Luke 22, verse 2, And the chief priests and scribes
sought how they might kill him. Why? Did they want to kill him? That's what I've entitled this
message. Why did they want to kill him? The Lord Jesus Christ had and
has the most beautiful character. Amen? He's altogether lovely. There is none like Him. I love that hymn we sing. No mortal can with Him compare
among the sons of men. Fairer is He than all the fair
who feel the heavenly throne. I think of His love to His Father. Never been any kind of love like
that love, has there? I think of his obedience to his
father, even if it killed him, he was going to be obedient to
whatever his father said. He became obedient to death,
even the death of the cross. He said regarding himself, I
do always those things that please the Father." Don't you admire
his character? I think of his meekness and his
humility when he's God. He said, I'm meek and lowly in
heart. I think of the holiness of his
life. You know, men didn't recognize
it. That shows how much the natural
man knows about holiness. The one time true holiness walked
in their midst. They didn't get it, even his
brothers and sisters. I think of his love for sinners. He's called the friend of sinners. And my dear friend, if you're
a sinner, he right now is your friend. He's still the friend
of sinners. It would be an exercise in futility
for me to try and describe His character as I should. That's
one of the most frustrating things about preaching. You can't get
it said right. You know that ahead of time.
There's no way that I can speak high enough of the glory of His
person and the greatness of His character. Yet, in verse 2, it
says the chief priests, now these were the leaders of religion.
These were the moral majority of his day. The chief priests
and the scribes, the enforcers and the interpreters of the scripture,
sought how they might kill him. Now why? did they and why do
men want to kill the Lord Jesus Christ? He was killed. He was
brutally murdered and he was not a victim. Everything that
happened was what he allowed to happen. We realize that. He
was not a victim. I love the way when they came
to arrest him. He said, Whom seek ye? They said,
Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. And there was
such power in his voice that they fell backwards. Don't you
love to think about that taking place? He's letting them know,
you're not in control of this, I am. Every bit of it. When Pilate
said, speakest thou not to me? Don't you know that I have power
to crucify thee and I have power to let thee go? He answered,
thou canst have no power at all over me, except it be given thee
from above. Now the Lord Jesus Christ was
no victim, but it's still true he was brutally murdered. Now I want to give the reasons
why that I can find in this scripture. Why was Jesus Christ murdered? What does the Bible tell us about
that? Because he was murdered. That's what the crucifixion is.
It was a murder. A brutal murder that there's
no way I could ever describe sufficiently. Nailed to a cross. Had a crown of thorns pressed
upon his head. He had his beard ripped out.
He was beat with a cat of nine tails and then nailed to a tree. Now that's some kind of murder.
Why was he murdered? Why was he killed? Why did men
want to kill him? Now here is the first reason. He was murdered because it was
the will of God. He was murdered because it was
God's will for him to be murdered. Isaiah 53 10 says it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He was murdered because it was
God's will. Turn with me to Acts chapter
2 for just a moment. Acts chapter 2, beginning in
verse 22. Hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also
know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. you have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." Now why was he murdered? Because
it was the determined counsel of God. It was according to his
foreknowledge. Look in Acts chapter 4, verse
26. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his cross for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus
whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." Every strike
on the nail was determined before to be done. He was murdered,
he was crucified because it was the will of God Almighty. You know the Lord Jesus said
at the time of his arrest, thus it must be that the scriptures
be fulfilled. Now the only reason something
must be is because it's God's will for it to be. No other necessities. that this must be. You see, Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and in time He
came to save His people from their sins, and the only way
that that could be done is through His death. Sin requires death. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. Now the Lord Jesus lived this
beautiful, perfect, glorious life. perfectly obedient, worked
out a perfect righteousness, kept God's law perfectly, and
it was God's will for him to be put to death. Why? Because
the sins of God's elect became his sins. I wish I knew how to explain
that. I don't, but I know God can do that. God took my sins
And they became the sins of the Lord Jesus Christ, where he cried
out, my sins as a heavy burden or too heavy for me. You can
read about it in Psalm 40. And since he became guilty of
my sins, he was put to death. He got exactly what he had coming. It was God's holy will for the
Lord Jesus Christ to be brutally It was a great act of wickedness
on man's part, and they're held responsible for their actions.
