His blood be on us (Mt 27:25-27:25)

“Then the people

As a whole answered.

‘His blood be on us

And on our children!’”

 

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς πᾶς ὁ λαὸς εἶπεν Τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν.

 

This is another unique passage to Matthew, not found in the other gospel stories.  Matthew has the Jewish crowd admit their guilt as the people as a whole answered (καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς πᾶς ὁ λαὸς εἶπεν) that the blood of Jesus would be on them (Τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς) and their children (καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν).  Thus, this passage has been cited as the source of much anti-Semitism that has the Jews as Christ killers throughout Christian history.  The Christians at the time of this writing may have seen this as the cause for the destruction of the Jewish Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE.  The bias of Matthew was completely on display.