1 Corinthians 2:7-8 “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, (8) which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
In this section we want to discuss why the devil had to kill Jesus in order for God’s plan of salvation to work. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals to us that God had ordained the salvation of mankind before the ages. In other words God had ordained His plan of salvation even before Lucifer and his angels were created. Nevertheless God’s plan of salvation remained hidden from everyone, including Satan and his angels; for this passage teaches us that if Satan and his angels had known what God was doing through the death of His Son Jesus, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. So the question is asked, why Satan and his angels would have refused to crucify Jesus if they had known what God was doing. We have seen in the previous section that from the moment Jesus was born into the earth Satan tried to kill Him. For you will recall that Herod tried to have Him killed when He was born in the town of Bethlehem and Joseph was warned by God in a dream to take Jesus down into Egypt (Matthew 2:13). Satan also tried on numerous occasions to kill Jesus during His earthly ministry, for in His home town of Nazareth they tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29), and on more than one occasion the Jews tried to stone Him (John 8:59), and then the Chief priests and the Pharisees also plotted to put Him to death (John 11:53). Satan was the instigator behind all of those attempts to kill the Lord Jesus. We have seen in the previous section that the reason why Satan was so intent on killing Jesus was because he recognised that if Jesus died while He was spiritually alive, Jesus would have been forced to ascend back into heaven and would have thus been precluded from descending into Satan’s domain of the region of death. Nevertheless all of Satan’s attempts to kill the Lord Jesus failed, and the reason for that was because Jesus’ time had not yet come (John 8:20). So why was the Lord’s crucifixion different? It was different because God could only allow His Son to be killed after Jesus was made to be sin, so that as one who had therefore incurred spiritual death He would be taken down into hell, which was the domain over which Satan had control. We have seen in the previous section that God had given Satan the power of Death and Hades. And so in order for God to be able to legally take that authority back from Satan, He had to manipulate Satan into killing His Son Jesus and take Him into hell to suffer torment. And so as this passage declares, had Satan and his angels understood what God was doing they would never have crucified the Lord Jesus, thus preventing Him from gaining access to their domain.
Hebrews 2:9-15 “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (10) For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (11) For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, (12) saying: "I will declare Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You." (13) And again: "I will put my trust in Him." And again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given me." (14) Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit teaches us that there was a time when Jesus was made a little lower than the angels. This statement poses two questions; why would God allow His Son to be made lower than the angels and when did that happen? It was certainly not when Jesus walked in the flesh that He was made lower than Satan and his angels, or even God’s angels for that matter. We know that, because Satan and his angels were fully subjected to the Lord’s authority during that time (Luke 10:17-19). And as far as God’s angels were concerned, Jesus Himself stated that He could command them any time He chose (Matthew 26:53). This passage of scripture explains exactly when, and the reason why Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, for we see that it was for the suffering of death that Jesus was made lower than the angels. We have already seen in the previous sections that all that are spiritually dead, fall under Satan’s authority. And so we see that it was when Jesus was made to be sin and died in spirit, that He was made lower than Satan and his angels who, because they had the power of death, were therefore able to exercise their authority over Him. It was precisely because Jesus now fell under Satan’s authority that Satan then proceeded to crucify Him. We know that Jesus had been delivered to Satan’s authority during that time and we know that Satan was the one who instigated the Lord’s crucifixion, because Jesus said that Satan had the greater sin for delivering Him to Pilot to be crucified (John 19:10-11). The above quoted passage of scripture goes on to teach us that it was through death that Jesus was able to destroy the one who had the power of death (the devil) and set his captives free. In other words the only way that Jesus could gain access to Satan’s domain was through death, which is why God had to persuade Satan and his angels to kill the Lord Jesus. And so we see that it was because Satan and his angels were deceived into thinking that they finally had authority over the Son of God that they then proceeded to crucify Him.
Michael E.B. Maher
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