Anti-Semitism in the New Testament


Jews persecuting or killing Christians for their faith

The Acts of the Apostles:

Acts 4:1-22 - Peter and John arrested by "the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees" for preaching about Jesus in the temple

Acts 5:17-40 - The apostles arrested by the high priest, and put on trial before "the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel"

Acts 6:8-7:60 - Stephen is arrested, tried, and stoned to death by the council

Acts 8:1-3 - A persecution begins against the church in Jerusalem

Acts 12:1-4 - About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. / He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. / After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.) / When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

Acts 13:50 - Jews persecute Paul and Barnabas and have them thrown out of Pisidian Antioch

Acts 14:2, 5, 19 - Jews again persecute Paul and Barnabas in other towns of central Galatia

Acts 21:27-26:32 - Paul is arrested in the Temple, put on trial, but appeals to Caesar


The Fourth Gospel:

John 9:22 - His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.

John 12:42 - Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;

John 16:2 - They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.



The Death of Jesus in the Gospels and Acts:

The Gospel according to Mark

Mark 3:6 - The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Mark 8:31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Mark 9:31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again."

Mark 10:32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, 10:33 saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; 10:34 they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again."

Mark 14:55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. 14:56 For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. 14:57 Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, 14:58 "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'" 14:59 But even on this point their testimony did not agree. 14:60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?" 14:61 But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" 14:62 Jesus said, "I am; and 'you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,' and 'coming with the clouds of heaven.'" 14:63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "Why do we still need witnesses? 14:64 You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?" All of them condemned him as deserving death. 14:65 Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, "Prophesy!" The guards also took him over and beat him.

Mark 15:1 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 15:2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You say so." 15:3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 15:4 Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you." 15:5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. 15:6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 15:7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. 15:8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 15:9 Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 15:10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 15:12 Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" 15:13 They shouted back, "Crucify him!" 15:14 Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him!" 15:15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.


The Gospel according to Matthew:

Matt 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 23:16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.' 23:17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? (cf. 23:23, 25, 27, 29)

Matt 27:24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." 27:25 Then the people as a whole answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" 27:26 So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.


The Gospel according to Luke:
 

Luke 23:1 Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. 23:2 They began to accuse him, saying, "We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king." 23:3 Then Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He answered, "You say so." 23:4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no basis for an accusation against this man." 23:5 But they were insistent and said, "He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place." 23:6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 23:7 And when he learned that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 23:8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. 23:9 He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. 23:10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. 23:12 That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies. 23:13 Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 23:14 and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 23:15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. 23:16 I will therefore have him flogged and release him." 23:18 Then they all shouted out together, "Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!" 23:19 (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) 23:20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; 23:21 but they kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!" 23:22 A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him." 23:23 But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. 23:24 So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. 23:25 He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.

Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" 23:40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 23:41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." 23:42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 23:43 He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." 23:44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 23:45 while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 23:46 Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. 23:47 When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, "Certainly this man was innocent." 23:48 And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts.


Anti-Semitism in the NT Epistles?

1 Thess 2:14-16 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God's wrath has overtaken them at last.

Acts 4:8-11 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11 This Jesus is 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.'
 


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This page was last updated on 09/26/01
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