Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

There’s a game about a cookie jar in which the participates constantly try to shift the blame away from themselves. Some try to play the same game when asking the question “Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?”

“And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” “ (John 19:2-11)

I want to focus in on verse 11 in order to answer the question, “Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?” Pilate pleaded with Jesus in verse 10, “I have the authority to release you!” Jesus responded to Pilate in verse 11, “You’re not in control. God in control.” We should all remember all of the time that God is in control. This is true throughout the good times and the bad. Yet we must not blame Him for the actions of sinful people. Nevertheless, we should regard even the outcomes of those actions as coming from God. That’s why it says in James 1:2 to “consider it all joy when you face trials.” In every situation we find ourselves in, whether good or bad, we should seek to minister as God would have us minister and grow as God would have us grow. So ultimately, God was responsible for the death of His Son.

But Jesus names another person responsible for His death at the end of verse 11. Who is this person? Was it Judas? He betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. Caiaphas? He should have known the Messiah was coming. No, it was not Judas or Caiaphas. It was you and me. Each of us committed the greater sin. We should each have the attitude that it was my sin that sent Christ to the cross.

So who was responsible for the death of Jesus? It was not Judas, or Caiaphas, or the soldiers, or Pilate, or the Jews. They were merely carrying out the Father’s will. God the Father sent Jesus to the cross for our sake. All of the characters in this story (the Jews, the soldiers, and Pilate) were no more responsible for the death of Jesus than you and me. We sentenced Jesus to die on the cross the first time we sinned.

When we think of the death of Christ, we should not play the same game that we play regarding the cookie jar, constantly shifting the blame away from ourselves, but should repent and accept the responsibility for our sin driving Him to the cross.