“The bible explains clearly who hates Jesus.”
Quite so, and it says nothing, in that regard, of the Jewish People generally. You have NO CASE, smear-meister — only a cause. And a not-very-honorable one, at that.
“Matthew 27:22 – ‘Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?’..”
So reads the received text. Yet the claim smacks, quite suspiciously — to anyone who does his own thinking — of subsequent tampering w/ the narrative. There is simply NO WAY that a man of Pilate’s KNOWN CHARACTER would’ve given anybody a ‘choice’ to exercise any power which Rome had given, explicitly, to HIM. The verdict of history is that the man was, quite clearly, a piece of work.
Pilate was, by both temperament and position, a ruthless autocrat & vicious despot who’d crucified tens of thousands of Jews. He was eventually removed from power by Rome — for EXCESSIVE CRUELTY. Yeah, let that one sink in:
— In a society where watching people, including children, being eaten alive by wild animals, was considered entertainment — and rape, a soldier’s ‘privilege’ — Pilate was considered too cruel. . . .
In fact, Philo of Alexandria castigated Pilate just a few years later for his
“briberies, insults, robberies, outrages and wanton injuries, executions without trial, constantly repeated, ceaseless and supremely grievous cruelty.”
Moreover, says Stephen J. Patterson, an “early-Christianity” historian at Willamette University:
“[T]hat sort of behavior wouldn’t have been all that extraordinary for a Roman ruler, but Pilate apparently did it even more ruthlessly than MOST.”
“Mattthew 27:22…’They all say unto him, Let him be crucified’…”
The members of that crowd were a hastily assembled rent-a-mob. You can get one on any street corner of most major cities for the price of a six-pack of beer per man.
The only parties that such a collectivity is responsible to are those who PAY it — and those were the Chief Priests and ‘elders’: largely Roman-selected flunkies, selected by the Occupation govt, and chosen solely for their docility.
Remember, the gospel itself acknowledges that the Chief Priests “persuaded” the assemblage to ‘choose’ Barabbas, as you noted in citing Matthew 27:20. Several translations of the Mark 15:11 rendering actually say “incited” them.
How could the priests be so readily successful if the gathering were not already in their pocket from the get-go? Aint rocket science, y’know — not to an objective observer, that is.
“Matthew 27:25 – ‘Then answered all the people, and said, [h]is blood be on us, and on our children’…”
Again, a matter of highly questionable historicity, and not likely to have actually happened; the passage is a classically acknowledged instance of TAMPERING in the form of ‘interpolation’ — but, typically, a Jew-basher (like yourself) jumps on it like a dog on a bone.
In virtually every other ancient culture, such a claim as that asserted in Mt 27:25 would be more than plausible (and not even uncommon) — but NOT EVEN CONCEIVABLE among the Jews. Jewish law is unambiguous & unyielding, and the scripture repeatedly confirms it:
“Parents are not to be put to death for their children — nor children put to death for their parents; each shall die for their own sin.” [Deut 24:16]
“Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.” [2 Kings 14:6]
“The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.” [Ezek 18:20]
“In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’ Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.” [Jer 31:29-30]
“As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king. Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: ‘Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin’…” [2 Chron 25:3-4]