Did You Kill God?

The friendly girl next asked if it was true that the Jewish people killed God. I answered that presumptuous question with a definite "no", but later delved into the question further. How was it possible for a human being to kill God, or even the Son of God? Also, the Ten Commandments prohibit us from killing. How does one become the Son of God? The Almighty is the creator of all living creatures, so everyone has the right to call themselves the Children of the Almighty.

The question haunted and humiliated me. I could not rest until I found a satisfactory answer, and I encountered quite a few theories over the years. Myriam was married to Joseph when her child was born, but conceived before her marriage. One version has it that a former fianc? or Miryam begot the child out of vengeance. Another version blames a Roman soldier for raping her, a frequent occurrence during those years of Roman occupation. The child was named Yeshua. Some of his classmates derided him because of his origins. Yeshua tried to reform the Jewish religion and attracted followers to the new religion which he began to openly advertise. Yeshua learned medicine from some of his rabbis, and used his ability to heal the sick to fool people into believing he was the Son of God. Some people also said that Yeshua hypnotized people.

The Roman invaders forbade this new religion and subjected those caught practicing it to death sentences. The barbaric Romans tortured people who were sentenced to capital punishment by death on the cross. Some people claimed to have seen Yeshua alive after he was killed on the cross - how could that be? One version I heard was that as the Jewish religion forbids shaming the human body, some people took Yeshua off the cross, when he was actually still alive. So he didn't die on the cross, but had to live in hiding in fear of the Roman authorities. Thus it was possible to falsely claim that he was raised from the dead.

Nobody could now prove if any of these versions was true or not. Every man has the right to follow his own religion - but without inflicting harm, shaming or espousing hatred against people with differing beliefs. It is most unfortunate that Christians continue to degrade Jews and spread hatred because of the false belief that the Jews killed their Son of God. If that is not enough, a religious leader, the German-born Luther, wrote and entire book full of false and humiliating accusations against Jews. How can they base their religion on the seeds of hatred that led to the murder of so many innocent people? How is it possible to hold the Bible in one hand and a merciless sword in the other?

© David Muskal, 2001