Paul said, "Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead and we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us by raising Jesus."
Acts 13:29
The Jewish authorities proceeded with their unjust and contrived persecution of Jesus without realizing that the Scriptures, which they only selectively understood, had very specifically told of these terrible events. Numerous prophets had predicted that all of this would happen. Curiously, the high priests' actions had ignorantly fulfilled the Scriptures!
Upon further thought about the role of the Jewish authorities, the prophets were reflecting the will of God, who had ordained that these events would happen in order to bring all people to a closer relationship with God and to save them from their sins. Since these predictions and beliefs were not accepted by the authorities, it's hard to lay the blame on these high priests. This is true especially if you consider that unbeknownst to them, they were influenced by the very God they were condemning. They, in fact, had no choice.
Moving to today's world and our individual roles as practicing Christians, what do we believe? We have the advantage of knowing the Scriptures and, more importantly, have been given the truths contained in the New Testament. Therefore, it would be hard for us to make a claim of ignorance as to the deity and importance of Jesus, as the high priests had. Exactly what role Jesus plays in each of our lives is a matter of choice. So, again, the question is: what do we believe?
Charlie Wolf
