So what does Matthew 27:25 really mean?

[acroyear]

All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

When religious texts from that time period refer to "The People", they often refer to all the people of the world, or at the very least their society. They certainly don't mean only those of a single race or religion; that kind of close-minded "I"-based viewpoint is rare in these days before modern nationalism arrived. Its a modern view, not historically accurate.

So "the people" really means all the people. Now the question would normally be "all the people then" or "all the people including today", to which Matthew resolves out that ambiguity by including "on our children".

So, WE are the people on whom responsibility for Christ's death belongs. ALL of us. In the context of the passage, the people chose to let Jesus die because a few rumor-mongerers in the crowd built up support for letting another man (Barabas) go free instead. [Mind you, aside from this passage in the Bible, there is no historical record, Roman, Greek, nor Hebrew, supporting this idea of a single man being freed on an amnesty, but that's besides the point. or at least, that's what I've read somewhere.]

So we were duped into letting Christ die. We were misled. We were lazy. We didn't think about the consequences.

Now take personal responsibility: there's no WE without ME.

I killed Christ. I admit it. I confess it.

Because of my ignorance, Christ died. Because of my neglegance, Christ died. Because of my hatred, Christ died. Because of my gullibility, Christ died. Because of my slothfulness, Christ died. Because of my anger, Christ died. Because I chose not to think, but to let others make my decisions for me, Christ died.

And there would be only Guilt.

yet...

Because of God's Love, Christ lives.

Because of Christ's Love, I live.

In this, there is hope, where there wasn't without God's love. My guilt has been taken from me and placed on a cross before me so that I may choose to live in today and tomorrow, rather than be trapped by my past.

There is hope that I will choose to not be ignorant anymore, so that Christ may live in me. There is hope that I will choose to not be neglegant, so that Christ may live in me. There is hope that I will choose to not be hateful, so that Christ may live in me. There is hope that I will choose to not be gullible, so that Christ may live in me. There is hope that i will choose to not be slothful, so that Christ may live in me. There is hope that I will choose to replace my anger with Love, so that Christ may live in me.

There is hope that I will choose to exercise my free will to live and love, and not to blindly follow the crowd that chooses to live in hate, fear, and mostly in ingorance of the consequences of their actions.

With God's Love, I can choose to live in hope.

But I must always choose to live that way. When I choose not to make the choice, I have already made the wrong choice, and Christ may die in me again. I know that he will forgive me for when it happens, provided my desire for redemption and reconcilliation is true and sincere (and trust me, he'll know...).

Freedom requires vigilance. Free Will requires even more vigilance, in ourselves and not in others, but only as much as we are able to reasonably bear. This is God's gift, that we don't have to be blind to what others try to make us see or do, but it only works when we choose it to.