Who Killed Jesus?

“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief.”
Isaiah 53:10

“Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Ephesians 5:2

What Jesus did when he suffered and died was the Father’s plan from the foundation of the world. It was conceived even before creation, as God saw and planned the history of the world.

That is why the Bible speaks of God’s “purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9).

The prophet Isaiah foretold the sufferings of the Messiah, who was to take the place of sinners. He said that the Christ would be “smitten by God” in our place.

Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. . . . All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

What is most astonishing about this substitution of Christ for sinners is that it was God’s idea. The suffering of Christ was not a good idea that came about after the fall of man. Christ did not unexpectedly step in on God’s plan to punish sinners. God planned for him to be there. Isaiah also said, “It was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10).

This explains the paradox of the New Testament. On the one hand, the suffering of Christ was a display of God’s wrath because of sin. On the other hand, Christ’s suffering was a wonderful example of submission and obedience to the will of the Father.

So Christ cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). And yet the Bible says that the suffering of Christ was a fragrance to God. “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2).

I pray that we would know and worship the God of such fearful and wonderful love.