He Must Die

Introduction

He must die. He must die. That was the conclusion reached by the Sanhedrin council. According to the Jewish leadership 2,000 years ago, Jesus must die because he was causing too much of an uproar among the people. He was causing too much of a ruckus among the Jewish people. I mean, he had just raised this man Lazarus from the dead in the village of Bethany. His influence was spreading, and more and more people were believing in him. His teaching was convicting and exposing their hypocrisy and corruptness and how they exalted man-made traditions. And their minds, he was a threat.

And sooner or later the Roman government was going to take notice, and they might come and take away their nation.

1. He Performed Signs

In John chapter 11. But the question is, how were they going to do this? How are they actually going to be able to pull this off? How exactly were they going to be able to kill somebody like Jesus who had the power to even raise the dead? That is something that I want us to think about for a couple of minutes because killing Jesus wasn’t going to be easying to kill some regular person that was walking around Israel at this time. In fact, there were several obstacles that were standing in their way. And the first one was the fact that he performed signs. He performed miracles. He did things that superseded natural law, and not even his enemies could deny it. I mean, we see that right here in John 11 and in verse 47.

Going back to this verse we just read in John 11 and verse 47. Notice it says, therefore, the chief priest and the Pharisees convened a council and were saying, What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. Notice how even the enemies of Jesus knew that he performed signs. Even though they could not stand him. They wanted to do away with him. They still acknowledge that he performed legitimate miracles. They acknowledge that he was not a phony and a fraud and a fake. And how do you kill a man like that? How do you kill a man who is so popular among the people? Because he is backing up his amazing claims with amazing evidence. How do you kill a man who’s able to perform these signs?

2. A Man With This Kind of Integrity

And how do you kill a man who has this kind of integrity? Integrity. I mean, think about it. Jesus had never done anything wrong in his life. Jesus was sinless and innocent. He had never lied or cheated anyone before. He had never been involved in any kind of scandals. He had never been involved in any kind of sexual immorality. He had never broken any laws or taken advantage of anybody or demonstrated any kind of hypocrisy and corruption. Jesus literally lived a perfect life. He was blameless and pure at the highest level. He had perfect integrity and righteousness, so much so that Peter tells us, in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse number 22, that Jesus committed no sin and there was no deceit found in his mouth.

3. His Position as Divine Son of God

How do you kill a man like that? How do you kill a man with this kind of integrity? And how do you kill a man with this kind of position? Think about his position. Think about his position as a divine Son of God. Think about how he’s not just a regular guy walking around Israel at this time. No, Jesus is the Lord. He was God in the flesh. He’s the creator, the sustainer, and the redeemer. He had the power to not only raise the dead, but also to cast demons into the outer darkness.

And he even could have called legions of angels to come and wipe out his enemies.

4. Greater Than Every Old Testament Hero

While being arrested and betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, he didn’t run, he didn’t hide, he didn’t call angels to come to his defense. Instead, he stayed right there. He stayed right where he was. And he allowed them to take him prisoner. How do you kill a man like that? How do you kill a man who could have called legions of angels to come and destroy the world? And how do you kill a man who is greater than every well respected old Testament hero? I mean, think about it. Jesus was greater than David. In fact, David in Psalm 110 said that he would call the Messiah Lord. Jesus greater than David. Jesus is greater than Solomon, according to Matthew 12 and verse 32. Jesus greater than Jonah, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Isaiah, even Abraham and Moses.

Jesus is greater than all those people combined because he’s the exalted Son of God. He is God. He’s the Christ.

5. He Laid Down His Life

How do you kill Jesus? How do you kill a man with that kind of power and integrity and position? Well, the Bible gives us answers to that in the Gospel of John. And John the 10th chapter. And John the 10th chapter, as Jesus talks about being the good shepherd. In verse number 17, and John 10 and verse 17, Jesus says, For this reason, the Father loves me, because I laid down my life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from me, but I laid down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment I received from my Father. Now you put that with what Jesus says in John 15.

Because in John the 15th chapter and in verse 12, Jesus said this. As he’s speaking to his apostles in John 15 and in verse number 12, Jesus says, This is my commandment that you love one another. Just as I had loved you, greater love has no one than this, that one laid down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. Do you see the big reasons why someone like Jesus could be killed by the hands of evil men? Do you see it? Do you see how the only way that someone like Jesus could be killed was if he allowed it. Was if he let this happen. You see, while he could have stopped these evil men at any moment, he allowed them to execute their evil plot against him.

He allowed them to orchestrate and scheme. He allowed them to kill him on the cross. He wasn’t a helpless victim. He wasn’t powerless and weak. They didn’t have any real power over him. Instead, he submitted fully to God’s will, and he allowed the plan of redemption to go through. That’s what he himself says back in John chapter 10. And then here in John 15, we see that in addition to that, in addition to laying down his life freely, the reason he did that was because he loves us that much. He wants us to be saved that badly. He knew that only through his death could we have access to real life, spiritual life, and heaven with God. That’s what we learn in John 10. And in John 15, what all that shows us the only way someone like Jesus could be killed by evil men was if he allowed it to happen due to his love for his father and his love for us.

Conclusion

That’s something I want us to think about as we get ready to partake of this memorial meal. As we get ready to partake of the unleavened bread that represents the body of Jesus and the fruit of the vine, which represents his blood. Let us think about and ponder on how Jesus freely and willingly laid down his life for us so that we can have the opportunity today to be the children of God and to be in fellowship with God and one another and have an opportunity to have our sins forgiven through his blood.