History, Choices and God

We have seen the prophets’ statements about the Messiah and the natural events that would herald his coming and his death. Daniel spoke of the time of the Messiah being cut off, Joel spoke of the coming “day of the Lord.” Now we narrow down the events to see what is revealed by God regarding not only this, but at how the events played out in the world and actual historical events. In John 11 and 12, we see two integral parts in play. The people acting of their own accord and the Jewish Aristocracy acting on their own. One lauding Jesus, the other plotting to kill him. The point of the passage is, these people did what they did without any coercion. Nobody forced them; they made their own decision; they operated from their free will; they did what they “felt” like doing.  All are left perfectly free to decide according to the way they choose.  What is interesting, is that we are free to choose -- as they were. We can go for or against Jesus -- but as they, we cannot choose the consequences. They will invariably follow a path that will reveal the sovereign choice of God.  

The first reaction of the Pharisees, to call an emergency session of the Sanhedrin shows desperation on their part. They have come together in to take drastic action. John here records three separate views of the same events. The first two are from the human point of view, which would still be shared by many today if we were involved in these events. Yet both of these are horribly, fatally wrong. The third is God's view. In the council of the Sanhedrin there were two parties, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which saw the events leading up to a political uprising and that would result in the wrath of Rome coming down upon them: "The Romans will come and destroy both our temple and our nation (Jn.11:48)." The remarkable thing, of course, is that they were totally wrong. In fact, it is what they did in putting Jesus to death that had the effect they were hoping to avoid.  What they did not know, or what they forgot, was that Israel was not being preserved by their clever political manipulations.  What was keeping this nation a nation, was the hand of God. When they put the one whom God sent to death, God removed his protection, and the nations which had been hovering like birds of prey fulfilled the predictions of Jesus himself, that the city would be destroyed. History shows that they were terribly, horribly wrong. They were reckoning without the knowledge of all the factors involved.

Paul writes, "We preach a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory," (1 Cor. 2:7-8). There is something secular wisdom does not know and cannot see because it lacks essential knowledge of the facts. Men continually make decisions which look right to them but are really terribly wrong and have disastrous effects upon themselves and upon society. In fact in Jn.11:50, it is Caiaphas’ own words uttering statements that they themselves did not understand, yet statements that confirmed  what you and I know (if we look) is the unseen hand of God in human history. Men could do their worst but they could not alter the divine plan. Richard Halverson, Chaplain to the United States Senate, states it well: "Nothing men can do will thwart or alter the will of God; and nothing God ever does sets aside the sovereign choice of man."  This unseen hand of God in human history is what men ignore, and that makes their free will a total disaster.

Prov.3: 5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path."  It is absolutely impossible to understand what is happening in life unless you see life from God's point of view. There are factors involved that you will miss, there are realities that you do not see, that nobody sees. Nothing reveals time more than the hand of God in history.  Jn.11:54 states, “Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and there he stayed with the disciples.”  Why did he do so? There is no evidence that he ever was afraid of what he was facing. It was because he understood the way God works.  God is still at work, moving among men to raise up kingdoms and overthrow kingdoms. We must never forget that this view of history supplies elements that no secular mind can ever see. The rulers of this age do not understand this and so they make atrocious errors.  Paul says, "But we have the mind of Christ," (1 Cor.2:16). When you begin to have the mind of Christ, when you know the Word of God, when you look at events through its light -- not when you merely listen occasionally to a message, but when you saturate yourself with the mind and thinking of God you can face life realistically. Do you have that mind?

Jim