There's no doubt about that. Men did what they wanted to do.
When men put Christ to death, it's because they wanted to put
him to death. They hated him. They wanted to put him out of
business. But they did precisely what God's hand and what God's
counsel determined before to be done. Christ is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Now here is where we must begin. Christ was brutally murdered
by men, nailed to a cross because it was the will of God for it
to happen. When he was facing this death,
he said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. This cup of being made sin, this
cup of being forsaken by God, this cup of bearing all the filth
and guilt and wickedness of sin in His own body on the tree.
If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not
my will, but Thine, be done." Why was Jesus Christ brutally
murdered because God willed it to take place. Aren't you thankful we've been
in there? God willed it to take place. You see, the only way
you or I could ever be saved or justified is through the brutal
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the first reason. Why
did men kill Jesus Christ? Why did they murder Him? Because
God willed it. Second reason. Why did men kill
and murder the Lord Jesus Christ? Because it was man's will to
do so. Turn with me to Luke chapter
23. Verse 21, But they cried, saying,
Crucify him, crucify him! And he piled up seven in the
third time. Why? What evil hath he done? I bear
no cause of death in him. I therefore chastise him and
let him go. And they were instant with loud
voices requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices
of them and of the chief priests prevailed and paused. They sentenced
that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition, Barabbas, and the murderer was cast into
prison whom they desired. But he delivered Jesus. to their
will. He delivered Jesus to their will. Mark chapter 15, verse 15, it
says, He was delivered to be crucified to content the people. They could be content with no
less. They hated Christ and believed
Him to be evil. They said to Pilate, if He were
not a malfactor, we would not have delivered Him to thee. Did
you know? I want everybody to listen to
this real carefully. Did you know that you were born
into this world hating Jesus Christ? Now somebody says, that's
not so. You never really find out until you
hear the gospel. It's when you hear the gospel that you find
out what you really feel toward the Lord Jesus Christ. But you
know the scripture says the wicked are estranged from the womb.
They're estranged, enemies from the womb. They go about as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. Now, what explains? I'm saying why was Christ killed?
Because that's what they wanted to do. They hated him. They hated
him. They wanted to put him to death.
They didn't want him to be around anymore. And we're going to consider
in a moment why they hated him. It's because of the claims he
made regarding himself. But they hated him and the only
way you're going to find out your true character. Now, you
listen real well. Your true character is not going
to be seen by you looking within your heart. Your true character, what you
and I really are, is seen in one place. the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If God removed His hand from
me, and took away the restraints from me, and left us to ourselves,
we would be the ones crucifying Him. That's what men think of
Christ. And you know what they presumably
hate? Regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, why they crucified Him.
What was the accusation written over the cross? You remember?
Jesus of Nazareth, written down in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin,
so everybody can understand. Here's the accusation. Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. That's why He was crucified. When He was born, the very first
murder attempt on Him. Herod. Why did Herod want Him
dead? Who is He looking for? We're
looking for Him who is born. King of the Jews. Oh, how men hate His kingship. And this leads us to the third
reason why men killed the Lord Jesus Christ. Number one, it
was God's will. It was God's purpose. He's the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And He was going
to accomplish what the Father said Him to do. And I love to
think about this. Luke 9.31 speaks of his death
as an accomplishment. It wasn't a failure, it was an
accomplishment. When he died, I was saved. I love thinking
about that. When were you saved? When Jesus
Christ died and raised from the dead. That's when I was saved.
That's all my salvation. Well, give me a date. Well, every
day he was crucified. That's it. That's it. That's
when I was saved. When he said it is finished,
my salvation was accomplished. Don't you love that? That means
it doesn't have anything to do with my works. I need to be reminded
of that completely because I get scared to death if I start looking
in the other direction. His death was an accomplishment.
God willed him to die. He died because men are evil
and wanted him to die. And this is pretty much the same
thing. Men hated him and wanted to kill him because of the claims
he made concerning himself. Now, read these scriptures with
me. I'd like you to look at these. Turn to Mark chapter 14. And the high priest stood up
in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing?
