The selection and sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb is a prophecy that refers to the death of the Messiah not only because the lamb was selected four days before its vicarious death but also because Jesus’ ministry commenced four years before His execution. It’s a well-established biblical principle that, prophetically, one day represents one year. “Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.” Ezekiel 4:4-6 (NKJV). Accordingly, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Christ was pre-destined to die for the human race at the time at which He was crucified, and nothing that anyone did could prevent that gruesome reality from being fulfilled.
Every good movie has at least three or four subplots besides the main plot, and the story of Jesus’s death is no exception. Let us not forget that Judas Iscariot was an ambitious, self-seeking, avaricious money-lover. Jesus wasn’t moving fast enough towards Judas’s goals of worldly grandeur, wealth, and power. Therefore, this false disciple decided to try to force the hand of the Master by betraying Him to the Chief Priests. It’s possible that he really didn’t want to get the Saviour killed. All Judas wanted was a quick buck, and maybe during the process, he hoped Jesus would assume a more authoritative and kingly role. The disciple who denied Him three times, Peter, was unwilling to embrace the words of the Saviour when He asserted, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16:21-23 (NKJV).
The Master’s reference to Satan was by no means coincidental. Because the Evil One not only followed Him but, from time to time, attempted to work through His own disciples to influence the decisions of the world’s Redeemer. In fact, Jesus was well acquainted with the activities of the Prince of darkness: “And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.” Luke 8:26-29 (NKJV). In fact, there were demons among the mob assembled before Pilate’s judgment seat, and they also shouted, “Crucify Him.” It was always Lucifer’s objective to kill God, and when Christ became human, Satan felt that his long-cherished ambition would at last be realized.
Not only are great prophecies made in scripture, but What is also absolutely amazing is that the very people who facilitate the fulfillment of such predictions have all the characteristics necessary to make such omens a reality. For example, if Pilate, the Roman Governor, had some moral fiber and greater strength of character, he would never have consented to the death of Christ. If Joseph Caiaphas was not the High Priest, then Jesus would not have been sentenced to death. This official of the Jewish Church was not only spiritually blind and ignorant of scripture and the prophecies but was also profoundly diabolical. Furthermore, he was also naive enough to think that if he could engineer the death of Jesus, then he and the Jewish priesthood would be secure. Are we to believe that the occupation of these bad actors’ various positions of trust is nothing more than blind coincidence? Was it just an accident that Pontious Pilate, Joseph Caiphas, and Judas Iscariot played the roles that they played at the time that they played them? Let us contemplate one of the warnings of sacred writ:
“Did you not hear long ago How I made it, From ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought it to pass,” Isaiah 37:26
The priests had good reasons to hate The Messiah. He cleansed the temple twice and drove them out because He felt they were profaning the sacred courts. Large crowds followed Him wherever He went, and not only did He heal every kind of disease or physical malady. He also raised Lazarus, who had been dead for several days. Furthermore, they felt existentially threatened by Him since, in various parables, he warned that He would set up a kingdom in which they would have no place. Realistically and practically, such a kingdom was merely futuristic and would not be established until at least two millennia had passed. But being spiritually blind and rooted in the here and now, the leaders of Judaism felt that they would all be annihilated, and they determined in their hearts that it would either be Him or them. Ultimately, the Christian faith was established, and Judaism still exists today. Their irrational fears, however, propelled them all to conspire together to kill Christ. Let us not forget the words of Jesus though: “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10:17-18 (NKJV)
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