Did you know that you can read the Bible and find the day that the religious Jewish leaders made the decision to put Jesus Christ to death? Yes, I am talking about the day when the decision was made that Jesus would have to be killed! The day that the religious Jews made up their minds to KILL Jesus Christ, was the very same day that a man named Lazarus was raised from the dead, after being dead for four days. That passage of scripture is found in the New Covenant (Testament) book of John. We will pick it up where Jesus Christ is conversing with Martha, the sister of Lazarus, the man who died.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? (John 11:33-40)
Martha had no idea that she was about to witness one of the greatest miracles ever recorded in the Bible. Martha had absolutely no idea that her brother would be raised from the dead, and she knew enough to tell Jesus that his body would have a stinking stench after being dead for four days. One can only imagine what it must have been like to actually be there to witness what was about to happen.
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And JESUS lifted up his eyes, and said, FATHER, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. JESUS saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the JEWS which came to Mary, and had seen the things which JESUS did, BELIEVED on him. (John 11:41-45)
Jesus Christ came upon this depressing, and devastating scene, where Martha and her sister Mary were mourning the death of their brother Lazarus, and in an instant that mourning was turned into extreme joy! Many of the Jews who were present believed in him as a direct result of that awesome miracle which he had just performed.
But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things JESUS had done. Then gathered the CHIEF PRIESTS and the Pharisees a COUNCIL, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and NATION. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that ONE man should DIE for the people, and that the whole NATION perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he PROPHESIED that JESUS should DIE for that NATION; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then from THAT DAY forth they took counsel together for to PUT HIM TO DEATH. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the JEWS; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. (John 11:46-54)
Unfortunately not everybody was happy with what they saw take place. There were a group of people who were working in concert with the religious Jewish Pharisees and they absolutely despised Jesus Christ. They went back to report what had just taken place to the Pharisees, and they in turn called a council regarding what had just taken place with the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This is kind of incredible when you think about it folks, because a man was just raised from the dead after being dead for four days. You would think that they would have taken some time to meditate on what had just happened, and repented of their rejection of Jesus Christ right then and there. They could have stopped and realized and said, “Hey maybe we have been wrong about this guy named Jesus Christ?” or “Maybe we should reconsider our own ways before we continue to reject his counsel to us?” Unfortunately that never happened at all. They were very aware that Jesus Christ did many miracles, and they were also very aware that many Jews had put their faith in Jesus as a result of those miracles. In fact, that was the very reason that the Jewish religious leaders decided to put Jesus Christ to death. The Jewish religious leaders, which included the Jewish chief priests, figured that if a multitude of Jews were to turn to Jesus Christ, then they had the possibility of losing their “place and nation.” So as a result, the Jewish religious leaders which included the Jewish chief priests, “took counsel together for to put him to death.”
Israel Rejects Jesus Christ as Messiah, Lord and Saviour
The Jewish religious leaders in Israel wanted nothing to do with Jesus Christ. They did not believe that he was the Son of God. They did not believe that he was the Messiah. They did not believe that he was the Saviour, and they did not believe that he was Lord! If you fast forward to the present day all of those things remain the same. The Jewish religious and political leaders in Israel still do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Messiah, Saviour or Lord. The people of Israel still want a nation, but they want a nation without Jesus Christ at the head. Jesus knew that back then, and Jesus still knows that today. When he preached to the Jewish people of Israel in his time, the majority rejected him, and that is made plain throughout the scriptures.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:11-12)
The opportunity was always there for the Jewish people to receive Christ, as much as it is for the Gentile people. If they believed in Jesus Christ they would become the sons (children) of God. Obviously if they chose to reject Christ, then they would not become part of God’s kingdom. You see there is an Israel which is in the FLESH, and then there is the Israel which is in the SPIRIT, and that is what Jesus tried to get across to the religious Jews, the entire time that he walked this earth. That is what Jesus tried to tell the Jewish teacher named Nicodemus. Jesus wanted him to know that a spiritual birth was necessary for entrance into the kingdom of God. There is a great battle raging for souls throughout the world and it is ultimately a battle between Satan and his kingdom, and Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. A person is either in the kingdom of God or they are not. You enter the kingdom of God through the new birth (being born again of the Spirit), and that birth is obviously a spiritual birth. That is why Jesus Christ told the Jewish teacher Nicodemus that he MUST be born again:
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the JEWS: The same came to JESUS by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. JESUS answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:1-3)
Jesus Christ made it clear to this Jewish ruler (teacher) Nicodemus, that it was necessary for him to be born again, or he would not SEE (spiritual sight) the kingdom of God. Those same words from Jesus Christ still apply to every person living in the world in this day. YOU must be born again!