What is it which these witness against thee? But he held his
peace and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him
and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
And Jesus said, I am. And you shall see the Son of
Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds
of heaven. Then the high priest rent his
clothes and said, What need we any further witnesses? You know
the blasphemy, what think ye? And they all condemned him to
be guilty of death. Turn to John chapter 5. John chapter 5, verse 18. Therefore,
John chapter 5, verse 18, Therefore the Jews sought the Lord to kill
him, because not only had he broken the Sabbath, but said
also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Look in John chapter 8. 57, then said the Jews unto him,
Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before
Abraham was, I am. And they knew exactly what he
meant when he said that. I'm the great I am of Exodus chapter
3 that met Moses at the burning bush. Look in John chapter 10. Well, let me finish verse 59. Then took they up stones to cast
at him. They were going to kill him right
then. John chapter 10, verse 30, I and my father are one.
And the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered
them, many good works have I showed you for my father. For which
of these works do you stone me? The Jews answered him, saying,
for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, but because
thou being a man. Maketh thyself God. Now these claims said to these
men, I'm God. I'm not in your hands. You're in mine. And your eternal
destiny is completely up to me. Whether you're in heaven or whether
you spend eternity in hell, it's my decision and not yours, because
I am God. We don't like this. Deuteronomy
chapter 8, verse 40. Here's why men sought to kill
Him. Verse 40, But now you seek to
kill me, a man that hath told you the truth. Now why do men
seek to kill the Lord Jesus Christ? Because He told them the truth. Now if you want to find out what
somebody's like, tell them the truth. That's all you've got
to do. Tell them the truth. Tell them
the true character of God in His absolute sovereignty and
holiness and absolute control. Tell them the truth about their
own evil, inability and depravity and they can't do anything to
save themselves. They have no control in this.
Tell them the truth of who Christ is and what He actually accomplished.
Tell them the truth! That's all it takes to find out
what men really think. Tell them the truth. He said,
you seek to kill me Because I tell you the truth. Now let me show
you an example of this. Turn to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, verse 28. And all they in the
synagogue, this was early in his ministry. This is at the
very beginning. And all they in the synagogue,
when they had heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose
up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him under the brow
of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down ahead of y'all." These people were mad. They wanted
to put Christ to death. Why? Because of what he said
to them. Look in Verse 21, after he made
that glorious statement, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
beginning in verse 18, look down in verse 21, and he began to
say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. I am the fulfillment of this
scripture. Look down in verse 24, and he
said, Verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his
own country, but I tell you the truth. Here he is telling the
truth again. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah.
Elijah, when the heaven was shut up, three years and six months,
when great famine was throughout all the land, but none of them
was Elijah sent to save and disrupt a city of Sodom and to a woman
that was a widow. Now, what's he say? He said, there's a lot
of widows in Israel. God didn't save any of them. He let them all die of thirst,
and he sent Elijah, his servant, to a Gentile widow. Just in case
you didn't hear me, verse 27, and many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them were cleansed.
