christianity.”

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