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? JESUS answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye MUST be BORN AGAIN. (John 3:4-7)
Nicodemus, the Jewish teacher still did not understand what Jesus was trying to tell him, because he only understood his fleshly (physical) birth into this world. He had no understanding regarding the spiritual birth into the kingdom of God. That can be said for the majority of ALL people in the world today, both Jewish and Gentile. That could of been said of me also before 1989 when I was born again of the Spirit. I was as lost as could be, and I was speeding along on the highway to hell. The Jewish apostle Paul was once an adamant persecutor and murderer of Christians, UNTIL he experienced a spiritual transformation and realized that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, Lord and Saviour of his soul. That is why Paul wrote the following:
For he is NOT a JEW, which is one OUTWARDLY; neither is that circumcision, which is OUTWARD in the flesh: But he IS a JEW, which is one INWARDLY; and circumcision is that of the HEART, in the SPIRIT, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of GOD. (Romans 2:28-29)
Paul knew after his conversion that there had to be a spiritual circumcision in the inner man (the heart) and that is what makes a person a TRUE Jew, and nothing else. The Jewish people prided themselves in their physical circumcision, but Paul flat out declared that it meant nothing! Any person can repent of their sins, put their faith in Jesus Christ, and become a “spiritual Jew” in a moment! That is exactly what the scriptures teach us, and that is the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ! Come one and come ALL into the kingdom of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Knew The Jews Wanted To Kill Him
This gospel of Jesus Christ is not a hard thing to understand, that is unless you allow yourself to be bamboozled by the fast, and smooth talking preachers of the modern day. It all boils down to this. Jesus made it clear that he was the Messiah, and he even revealed himself to the Samaritan woman at the well as such. (John 4:1-24) Jesus made it clear that he was the Son of God, and the Jewish religious leaders considered such a claim to be blasphemous (Leviticus 24:16), and that is why they wanted to KILL him!
The man departed, and told the JEWS that it was JESUS, which had made him whole. And therefore did the JEWS persecute Jesus, and sought to SLAY him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But JESUS answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the JEWS sought the more to KILL him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that GOD was his Father, making himself EQUAL with GOD. (John 5:15-18)
The Jewish people despised Jesus Christ, because of what he preached, and because of what he did. They could not comprehend the truth, that the God whom they claimed to know, and serve, was the very one who sent Jesus Christ to save their souls. It is actually quite simple. Jesus knew who he was, and where he came from, and the Jewish religious leaders did not believe him. Jesus Christ preached the word without the sugar coating that so many use today. Jesus got right to the heart of the matter and said this:
I speak that which I have seen with MY FATHER: and ye do that which ye have seen with YOUR FATHER. They answered and said unto him, ABRAHAM IS OUR FATHER. JESUS saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to KILL me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of YOUR FATHER. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. JESUS said unto them, If GOD were YOUR FATHER, ye would LOVE ME: for I proceeded forth and came from GOD; neither came I of myself, but HE SENT ME. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of YOUR FATHER ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is NO TRUTH IN HIM. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for HE IS A LIAR, and the FATHER of it. And becauseI TELL YOU THE TRUTH, ye believe me NOT. (John 8:38-45)
You will not find Jesus telling the Jewish religious leaders of his time that they were still “God’s children” even though they rejected him. Keep that in mind as you listen to many of the modern day religious leaders declaring that “we are all one people”, and that “God loves everybody”, and that “everybody is going to Heaven one day”. The difference between Jesus and those “religious leaders” is that Jesus continually spoke the truth and they continually preach lies! It is that simple and it is that clear!
The Jews Asked For A Sign And Jesus Gave Them One
There was a time when Jesus went through the Jewish temple, and he started turning over tables which totally upset the Jewish religious leaders of his time:
After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and JESUS went up to JERUSALEM, And found in the TEMPLE those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the TEMPLE, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered the JEWS and said unto him, WHAT SIGN SHEWEST THOU UNTO US, seeing that thou doest these things? JESUS answered and said unto them, DESTROY THIS TEMPLE, AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP.Then said the JEWS, Forty and six years was this TEMPLE in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the TEMPLE OF HIS BODY. When therefore he was RISEN from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which JESUS had said. (John 2:12-22)
The religious Jews wanted to know who gave Jesus the authority, to walk into the temple and cause such an upheaval, which included turning tables upside down, so they asked him to give them a sign. Jesus responded by telling them after they destroyed this temple he would raise it back up again. The religious Jews obviously did NOT understand that Jesus was talking about his own body which would be raised from the dead. Even the Lord’s closest followers did not comprehend what he was saying until AFTER he did rise from the dead. It is important to know that there will be no more signs given to either Jew or Gentile regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, there will be signs in the world regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ, but no special sign which validates that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way of salvation for mankind.
