“God loved you so much that he killed his Son for you!” the guest speaker exclaimed. Throughout his message, he repeated the same idea.
Each time he said it I cringed. It didn’t sound right.
We were having a special assembly in our international school. Later in class one of my students asked, “How is it right that God killed Jesus?” I knew what she was thinking. A father murdering his son cannot be just so how could it be a good thing for God to kill his own Son?
“Actually, I don’t think the Bible uses that kind of language,” I replied. “The direct blame for Jesus’ death is placed on the people who condemned and executed him.”
I didn’t go into detail, but I sympathized with her struggle. Here’s the data to support my claim.
People Killed Jesus
- As Jesus stood before the Jewish supreme court called the Sanhedrin, they concluded, “He is worthy of death” (Matt 26:66).
- When Pilate asked the crowd what he should do with Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him!” (Matt 27:22).
- Pilate “had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified” (Matt 27:26).
- The Roman soldiers took Jesus and crucified him (Matt 27:35).
- After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter preached to the crowd, “you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross” (Acts 2:23).
- Speaking to the crowd in the temple courts, Peter said, “You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate . . . You disowned the Holy and Righteous One . . . You killed the author of life” (Acts 3:13–15).
- Peter told the rulers and elders, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified . . .” (Acts 4:10).
- Peter replied to the Sanhedrin, “The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. (Acts 5:30)
Who killed Jesus?
Humans—the Sanhedrin (Israel’s supreme court), Pilate, the Romans soldiers, the crowd, the rulers and elders.
Can this be any clearer?
Is there more to the cross of Christ than human wickedness? Yes.
Peter said, “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge” (Acts 2:23a). Christ’s suffering and death was a part of God’s plan. God “handed over” Jesus, but God didn’t mock, flog, and crucify his Son. God didn’t pour out his wrath on his Son as if he had to relieve himself of his pent-up fury. I know this is going against a commonly held Christian view, but show me one verse that says, “God poured our his wrath on Jesus.” Peter continues, “and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross” (2:23b). Sinful humans are emphatically and repeatedly blamed for Jesus’ death.
Mark 15:34
What about Mark 15:34, where Jesus cries out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Doesn’t that show God releasing his vengeance on his Son?
Jesus is quoting the first verse of Psalm 22, which continues, “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” In this context, Jesus’ question highlights the fact that God the Father did not come to his rescue immediately. Jesus is not accusing God of active violence; he is expressing a complaint about God’s passivity in the face of the violence carried out by others. Additionally, Psalm 22 does not end on a note of suffering. Verses 22 and 23 state:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
This movement from suffering to triumph corresponds with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Ultimately God did not abandon Jesus. As Peter says, “he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay” (Acts 2:31). So the Psalm starts with a complaint of abandonment but flows into praise of God’s deliverance. And according to Jewish tradition, by quoting the first line, Jesus was recalling the entire Psalm.
Isaiah 53:10
What about Isaiah 53? Didn’t Isaiah prophesy, “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer” (v. 10)?
First, Isaiah 53 is a prophetic text written centuries before Christ. That is to say, it is harder to interpret than the direct statements of the apostles after the relevant events. Second, Isaiah 53 is referenced several times in the New Testament, but no NT author uses it as support for the idea that God punished Jesus on the cross or that God killed Jesus. So preachers who use it as support for the idea that the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus have no NT support for what they are doing. Third, in light of the preaching of the apostles, the best way to understand specific statements seemingly attributing violence to God against his servant, is to see them as assertions of God’s sovereignty—”God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge” as Peter says. In his sovereignty, God saw what would happen and he allowed it to happen. He withdrew his protective presence from Jesus, allowing the forces of evil to do what they wanted, causing Jesus to cry out, “My God, my God, why you have forsaken me?” But God didn’t carry out the violence. The violence was carried out by people who were motivated by Satanic forces.
This tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility is foreshadowed in the story of Joseph who was sold by his brothers as a slave. After he was restored, Joseph told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen 50:12). The brothers carried out an evil deed, but God used it for good.
God Raised Jesus
So what was God doing according to the first Christian preachers?
- “you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead” (Acts 2:23–24).
- “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead” (Acts 3:15).
- “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead” (Acts 4:10).
Here is the two-part sequence declared by the first preachers: (1) humans killed Jesus, (2) God raised Jesus. “God killed his Son,” then, is the exact opposite of the original message. Anyone who preaches that God tortured and killed his Son is not preaching apostolic Christianity. In other words, they are out of line with the apostles.
Conclusion
God raised his Son from the dead.
God didn’t kill his Son.
