It is sort of a “whodunnit?” type of story. Or maybe, as is common even today, you could say it was a grand conspiracy.
Jesus was killed, condemned and sent to his death, after being found innocent by his judge. How is that possible?
For some time, the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, all searched for ways to kill him. Jesus was speaking against them. He undermined their power. He spoke of their hypocrisy. And so they looked for ways in which they could get rid of him.
In the end, these leaders, with the chief priest leading the way, created accusations that they knew would bring the crowds over to their side. They created a mob, and they whipped up the mob to such an extent that they called for the death of a man who had not done anything wrong. And even worse, they let a man go who was guilty of murder and insurrection. Everything in this scene, everything in the way that these people were acting, was upside-down!
But they didn’t have the power to kill Jesus. They could murder him, but then they would have to answer to the state. They would have to answer to the Roman government. No, the Jews weren’t able to kill him themselves. They somehow needed to convince the Roman government to do it for them. They needed a way for the Romans to condemn Jesus because then they would no longer have this guilt on their hands because they could point the finger at the Romans. It would be the Romans’ fault that Jesus had died.
And the Jews thought that they had a good reason to bring Jesus before them for judgment and execution. If there was anything that the Romans would not put up with, if there was truly any unforgivable sin, it would be to lead a coup in an attempt to overthrow the Romans. Allegiance to caesar was of paramount importance. Disloyalty to the Roman government would not be tolerated.
And so this is the charge that the Jewish leaders bring to Pilate. He claims to be the Messiah, a king! He claims to be the king of the Jews!
Pilate asked him, probably with a little bit of a scoff and a smirk as he looked at the man standing in front of him, “Is that right?”
“You have said so,” Jesus answered.
Pilate sees through the ruse that the Jewish leaders are trying to pull over on him. He doesn’t believe it for a second. In fact, he immediately pronounces Jesus to be innocent. No way. There is no possible way that this man is leading a revolution against the Roman government. Just look at him! Does he have an army following him? This is not the work of a coming king who is looking to overthrow the Roman rule.
And yet, through a series of maneuvers and in his desire to keep the peace, or be liked, or whatever his ultimate motivation really was, Pontius Pilate ends up deciding to send Jesus to his death. He condemns him to a horiffic death on the cross with a sign hanging over Jesus’s head that says, in all likelihood a taunt to the Jews and a sign of Roman dominance, The King of the Jews.
But was it the Jews or the Romans that should receive the blame? Should the Jewish leaders be to blame because they instigated and initiated Jesus’s condemnation? Or should it instead be the Romans who should receive the blame because they carried out the sentence of condemnation of an innocent man?
The answer is Yes, both are to blame, and yet the answer is also No, they aren’t fully to blame. Why? Because there is another party in the mix of this conversation that I haven’t yet mentioned. Who is that?
It is God himself.
After Jesus returned to heaven and the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in Jerusalem, Peter stood up and began to speak. He explained what had really happened, what was truly going on in their midst:
Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Acts 2:22-23
Upon whom does Peter place the blame for Jesus’s death? He is addressing the Jews as he says “Fellow Israelites”, and he says that Jesus was placed in his hands, but whose plan does he actually say it is that Jesus would be given to the Jews? It is God! It is God’s plan. He is the one who made the plan to kill Jesus. He knew in advance what he was going to do. God is the one who used the jealousy and anger of the Jews, in connection with “wicked men”, speaking of Pontius Pilate and the Romans, to kill Jesus. It was God’s plan that brought Jesus to his death!
We can see this prophecied and foreshadowed in several places throughout the Old Testament, although none would be more clear in explaining God’s plan than Isaiah 53. Specifically, we can look at the last few verses of the chapter:
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
Isaiah 53:10-12
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
This man is clearly identified as being crushed and suffering as a payment for the sins of the people. But what is more important is the alignment of what Isaiah says with what Peter said: It is the Lord’s will. It is God’s plan. In fact, God himself is the one offering Jesus as an offering for the forgiveness of sins. This is God’s plan.
So, who really killed Jesus? Thank God, it was God who, in his love and mercy for his people, who offered himself in the person of Jesus to be an offering, a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.