The Lord spoke about the resurrection as a sign, because the resurrection of Jesus Christ validated that he was truly the Son of God. The Lord knew that he was going to be KILLED, but he also knew that he was getting back up again. The resurrection of Jesus Christ PROVED beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lord and the promised Saviour! The Lord was also well aware that the Jews were the ones who stoned and killed the prophets, and he implored them to turn to him many times but they were NOT willing to do that.
O JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM, thou that KILLEST THE PROPHETS, and STONEST THEM which are SENT UNTO THEE, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and YE WOULD NOT! (Matthew 23:37)
Ultimately the Lord was telling the religious Jewish leaders, that they were able to stone and kill the prophets, but HE was going to get back up again! That is the SIGN that the Lord gave to Israel. The Lord even gave the religious Jewish leaders a parable concerning how they killed the prophets which were sent to them, and he even prophesied of his own death at their hands. He told them that the kingdom would be taken away from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit! (Matthew 21:28-46) That nation now includes ALL JEWISH and GENTILE people who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, and who have been born again of the Spirit. There will be NO excuses for anyone, because the OFFER of salvation is to ALL people.
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of ISRAEL, that by the name of JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, WHOM YE CRUCIFIED, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be SAVED. (Acts 4:10-12)
The cross of Jesus Christ eliminates all false “gospels” and any other “religion” or “faith” which would seek salvation elsewhere! The apostle Peter was bold in his proclamation here, and he was speaking to the people of Israel. Did you notice the words “whom YE crucified”? Peter was well aware, that it was the Jewish leaders who were behind the death of Christ! If you go back a couple of chapters in the book of Acts (read it) you will see that Peter once again was speaking directly to the men of Israel.
Ye men of ISRAEL, 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 ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, YE HAVE TAKEN, and by WICKED hands have CRUCIFIED and SLAIN: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. (Acts 2:22-24)
Peter brought out the fact that Jesus had performed miracles in their very midst, along with signs and wonders, and yet they (the men of Israel) took Him by their “wicked hands” and crucified Him! Peter also pointed out the fact that all of this happened by the “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” That is most important because it is plainly speaking about the prophecies of the Old Covenant (Testament) which included one regarding the death of Jesus Christ. You can read Isaiah 53 and you find an accurate prophecy about the death of Christ which was given about 700 years before the event actually happened!
Peter spoke about Christ being “raised up” (the resurrection) because the pains of death could not hold Him, and that is the great victory for the believer in Jesus Christ. So on the one hand we have Israel being held responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, while on the other hand they can also benefit from that same death by repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus Christ! Listen to Peter preach his heart out here:
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch DAVID, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a PROPHET, and knowing that GOD had SWORN with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up CHRIST to sit on his THRONE; He seeing this before SPAKE of the RESURRECTION OF CHRIST that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (Acts 2:29-31)
Peter made it clear to the people of Israel that the (famous) David of the Old Covenant was dead and buried in the ground. In other words, Peter was making the point that David died, just like any other flesh and blood human would have died. Then Peter made it clear that this same David, prophesied that God would raise up a descendant of his (from his loins) to sit on his throne. Peter then made it clear that the person whom David was prophesying about was Jesus Christ. Peter said that David was speaking (prophesying) about the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Peter was contrasting the earthly David who died, and whose bones remained in the grave, against the Christ (Messiah) Jesus (who came from above), who would be killed but who would also be raised up again from the dead.
This JESUS hath GOD raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of GOD exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the HOLY GHOST, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is NOT ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my LORD, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of ISRAEL know assuredly, that GOD hath made that same JESUS, whom YE have CRUCIFIED, both LORD and CHRIST. (Acts 2:32-36)
This is the third passage of scripture that I have given you that mentions the people or (house) of Israel crucifying Jesus Christ. Peter points out the truth that they (Israel) crucified Him, but God has made Him (Jesus) both Lord and Christ! It is most important for you to understand this, because we are living in a day when the false Gospel of Zionism is being propagated on a very wide scale. I remind you that this Gospel is not about a piece of property over in the Middle East, but it is about the souls of men (and women) throughout the world, who need to repent and believe the Gospel to be saved from the wrath of God. (John 3:36) The Old Covenant flows beautifully into the New Covenant, and the modern day TRUE Church is made up of people, both Jewish and Gentile, who recognize Jesus to be their Lord, and Christ (Messiah).
