Catholic teaching insists that the Jewish people are not cursed or responsible for Jesus’ death. Yet Matthew 27:15-26 presents the Jewish crowd “as a whole” calling for crucifixion and saying that Jesus’ blood might fall upon them!
The Christian preaching tradition has been molded upon a paradigm which promotes Jesus at the expense of Judaism. As a result, often by default, Judaism is routinely denigrated when Jesus is preached.
It is unfortunate that Christians often carry a negative understanding of the Pharisees. Historical research has indicated that Jesus was closer to the Pharisees than to any other religious group.
One of the most helpful ways to understand the negative presentation of the Pharisees in the gospels is to see the description as an adolescent reaction of the early church, striking out against its parent, Judaism.
The description of the Jewish leadership in the gospels is historically skewed. Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisees was not as negative as the Gospel of Matthew presents. Peace must, therefore, be made with these “enemies” of Jesus.