Where were the Jews from that killed jesus?

Answer 1

The Bible shows us the answer in this scripture:

But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?

And they cried out again, Crucify him. (Mark 15.11 to 13)

Answer:

The Pope himself has said that the Jews are not to blame in the killing of Jesus. See the attached Related Link for the exact quote.

Answer 2

Jesus was not killed by Jews. Jesus was killed by the Romans, in a traditional Roman fashion, crucifixion. The Jews of the Temple accused Jesus of seditious activities, that under Roman law demanded death. He was brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Prefect of Judea. Although he alleged to have found no guilt in Christ, those who accused him maintained that he was guilty, so Pilate, a Roman, condemned Christ to death. Christ was taken from Pilate, tortured and humiliated, and then nailed to a wooden beam by Roman soldiers. The Jews, being a subjugated population within the Roman Empire did not have legal recourse to execute anyone.

The Jews who accused Christ were from Jerusalem, specifically, they were leaders of the Jewish religion in Jerusalem, potentially Pharisees and Sadducees, but named in the Gospels as priests and scribes. These brought him before the Sanhedrin, the council of judges within the Temple in Jerusalem, who then had him taken before Pilate.

Answer 3

The Jewish people were blamed for centuries for the Crucifixion, and even the Gospels (purportedly written by Jewish men who knew Jesus or his apostles personally) tended to lay blame on the Jews as a whole. In perspective... Jesus ran afoul of the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem, who saw him as a rabble-rouser and a potential threat to their position, and to the way of life in ancient Israel. The Gospels were written years after the fact, with a great deal of perspective (and bias), and some time after Christianity had broken away/was forced out from Judaism. (Memories of the Jewish revolt in 66-73 CE were also still fresh in many minds, making the Jews especially unpopular around the Roman Empire.)

The Jews were the only people conquered by the Romans who were not subject to the Pax Romana, and did not have to worship the Roman gods, or send troops to fight for Rome. These conditions were agreed to only after years of wars and sieges, that had nearly exhausted both sides. Rome had more resources; Israel refused to compromise any further than they already had. They were formally occupied by Rome, and the land called Judea, with a Roman governor (Pontius Pilate, at the time in question). They paid taxes to the empire, but otherwise were mostly allowed to maintain their own authority. (There was a king, but he was basically a puppet of Rome.)

Jesus came along and shook up that authority, like several others had before, but they were quickly put down and their movements sputtered out. Jesus had a popular message, that exposed the corruption and weaknesses in Judaism as it was practiced in that time and place, and his teachings threatened to upset daily life in Israel. If the Jewish authorities couldn't quell him or his movement, and he was able to keep drawing and motivating large crowds (which the Gospels say he was able to do), Rome was likely to step in at any time, send more troops, and literally put an end to the whole megillah, for all of them.

While Jesus made no threats against Rome directly, and taught submission to their authority, he wasn't so casual with the local leaders in Jerusalem. They resented that, and the restrictions placed on them by Roman occupation. They couldn't put anyone to death, but they could hand someone over to the Roman authorities for punishment if they broke Roman law. They used the common perception of Jesus as the promised Messiah to play up to Pilate that Jesus had declared himself a king, against the emperor, and had thereby committed treason; a capital offense in ancient Rome. The Temple crowd tended to be loyal and sympathetic toward their leaders, the high priests.

Pilate saw through what the high priests were trying to do, but was pressured by the threat of riots and troops having to be called in, and him looking weak to his superiors, into giving in and executing what he saw as merely a local agitator. Crucifixion was a common means of disposing of criminals, particularly if an example was being made of them. The Temple regulars, who had seen or heard about Jesus trashing the outer Temple court, were the ones screaming for his death. The rest of Israel either didn't know, or only found out later, and then either through "official" channels, or the grapevine. What his apostles knew, they kept to themselves, for the time being.

Centuries later, the Jewish people saw Jesus as just another false messiah, and they'd had plenty of those before and since, and couldn't see what the big deal was. They expected a leader who would continue the old covenants with Israel, not start any new ones, and Jesus plainly didn't fit that role. Their side of things had long been distorted, and the Gentiles, who already mistrusted them for their unusual customs and beliefs, had one more excuse to be prejudiced against the Jews.