The Sovereignty of God #5
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God is sovereign over the affairs of man, right up until the very end of history including when the Antichrist is thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20). God is not a bystander watching a play, nor is He a puppet master pulling the strings for man’s actions. Man is responsible for his thoughts and deeds.
Ps 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. (NIV)
No matter how perfect, both angels (Lucifer and fallen angels) and man (Adam and Eve) as created beings cannot achieve and maintain a permanent state of holiness needed to dwell eternally with a perfect and holy God. So, an imperfect world goes on of its own accord. But the Day of the Lord (1 Thess. 5:1-3) will come in accordance with His perfect plan and timing.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. (NIV)
Knowing the frailty of man, and inability to maintain a holy state worthy of dwelling with God, He created a plan of salvation, or all of mankind would be lost forever. But His plan carried a very high price tag for God, which demonstrates His perfect justice and His perfect love for an imperfect people.
When God created Adam and Eve, He knew they would fall, and the consequences that went with it. If He did nothing the entire human race would perish. He also knew what the cost of our salvation would be, to be paid in full by Him, because we are incapable of doing so ourselves. Jesus had to become man in order to officially be our representative by being one of us.
Some would say, it was only a tiny sin, why did God ban them from the Garden? Why didn’t He just forgive them? A single drop of poison in a glass of pure, crystal clear water, contaminates all the water. There is no way of separating the poison from the water. The same with our relationship with a holy God. One sin was enough to ban them from fellowship and condemn them to spiritual and physical death, and eternal separation from God’s holiness.
Only God could be perfectly just and yet perfectly merciful. Only Jesus could pay the price for our sins achieving perfect mercy and paying the price for perfect justice. It cost God far more than anything we can imagine – He came Himself, in the person of Jesus, and paid the penalty of our sins.
Most likely Judas didn’t intend betraying Jesus when he joined the apostles. Nor did God instill betrayal in Judas, nevertheless, Judas was selected by God for that very reason and at the specific time. Betrayal wasn’t instilled by God, but came from within Judas because Jesus didn’t conform to Judas’ vision of the Messiah. In other words, Jesus fell short of Judas’ version of a Messiah that would drive out the Romans, a common hope by many Jews at the time. Over time there would be a Jewish revolt against the Romans, leading to their own destruction.
Jesus went through five trials, so we didn’t have to go through one before a righteous God. First, Annas the high priest, who sent Him to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (called a brood of vipers by John the Baptist), who then sent Him to Pilate, the only one with authority to crucify Him.
Matt 3:7 But when he [John the Baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? (NIV)
Those who had arrested Jesus first took him to the house of the high priest, Annas. The goal was to trick Jesus into saying something they could accuse Him of before the Roman curator (governor), which didn’t happen. They didn’t stop trying even though He didn’t break any Jewish or Roman laws. But, their hatred was so vile, they kept trying. We even see things like this in politics. Sound familiar? No comparison intended, of course, or possible.
Who exactly was Annas that they brought Jesus to him first? Though he was unofficially the high priest, he had previously been removed from office by the Roman procurator (equivalent to governor), nevertheless, Annas retained his influence and sense of authority with the Sanhedrin.
V.22 was the first of many physical blows struck against Jesus. If Jesus had wanted, an angel could have easily struck that official dead. But He did not. After the questioning, they didn’t respond to Jesus (v.24), because they didn’t have a legitimate reason to restrain Him or hit Him. So, they immediately sent Him off to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.
Jesus stood trial before the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:57-68)—the highest Jewish tribunal consisting of 71 members. It was made up of both Pharisees and Sadducees. It was basically the Supreme Court and legislative body of ancient Israel.
Principle difference in beliefs between Pharisees and Sadducees are as noted. They both served on the high court located in the temple complex (next 3 slides). If you don’t believe in an afterlife, you don’t fear consequences for your actions or thoughts.
The Jerusalem temple, besides being a place of worship and animal sacrifice, the Great Sanhedrin met there in a building called the Hall of Hewn Stones, located as noted, where Jesus stood trial by the Sanhedrin. The Great Sanhedrin convened every day except the sabbath day and Jewish festivals.
What the inner hall area would have looked like when Jesus stood trial, showing where He would have stood before the High Priest. Its location in the temple is pointed to in the lower right-hand corner (and previous slide). To prevent eye strain, description of Sanhedrin is on next slide. If you can’t win the argument by logic you destroy the individual any way you can….and that’s exactly what the Sanhedrin did with Jesus, including ignoring His miracles of healing, and even raising the dead. None of it mattered to them. Since large crowds of people followed Jesus, He posed a threat to their prestige, authority and power over the people.
As stated, the Jewish leaders needed the Romans to execute Christ. They could have stoned Him as they did with Stephen (Acts 7:51-59), but it may have violated Roman law, also they wanted everyone to disavow Jesus, and the way to do that was with a public trial and execution, proclaiming His guilt (whatever that may have been).
Why did Pilate have Jesus crucified when he wasn’t guilty of violating Roman law? Pilate feared the Sanhedrin potentially complaining to Caesar, accusing him of allowing insurrection—which Rome would not tolerate. Maintaining his position was more important than justice for one man. So, he asked the Jewish people, and their response was… (next slide) Does any of this sound familiar in our own Congress? Christians need to be aware of injustice no matter when or where.
In 70 AD, probably within most of their lifetime, certainly their children’s lifetime, those same Jews crying out for Jesus’ blood (death) got what they asked for (v.25). Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, slaughtering many Jews, and selling many into slavery, also scattering many across the known world.
Pilate accepted the Jews at their word and washed his hands of the whole affair—thinking, "So let His blood be on them."
God’s wrath fell on the Jews via Rome, destroying the City of Jerusalem and the temple, including the very chamber where Jesus’ trial was held. This occurred 38 years after the crucifixion. Little did those Jews realize that they were calling God’s “wrath” upon themselves when they called for Jesus’ crucifixion.
Just a few years after the crucifixion, Pilate’s fate didn’t fare much better than the Jews. Why? Prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, and after the crucifixion, Pilate incurred the enmity of the Jews in Roman-occupied Palestine by insulting their religious sensibilities, when he hung worship images of the emperor throughout Jerusalem and had coins bearing pagan religious symbols minted (Matt. 22:19). One responsibility of Roman curators was to preserve the peace. The Jews obviously accused him of bringing disorder to Judah; something that Rome was especially sensitive to.
The state of the world hasn’t improved over the centuries. Jesus Christ had to bear the full measure of God’s wrath and make full restitution to atone for all of our sins across all of history. Yet many reject Him, just as they did when the Jews said “let His blood be on us and our children”. The world always had its share of sin. Is it getting worse? What exactly does it mean to be a born-again Christian in this fallen world? How should we respond? Jesus’ crucifixion and death showed that He is a God of personal love and mercy.
Adrian Rogers' 40-minute sermon on “Standing Firm in a Pagan World”. If you know people that need to hear about Jesus as Savior, why not copy this sermon-link and send it to them via email or even post it on your Facebook page. A good way to share your faith.
https://youtu.be/F9IKFsiG0-Y
(copy and post link in your web browser)
Pray that America turns back to God. Pray for our church, our pastor and his family.
End of the Sovereignty of God #5
