Now Close the Windows

Now close the windows and hush all the fields:
If the trees must, let them silently toss;
No bird is singing now, and if there is,
Be it my loss.

Robert Frost --- Now Close the Windows

Who Was Actually Responsible For Jesus Death

is a question that has garnered varying answers. Some have suggested that the religious leaders of Israel should be fingered.  

Jesus was certainly not popular with the Jewish religious establishment. He had driven from the Temple all those who were selling animals as well as those engaged in changing regular currency into the Temple exchange. This action had disrupted a major source of income for the priests and the temple. As a result the Jewish leaders were looking for a way to kill him (Mark 11:18).

Secondly, the religious leaders had introduced numerous laws governing behaviour on the Sabbath. Jesus did not allow himself to be bound by such man-made rules. One Sabbath he healed a man with a withered hand (Mat 12:14) and on another a lame man (John 5:9). As a result the Pharisees wanted to kill him. Thirdly, and the real clincher, was when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Not unexpectedly they "tried all the harder to find a way to kill him" (John 5:18).

Others have suggested that it was the Romans and specifically Pilate who should bear responsibility. Pilate was a political creature who realized his position of leadership was not secure. He was seeking to govern a part of the Roman Empire that was a constant breeding ground for tension and acts of insurrection.

When the Jewish leaders brought Jesus before Pilate it became evident that Christ had done nothing wrong (Luke 23:4). The Governor was perceptive enough to realize that "the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy" (Mat. 27:18). His own wife strengthened the conviction, that Jesus was innocent, when she described her terrible nightmare concerning the prisoner (Mat 27:19).

Pilate wanted to release Christ but he lost his nerve when mob mentality took over. In unison the crowd chanted "If you release this man, you are no 'friend of Caesar'" (John 19:12). The Governor decided that he could not risk a riot or being branded a traitor to the Roman Empire. Therefore, he grudgingly turned Jesus over for crucifixion (Mat. 27:24-26).

So who was responsible for putting Christ to death? Was it the jealous Jewish leaders or the timid Roman Governor. The truth of the matter is that neither of them were ultimately responsible! They were but tools in the hands of the Master Planner. It was God the Father himself who put Jesus to death!

The Lord hinted at this truth when standing before Pilate. The Governor had told Jesus that he had the authority, under Rome, to release him. Jesus response was "You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above" (John 19:11). The Apostle Peter develops this line of thought more thoroughly by stating that God chose Jesus to be our ransom long before the world began (1 Pet. 1:19-20).

How incredible! To think that somewhere in deepest eternity past God ordained that Jesus, that is God the Son, would die to redeem those whom the Father would call to himself. So when did the Father determine whom he would call? Paul answers this for us — it also took place before the world came into existence (Eph. 1:4-5). What incredible and profound insights into the nature and character of God the Father — who can ever know the mind of God!

Copyright. Bruce September 2010

Note: All quotes taken from the New Living Translation Second Edition