Why are the Jews the most hated people in history and by so many people?
The Origin of the Jews
Before there were the Jews, there was only Israel. When Israel became a divided kingdom, it split into two different nations. Ten of the tribes resided in what was considered Samaria while the remaining tribes (Judah, Benjamin, and the Levites) remained in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. These would become known as the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom retained the name of Israel, while the Southern Kingdom became known as Judah. Judah is still part of Israel, collectively, but when the Northern Kingdom was taken into captivity by the Assyrians, they ceased to be known as a nation, until Christ returns that is, and all Israel will once again be as one nation. The Southern Kingdom, for a short time at least, stayed loyal to God and His laws and did not fall into idolatrous practices (as had Israel), but in time, Judah also fell away and were taken into captivity as they began to drift further and further away from the true worship of God. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) is where we get the name “Jews” from and is another name for Judah. The people of Judah were now known as the Jews. Judah, like the so-called “lost tribes of Israel” (from the Northern Kingdom), are all part of the original 12 tribes of Israel, but the Northern Kingdom lost their identity because of their disobedience and were apparently absorbed into other nations, and are thought to have eventually migrated into Europe. The Jews however, have retained their identity but became the most persecuted people on earth, so we ask the question: “Why?”
The Blame Game
Over history, the Jews have been blamed for the death of Jesus Christ and have been labeled “Christ killers,” but the Jews have been blamed for many things too, like the Black Plague or the Bubonic Plague which hit Europe around 1348. As a result, thousands of innocent Jews, who could not have been responsible for the plague, were murdered throughout Europe and in history, and the Jews have often been the scapegoats for just about anything bad that happens, and unfairly so. Recently, The World Council of Churches and The National Council of Churches of Christ, which are US ecumenical groups that represent over 545 million Christians, have blamed Israel for the Palestinian conflict and the larger, Arab-Israeli conflict, so the “blame game” is still going on to this day against the Jews, and today, most of the Arab world is set against Israel as their arch-enemy, and few nations around the world support Israel.
Unfair Accusations
Tragically, millions of Jews have been murdered because they’ve been blamed for numerous things throughout their history. When examining history, the Jews have been blamed for the Black Plague, for losing World War One, for the breaking of the Treaty of Versailles, and even a nation’s economic failures. Sadly, even Christians have saddled the Jews with blame, and on one occasion, they spread out everywhere in Europe and went on a murderous rampage against Jews, actually burning them alive wherever they found them. In 1349, the entire Jewish communities of Mainz and Cologne were completely annihilated, and in that same year, the citizens of Strasbourg murdered over 2,000 Jews. By 1351, there were over 60 major Jewish communities, along with 150 smaller Jewish communities that were completely destroyed. The onslaught of the Jewish people has continued for centuries, and even less than a hundred years ago, the German’s blamed the Jews for their economic collapse, so Hitler’s Nazi Germany set about to totally eliminate every Jew they could find, even beyond the German borders in a horrific genocide. This became known as the Holocaust, the Nazi’s systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of over six million Jews, but it was also a collaborative work of other nations too, not directly connected to the Nazi regime, so Europe, Asia, and other nation’s Antisemitism has been going on for a very long time, and with no good excuse.
Did the Jews Kill Jesus?
Who killed Jesus? Was it the Jews who illegally tried Jesus, hurling false accusations by use of false witnesses against Him, or was it the spineless Pontius Pilate who could have freed Jesus, and even declared no fault in the Man (Luke 23:4), but caved into Jewish pressure? Was it the Romans who actually carried out the crucifixion of Jesus? Or was it all of mankind who have sinned and caused the need for the perfect, atoning sacrifice in Jesus Christ, in order to be reconciled back to God? The Apostle Peter, in speaking to a Jewish crowd, told them “you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15), but was Peter putting the blame directly on their shoulders? Apparently not because Peter said, “I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers” (Acts 3:17).
Who Killed Jesus?
The Apostle Peter tells us who actually killed Jesus. It was all a part of the sovereign plan of God as Peter said it was “what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled” (Acts 3:18). Isaiah the Prophet clearly tells us who killed Jesus and why in writing that “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), so in fact, “it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10a). Why? By “his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). Jesus Himself knew that “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve [but] to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28), so it was the will of the Father that Jesus died for many, and the “many” are those who have repented and trusted in Him.
Conclusion
The Jews have been hated as a people for centuries, and have been blamed for almost everything that’s gone wrong, and although no one is truly innocent (Rom 3:10-12), the Jews are much like Jesus in that they are hated without a cause. When wars, disease, death, or any other tragic events talk place in history, it seems that human nature seeks to put the blame on someone…and it’s anyone but themselves. It’s convenient to pin the blame on the Jews, but much of the reason for the Jews being hated is that they have been identified with God, but really, anyone who’s associated with believing in God will be hated, primarily by those who hate God. Jesus said “the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” (John 15:25), so Jesus reminds Christians that “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18).
Article by Jack Wellman
Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.
