Pope: Jews not to be blamed for death of Jesus

Pope: Jewish people must never again be blamed for crucifixion

So, Pope Benedict XVI says that Jews are not responsible for the Death of Jesus. Must be a slow news day. The Vatican has maintained this view for decades. But i'd heard the view as a kid and rejected it out of hand.

There's a passage in the Gospel of Matthew, where the Jews shout to Pilate, Let his blood be on us and on our children. For one thing, if this was said at all, these people didn't have the authority to say such a thing. How could they? But since Christianity didn't exist, all Christians at the time were Jews. Further, despite the rampant ramblings of Paul, the Christian Church is founded on Peter, who taught at the synagogue. Christianity is built upon Judaism. Get over it. So, if the Jews are somehow responsible for the death of Christ, so are Christians. And probably Islam. Everyone else is innocent. BTW, if i'm responsible for the death of Jesus, i'm cool with it.

One expects that Biblical scholars have thought about this before. And, they probably have thought about the next puzzle. After all, Biblical scholars should be thinking about the basest blasphemy possible, if only to strengthen the faith. And that is, this. Given that Jesus partakes in the divinity, he could certainly have avoided his own death. He clearly knew about its coming in advance. Scripture says he was tempted to do something about it, and chose not to. So, was Jesus responsible for his own death? Was it assisted suicide?