et
out of hatred and envy, they refused credence to these signs, by
which they might have known that He was the Son of God.

Reply Obj. 2: The words quoted are preceded by the following: "If I
had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they
would not have sin"; and then follow the words: "But now they have
both seen and hated both Me and My Father." Now all this shows that
while they beheld Christ's marvelous works, it was owing to their
hatred that they did not know Him to be the Son of God.

Reply Obj. 3: Affected ignorance does not excuse from guilt, but
seems, rather, to aggravate it: for it shows that a man is so
strongly attached to sin that he wishes to incur ignorance lest he
avoid sinning. The Jews therefore sinned, as crucifiers not only of
the Man-Christ, but also as of God.
_______________________

SIXTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 47, Art. 6]

Whether the Sin of Those Who Crucified Christ Was Most Grievous?

Objection 1: It would seem that the sin of Christ's crucifiers was
not the most grievous. Because the sin which has some excuse cannot
be most grievous. But our Lord Himself excused the sin of His
crucifiers when He said: "Father, forgive them: for they know not
what they do" (Luke 23:34). Therefore theirs was not the most
grievous sin.

Obj. 2: Further, our Lord said to Pilate (John 19:11): "He that hath
delivered Me to thee hath the greater sin." But it was Pilate who
caused Christ to be crucified by his minions. Therefore the sin of
Judas the traitor seems to be greater than that of those who
crucified Him.

Obj. 3: Further, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. v): "No one
suffers injustice willingly"; and in the same place he adds: "Where
no one suffers injustice, nobody works injustice." Consequently
nobody wreaks injustice upon a willing subject. But Christ suffered
willingly, as was shown above (AA. 1, 2). Therefore those who
crucified Christ did Him no injustice; and hence their sin was not
the most grievous.

_On the contrary,_ Chrysostom, commenting on the words, "Fill ye up,
then, the measure of your fathers" (Matt. 23:32), says: "In very
truth they exceeded the measure of their fathers; for these latter
slew men, but they crucified God."

_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 5), the rulers of the Jews knew
that He was the Christ: and if there was any ignorance in them, it
was affected ignorance, which could not excuse them. Therefore their
sin was the most grievous, bo