We did.
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.
Well explained.
Why is the death of Jesus Christ be an atonement for our sins if God did not kill his own son ?
Good post. Along similar lines, I’ve heard people also say that Jesus committed suicide, which is completely wrong as well of course.
In addition to wicked men, Satan also had influence in the death of Jesus. We read in Luke 22:3-4, “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.” So it seems that Satan (not understanding how he would be defeated through Jesus’ death and resurrection), was working in the hearts of wicked men to betray and kill Jesus.
Thanks Michael. That’s an important part of the story. However, while Satan influenced people, the direct blame is still placed on the people involved.
I think people get it from the passage in Isaiah 53 where it says it pleased the Lord to bruise Him or something along those lines… But it must mean something else.
He fooled everybody and rose that Day, in The Beginning, in Paradise, on The 3rd Day, glorifying The Father
The rest of the Bible is a cursed world, a trap for those who would believe God a liar, and listen to the gossip instead.
Thank you Les! Very well done! I too have heard preachers say the exact same thing (God killed His Son), and it puts chills down my spine to hear such blasphemy! This is my hope and prayer for all along with Paul!
Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
Greatest blessings to all in Christ Jesus, Amen!
Humbly
Your brother in Christ Jesus
Don
Remember Abraham being asked in Genesis 22:2 to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice? Isaac was going to be a sacrifice to the Lord, so what did this mean Abraham was being asked to do? He was being asked to kill his only son Isaac. Why would God ask this of Abraham? Many say to test Abraham. Indeed, verse 12 sounds like this may have been a test. But we also know that through these events God is revealing truths to us. Many can see that Isaac was a type of Christ, meaning that he represented Jesus in this story. When Abraham said, “God will provide the lamb” in verse 8, it is clear that this points forward to Jesus being the spotless Lamb (1 Peter 1:19) provided by God. Isaiah 53:7 says “He was oppressed and He was afflicted…like a lamb that is led to slaughter.”
But many people stop there and never consider other aspects of this story. One point often overlooked is Abraham. If Isaac is a type of Christ, then who does Abraham represent in this story? Abraham, the father of Isaac, represents God, the Father of Christ.
Isaiah 53:10 – “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise [crush] him [Jesus]; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…”
Do you see it? Do you see who is giving the sacrifice? Romans 3:25 says, “God put Him forward as a propitiation by his blood.” Romans 8:32 says that God, “who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.” Just as Abraham lifted the knife over the chest of his son Isaac, but then spared his son because there was a ram in the thicket, so God the Father lifted his knife over the chest of his own Son, Jesus — but did not spare him, because he was the ram; he was the substitute. He was God’s Lamb.
Todd,
Thanks for your comments. Certainly God provided the Lamb and offered him up by sending him into this sinful world, knowing full well what would happen. But God didn’t kill his Son. I cannot find one NT reference to support that claim. Instead, the NT repeatedly states that humans killed Jesus.
There are many differences between God the Father and Abraham so we must be careful with that analogy. God did not spare his Son, but God also did not raise the knife or pound the nails into his Son’s hands. God did not spare his Son in the sense of keeping him safe from this violent world. And the entire episode with Abraham was a test as Genesis 22:1 says.
Isaiah 53:10 doesn’t say God killed his Son. Moreover, it is an OT prophecy delivered hundreds of years before Christ’s death so it is harder to interpret than the clear NT statements after the events unfolded. On an interpretive level we are on safer grounds going with the repeated NT statements than with one OT prophetic statement.
On a theological level, the Father and Son are one so we cannot have one opposed to the other, especially one killing the other. That would divide the indivisible.
Amen brother! Christ’s death wouldn’t mean much if it was simply people who killed Him. His blood is so powerful, because He took the Father’s wrath upon Himself. Punishment for sin is death… who took the punishment for us? Jesus! Who is the only one able to bring justifiable punishment? God the Father!
God, the Father, crushed His Son, and that is the only way our sins were able to be forgiven.
If Jesus was simply killed by men, how would His death cover our sins?
Jesus told this parable in Luke 20:
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Who killed the son? The father or the tenants?
Even further Peter says to the Jews that they crucified Jesus. There is no argument there. The historical evidence clearly shows who placed the nails into Jesus’s hand. But that doesn’t change the argument. The wrath of God was poured out. The price was paid for our sins, and they payment was not to the Jews, but to a Holy God.
The biblical evidence shows that the wrath of humans was poured out. List the data showing the wrath of God was poured out.
Interesting but confusing at times. My thinking is that God had the power for Jesus to be tortured like he was and stoped it. I don’t get it.