Some Easter Thoughts On Friday…

And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong and he never tempts anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions and evil actions lead to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights.  Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. ~ James 1:13-17

When it comes to the events that we celebrate as Easter it seems to me that some people have a very deterministic understanding of the events and motives, and they are more certain of this position than I believe they should be.  Their position–and I realize this is a bit of a characterization but it is a blog post–is basically that God is the puppet master orchestrating the events of the cross so prophecy will be fulfilled and the sins of the world can be taken away.  From this position I would like to consider a few questions: Did God orchestrate the events of the cross?  Did He harden and turn the hearts of Judas, the Romans and the Pharisees against Jesus so that they would commit the act that would forever change our relationship with Him?  Did He cause people to sin to erase all sin? As Jesus was showing incredible restraint throughout the events that we celebrate as Easter, was the Father on a spiritual plane using his power to manipulate events?

Perhaps, you might disagree with me (you would be wrong of course ) but I believe that neither God nor Jesus had to do anything to make the cross happen other than show up.  They were well aware of the sinful nature of fallen man and what was really in their hearts.

God did not need to prompt the Romans who crucified tens of thousands of people to crucify Jesus.  Their sin and hatred and violence needed no urging from God to actualize itself, they were expressing it every day.  The streets that led to the entrance of a city conquered by the Romans were often lined on both sides with crucifixes.  Hanging on those crosses were people in all states of decomposition which were there to install more fear in their terror rule.   They had no problem beating Jesus, humiliating him, shaming him, and dehumanizing him: they did these sorts of thing every day.  But here’s the point: that was the sin in their own heart expressing itself as it had time and time again not God acting on or through them.

The Temple authorities and Judean elite whose entire existence was structured around a certain religious disposition needed no prompting from God to their sin.   They had ingrained that sin habit and behavior into themselves for a very long time.   Their hatred and hand in Jesus’ murder had nothing to do with God orchestrating events.  Their part in these events is a revelation of their hearts, their sin and their self-righteousness.

Judas is much easier.  While I think it obvious that some of his actions are a reflection of the sin nature in him the scriptures say that the devil entered into him spurring him to action.   I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I think it is clear that God did not have a hand in Judas’ part.

Did God orchestrate the events of the cross?  Does the ends justify the means for God?  Did he use sin to kill his son to atone for mankind?  No, I think the truly shattering thing about the God revealed in Jesus is that he knew the fallen nature of man.  He knew the depraved secret corners of their hearts, and even knowing how sinful, fallen, self-glorifying, self-righteous creatures would react to a sinless, God glorifying and righteous person, he still decided to empty himself of glory and take on the nature of man.

Jesus knew that man would express his fallen sinful nature and treat him unjustly but he accepted that because he wanted to make us just.  He knew he would be treated unmercifully but accepted that because he wanted to show us mercy.  He was well aware that people would shame him and treat him ungracefully but he accepted that because he wanted to redeem us and show us grace.  He accepted all these things knowing everything about man, knowing the worst that man would do to him without any prompting whatsoever, so that then in a great reversal as men tried to cause him death he could instead give them life.

He knew our hearts.   He knew how people would react towards him and what would eventually happen.  Still, knowing this, he drew into himself the worst; the very worst that depraved humanity could create, and he did all this so that he could redeem us to the very best that God could create.

The sin was ours; the expression of that sin was ours.  The wisdom was his.  The work was his.  The glory is his. Forever and ever.

Amen!!!