If Jesus came into the world to atone for all our sins, were the people who crucified him merely pawns?

Answer 1

no its just that God understood what they would do and did not intervene

Answer 2

I'm sure someone has already given the standard all have free will answer. If you believe the Bible as an absolute truth that would probably suffice. I have also been told many times that to question or to doubt anything pertaining to the Bible is wrong. I question EVERYTHING. If God is all powerful and all knowing then all that has transpired since the beginning was known to Him before it happened. He knew all this yet still created mankind and allowed everything to happen. Some people would say that would make every single person that ever existed a pawn and every move made by them already decided.

Answer 3

Not merely pawns...there was free will involved, but I agree that God knew it was going to happen. Nothing in scripture of Christian mythology points to them getting a harsher punishment than any other sinners.

Consider this also: the Jewish people were blamed for centuries for "killing Jesus" (when really all they did was ask the Romans to stop Jesus's evangelizing), but the Romans (who actually "killed" him) became the heads of the Church.

Answer 4

Jesus knew (he knew what was in people's minds) that they would never accept Him as the Messiah.His forecoming was prophesied almost a thousand years before His appearance in the Bible.They killed the prophets who preached of His coming,so yes He knew He wouldn't be accepted as The Messiah.He also knew of the people who would ultimately kill Him, The Kenites,also called the Jews because they were residents of Judea.But the fact remains that they were Kenites (children of Cain) as St.John 8:44 tells us of them.No they weren't pawns, they have free will just like all the rest of the majority of us.

Answer 5

I wouldn't call them pawns. A pawn is generally referred to a something sacrificed for the greater good. The Jewish people were not condemned for what they did. The signs at the Crucifixion were to show them the truth of who they had just killed and let them repent of their murderous actions.I believe every one has a purpose in this life.
I would call them part of the plan.

Answer 6

Evidentally not. At Pentecost at least 3000 of them repented of their sins and were baptized in ACTS 2. The Apostles went out and preached Jesus to the world and began HIS CHURCH from that point. Have a great week!!
Eds

Answer 7

In the case of Jesus and Moses. God hardened certain peoples hearts in order for his will to be accomplished. The scriptures tell us that.

I think that happens more than just those two cases.

grace2u

Answer 8

They were representatives of humanity. We all crucified Christ through them. Collective guilt.
Individually, they were guilty of their own actions, plucking the beard, spitting in Jesus face, etc.

Answer 9

Yes! Jews have been castigated and persecuted since then for enabling Christianity. If Christ had not DIED and had not subsequently RISEN from death, Christianity would be without substance. So Christians should THANK the Jews for fulfilling the Prophesy and the Word. They are blameless and guiltless.

Answer 10

LOL. Actually, it only "works" if you "believe" it (read: assert it repeatedly) so it wasn't his death, but the ability of people to believe that saved the world. Seems like if it depends on *my* belief then God could have done something less violent for me to arbitrarily say I believe happened and thus get to heaven...

Answer 11

NO. We, even us, are just as guilty as the people who crucified HIM. Jesus Christ came to be a perfect sacrifice for all the sin in the world. It was a free gift after He did it for all to receive Salvation even for those who crucified Him. As Romans 3:21-26 reads:

Righteousness Through Faith
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:21-26 (The Message)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson



God Has Set Things Right
21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
25-26God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it's now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.