Book Description

The objective of this book is to examine and explain one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament: Matthew 27:25, which has been traditionally used in the Christian Church to teach that the Jewish people are condemned for all time for the death of Christ. This exegetical study of Matthew 27:25 will be done within the context of the Gospel of Matthew and the broader contexts of the Old and New Testaments. The purpose for this study is to dispel and disprove the traditional anti-Semitic meaning of Matthew 27:25 that has tragically led to the unwarranted condemnation of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ. Hence, the particular focus of this study will directly address and answer the perennial, theological question that asks, "Does Matthew 27:25 mean and teach the Jews are altogether condemned by God for the crucifixion of Christ?" While it is true the Jewish nation, by and large, tragically rejected Jesus at His first coming, this in no way gives Christians theological license for the wholesale hatred, persecution, and destruction of the Jews, or for holding an anti-Semitic bias against them. No where in the New Testament Scriptures is it taught that the Jewish race--past, present, and future are condemned and morally indicted as "Christ killers" for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This study is necessary to expose and correct the flawed interpretation of Matthew 27:25 that has historically persisted in Christendom and leads a person to build and develop an anti-Jewish theology. Factoring all this together in a careful exegesis of Matthew 27 will manifestly demonstrate that the Jewish people are not guilty of deicide and therefore arbitrarily condemned by God as a race of "Christ killers."