THE CONSPIRACY WAS DIVINE

THURSDAY 14 APRIL 2022

As Peter and John were spreading the gospel through the wisdom of preaching, many of those who listened believed the message, received their salvation and experienced the healing power of God. However, a meeting was called in Jerusalem against them. Those present in the meeting were rulers, religious leaders, religion scholars, Annas the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, John and Alexander. Having helped and prayed for a sick man who miraculously recovered, Peter and John were put under investigation regarding the healing. When they summoned Peter and John in the middle of the room, they grilled them saying: "Who put you in charge here? What business do you have doing this?"

Reference: Acts 4:27-28 New International Version (NIV) "Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen."

After their encounter with the high priests and religious leaders, Peter and John went back to the saints and they all lifted their voices in a wonderful harmony in prayer. As they prayed with fearless confidence, they reminded God about Herod and Pontius Pilate who met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in same city to conspire against Jesus, yet they did not know they were accomplishing what God had decided beforehand would happen, according to His power and perfect will.

Beloved, the decision to crucify Jesus as carried out by Herod and Pontius Pilate, Gentiles and the people of Israel was the Lord's doing. They did exactly what God had designed to happen or take place. It was God that allowed Christ's suffering, and even purposed it. So the reason the conspirators' plot succeeded is because they were carrying out the plans God already set in motion long ago or before time began.

There are wrong notions and belief suggesting that Christ Jesus came to earth with the purpose of establishing His heavenly Kingdom as an empire with a geographical location in this world, but the plan failed because the Jews unexpectedly rejected Jesus and crucified Him, instead of supporting His dream and cooperating with Him. To substantiate their verity, people with this idea often quote this very Scripture: He came to his own people, and even they rejected him (John 1:11 NLT), assuming that the Jews disrupted the plan by scheming His untimely death successfully. . But here is the truth in a nutshell: God had a divine plan that would manifest His eternal purpose of bringing salvation to mankind. This eternal purpose required Jesus to come in the flesh and dwell among men, lay down His life as a sacrifice for all the sins mankind has ever committed and will ever commit, and then be raised from the dead. However, in the details of the plan, there were people destined and designated to play the roles associated with the conspiracy of His crucifixion. By predestination, Herod and Pontius Pilate were ordained to gather together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, as qualified conspirators, to plot and execute the Lord Jesus Christ. However, all their plots were an essential part of a wise plan in God's mind from before the foundation of the world to remove and terminate the barrier between us and Him through this sacrificial death of Jesus.

This is no wonder Galatians 4:4-5 reads, "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (NKJV). Since the fullness of this plan was not revealed until the proper time, it implies that the conspiracy to crucify Christ was divine. To this effect, Peter preached to the crowd and the Jews on Pentecost, by boldly mentioning their role in the plot: "This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross" (Acts 2:23 NIV). This also denotes that the past coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh is still the most significant event in all of history. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 24:20; Luke 23:33.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, I'm forever grateful that you ordained beforehand that I would be created anew in Christ and walk in your light. There is no stronger expression of the great mystery of predestination than Christ's death, burial and resurrection, which denote His permanent victory over the law of sin and death. Therefore, I thank you Lord for your saving grace demonstrated through my redemption and justification in Christ, by which you have established my eternal salvation and new life in Jesus' Name, Amen!