God didn't do anything for one of them save naming the Syrian
a Gentile. Now what he's talking about here
is his father's absolute sovereignty in salvation. He saves whom he
will and he passed by whom he will and all day in the synagogue
when they heard these things were filled with wrath and they
rose up wanting to put him to death. Now you either hate the
truth or you love it. There's no middle ground. You
either hate the truth or you love it. How about you? Now if
you hate the truth, you'd murder Christ if it was in your power. And if you love the truth, you
know that's how bad you are apart from His grace. You'd do the
same thing. If you love the truth, you know
you would have been one of them without His grace. Turn to John
chapter 5. Verse 16, John 5, verse 16, And therefore
did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, murder
him. This is before the cross. He
had a whole lot of murder attempts on him. The whole time during
his public ministry, from the beginning all the way through,
he had people trying to kill him. Now why did they seek to
slay him? Because he'd done these things
on the Sabbath day. He'd done these things on the
Sabbath day. What day did the Lord perform
the great majority of his miracles? The Sabbath day. The Sabbath
day. And we have numerous instances
of men wanting to kill him because he performed these miracles on
the Sabbath day. They had no understanding of
the Sabbath. They just looked at it as a rule to keep. They
didn't understand that it was teaching about resting in Christ
and not working. The point behind not working
is you can't be saved by your works. You rest in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the whole meaning of the
Sabbath. But they had attached a different
understanding of it. They made it a work. And he treated
their view of the Sabbath with complete disrespect and disdain. Now that's how he treated their
view of the Sabbath. Now you can't read the pages
of the New Testament and fail to see Christ's disdain for the
religion of the natural man. Now, we don't want to offend
anybody. Christ didn't seem to mind doing
it. Now, I want to treat people respectful. I really do. I want
to treat everybody respectful. It's never right to treat anybody
with disrespect. Nobody. But I don't want to be
respectful in any way of that religion which is contrary to
the gospel. And by the grace of God, I'm
not going to be respectful to any religion that is contrary
to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and his way of saving
sinners. Now, you look at the way the
Lord spoke to these people. I think of Matthew chapter 23.
That is the message that ended up leading to his final murder. Matthew chapter 23, after he
gave this message to the Pharisees, they said, we won't hear this
anymore. This is it. It's over. And during that message,
I want you to hear what he said about their religion. He called
them hypocrites seven times. He called them blind gods, fools,
children of hell, full of extortion and excess. Why did sepulchers
filled with dead men's bones, serpents, generation of vipers,
how can you escape the damnation of hell? Now that is the way
the Lord treated man's religion. And of course they wanted him
dead after that. Of course they did. They didn't want to hear
anything like that. That angered them. They were...
One time the disciples said, don't you know the Pharisees
were offended by what you said? He said, let him alone. They
believe blind leaders are the blind, and if the blind lead
the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch. Now that's what
the Lord said. Now let me repeat. I want to
treat everybody with kindness and respect as far as people
go. And it's never right not to. But I never want to treat
man's religion with kindness or respect. My Lord didn't. Paul didn't. So I said, well,
we don't, we want to, we want to be, we don't want to offend
people. I'm not worried about that. I'm
worried about not offending him when it comes to the gospel.
Now I'm worried about, no, I want to be true to the word of God. And people got upset with, with
the Lord for what he said about their religion. Matthew 27, I've got two more.
Matthew 27, verse 18. Pilate was a crusty old politician
who had a whole lot of experience dealing with a whole lot of people.
He had to deal with the Roman government He had to deal with
the Jews. And as a matter of fact, there's
some things in Josephus where you can read about Pilate. Pilate
hated the Jews. He hated the Jews. He was a Roman
leader, and there were some reasons behind it. You can read extra
biblical stuff about him that the Bible doesn't reveal, but
he hated the Jews. And as a matter of fact, when
he put that sign over the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of
the Jews, he was doing that to stick it into them. I mean, he
just wanted to, he wanted to do anything he could to gall
them because he hated it. But look at his assessment of
these people, verse 18, for he knew that for envy they had delivered
him. What was behind what they did? Envy. Envy. What a horrible thing. Now turn
with me to John chapter 11. John chapter 11. Now this is after the Lord had
raised Lazarus from the dead. What a miracle had taken place. Can you imagine the buzz that
would be in Lexington if somebody had been dead four days and had
already began the process of decay and stank? They were raised
from the dead. Everybody would want to know
about that. Verse 47, then gathered the chief priests
and the Pharisees, the council, and said, what do we do for this
man? doeth many miracles. We can't
deny that. And if we let him alone, all
men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take
away both our place and our nation. That's what's going to happen.
We're going to be the losers out of this. Look down in verse 53.
Then from that day forth, they took counsel together to put
him to death. Why did men want to kill the
Lord Jesus Christ? Because they thought they would
be the losers by Christ. They would lose their place.
They would lose their nation. Now, two men. Here's a scenario. Two men hear the precise same
message. They hear... Well, let's just go to a I want
to go to John chapter 6 for just a moment. John chapter 6, because
there, let me make some introductory statements about this. There
the Lord sets forth clearly what people call the five points.
