John Piper, in his book Spectacular Sins, points out that God used the greatest sin in the Bible, the betrayal and murder of Jesus Christ, for His own purposes and for our eternal salvation. He is correct. There can be no denying that God took the single act of Judas’ betrayal and turned it into the triumph of the cross over sin and Satan (Hebrews 2:9, 14; 1 John 3:8). In the single act of Jesus’ murder on the cross, God gave us victory (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)! How is that for providence of all things!
When we come to the Scriptures we can’t help but to see that the death of Jesus Christ was God’s plan to crush the enemy (Genesis 3:15). I have been reading a book on Satan and in the book the author points out the obvious question: If Satan knew that Jesus was going to die on the cross for our sins, why did he go through with killing Jesus? The author states that it is possible (although quite speculative) that Satan hated God so much that even if Jesus’ death on the cross meant his certain defeat, he would still go through with it out of hatred. Another possible reason Satan wanted to kill Jesus was because God made him do this. But again, this is too speculative since Scripture is silent on the issue. I believe that the reason Satan and Judas both did what they did to Jesus was because they were oblivious to God’s plan of salvation and what He was going to accomplish through the cross. They were willing agents in the progress of redemption who acted out of their own free will choices that God used for our salvation.
Consider this: what if Satan thought that Jesus was coming to be the Messiah-King of Israel? This is predicted in Scripture (Psalm 2). Satan himself no doubt knew Jesus was the Messiah as he tried to kill him in Matthew 2:16-18. Satan knew that the Messiah was coming to set up God’s kingdom on earth (Isaiah 2:1-4; Daniel 2:44) and he saw as Jesus rode into Jerusalem in triumph with the crowds cheering Him as the king of Israel (Matthew 21:1-11). So it is possible that Satan and Judas both thought that Jesus was coming to set up an earthly kingdom based in Jerusalem. Satan thought he could kill Jesus and halt God’s plans whereas Judas thought that the Romans coming to arrest Jesus would cause Jesus to rise up and take His throne and destroy the enemies of Israel. Both missed Jesus as the suffering servant of Isaiah 52:13.
God, in His providence, had planned to allow Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (Acts 2:22-24). The Bible proclaims that Jesus is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8 NKJV). Paul said about Jesus and God’s plan of redemption through His Son: “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). The people involved in the murder of Jesus did not see the providence of God in allowing them to kill His Son. Jesus Himself had said to Pilate, the most powerful man in Israel at that time apart from Jesus, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11).
Jesus in fact laid down His life willingly. He said, “No one takes it [His life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18). No one took Jesus’ life from Him. Not Pilate. Not the Jews. Not the Romans. Not Satan. Jesus laid down His life for the glory of God and to reconcile sinners to the Father (Ephesians 2:16). Yet God used the murder of Jesus through the hands of Judas, the Jewish ruling council, the Romans, Pilate, and Satan to glorify His name. How incredible is our God!
