For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. – Acts 4:27-28
Who put Jesus to death on that cross on Good Friday? Was it Herod? Pilate? The jealous Pharisees?
Not long after Good Friday, Peter’s answer to that question may surprise you. But first, let’s review Peter’s initial response to Jesus’ death. He went into stealth mode out of abject fear of Herod, Pilate and the Pharisees. He “knew” one thing for sure: if he was out of control – everything was out of control.
Yet Jesus’ resurrection transformed Peter’s thinking between Good Friday and the time of his prayer in Acts 4. It was God who had “gathered together” the rulers to do what He had purposed and predetermined to occur. God didn’t violate the free will of these rulers, He simply utilized it. Isaiah foretold this sovereign planning of God, “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering” (53:10). The Father sacrificed His Son as an offering for sin, so that He could be just by punishing sin, yet merciful to those who receive Jesus’ offering for their sin (Romans 3:26). More here.
Far from a tragic defeat, the crucifixion was part of God’s perfect plan.
So what is the lesson for those in crisis and battling cancer? Could suffering, even death, be a part of God’s sovereign and perfect plan? When I battled Stage IV metastatic melanoma and they gave me days to live in May of 2003, this is exactly what I concluded: my suffering and even my possible death, would all be part of God’s perfect plan.
Honestly, my resolve on this stance was shaky at times. Yet, during those moments when I surrendered to His sovereignty, I was filled with serenity.
We may feel out of control, but that does not mean He is. The lesson of Easter is that He trumps apparent tragedies. Will you trust Him?
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