And one thing that I would like us to never call them is the
five points of Calvinism. We ought to call them the five
points of Christ. These were the truth way before Calvin was
around. And I don't want to attach a
human being's name to God's divine truth, but in this He dealt very
clearly with what men call the five points. Look in verse, okay,
the first point, total depravity. That means total inability or
inability to save yourself. Look at verse 44. No man can
come to me except the Father which has sent me drawing, and
I'll raise him up at the last day. You can't come. You can't
come to Christ unless God calls you. That's what the Bible teaches.
That's talking about the total inability and depravity of man.
Look in verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. That's divine election. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. Look in verse 39, This
is the Father's will which is in me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it again at
the last day. There's Christ's atonement for the elect. He's
not going to lose one of it. Look in verse 45. It is written
in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, they
come to me. You see, God's grace is irresistible
and invincible. And they're all going to come
to Christ. Perseverance. Verse 50, This is the bread which
came down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I
will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.
He's going to live forever. He's going to continue. He's
going to continue in the faith. Now, two men hear that message. Somebody loves it. Somebody hates
it. Now here's the difference. The
folks who hate it think they're going to be the losers by it.
And here's why. Somehow they're hoping in their
works, and their works are completely excluded. Completely. Why, this is not good. This is
taking away what I'm hoping in. And there's other people who
think they're going to be the gainers by it. Why? This gives hope for
a sinner. that God would freely choose
somebody that's totally depraved and send Christ to die for them
and that God's grace is invincible and irresistible and He'll cause
them to persevere all the way to the end. This is wonderful.
This gives hope to a sinner like me. Some people win by it. I know who they are. They're people who can't save
themselves. If you can't save yourself, this is good news. Now if you're hoping in your
own works, this is bad news. This is taking away your place
and your nation. You think you're losing by it.
So why did they hold a council to put Christ to death? They
felt they were the losers by what he said. It was taking away
what they were hoping in. And you see this in this chapter
if you read the end of it. There were 5,000 people that,
after they heard these things, they went back and want no more
with him. And he looked at the disciples and said, you fellows
want to live too? Will you also go away? And I love Peter's answer,
to whom shall we go? Where would we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Some people
didn't like what he said. Some people did. Why was he killed? First, because it was the will
of God. It was God's purpose. It was God's way of saving sinners
by the death of his son. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Why did men kill him? Because
that's what they wanted to do. because they're so evil and wicked
and wanted to put him to death and that's the way we all are
by nature. Me and you, you want to know what you're really like,
look at the cross, don't look at yourself, look at the cross
and that's the only place you're going to get the real view. Why
did they kill him? Because of his claims concerning
himself, I'm God and you're in my hands and I can do with you
whatever I'm pleased to do. You, you'll only worship, let
me remind you, I want to say this a lot, you'll only worship
a sovereign God. You'll only worship a Christ
who you're in His hands. This Christ that wants, won't
you let Him have His way? You won't worship that Christ.
This Christ that wants things but can't have them unless you
let Him? You won't worship that Christ. The only Christ you'll
worship is the one who's Lord and the one in whose hands you
are and He can do with you whatever He's pleased to do. Why did men
kill him? Because he told them the truth. Why did men kill him? Because
he showed no respect for their religion. He performed all of
his miracles on the Sabbath day in their complete misunderstanding
of that. Why did they kill him? Because
of envy. Flat out envy. What a base attitude. Why did they kill him? Because
they thought they were losers by what he was saying. And they
didn't want that. Now, I sure am glad he was put to death and murdered,
not because of any pleasure I get in anything like that. He's altogether
glorious. But through his death, I'm given life only through his death am I given
life and the only hope that I have is his death the only hope that I have is
that he died for me I see The wickedness of man in his death.
I see the wickedness of myself in his death. But thank God,
I see God's salvation in his death. You know, when Evan was
reading that Psalm 85, I love it when it says, truth shall
spring from the earth. And that's a direct reference
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how glorious
is his death. Let's pray.