In this modern age we often hear, through the medium of radio, television and newspaper, of the action of men who, either by accident or design, have become famous throughout the world.
A man may swim a channel, climb a mountain, invent a new machine, head a political party, be crowned king of a country or sing a song—and, overnight, his name becomes a household word.
If a man were to say to a body —dead for four days— “arise and resume your life where it was interrupted four days ago” —and the body obeyed, what would be the effect upon those who witnessed the action?
Even in these days of scientific achievement, such a miracle would cause a sensation. And yet, this did, in fact, happen. Jesus, the Son of Almighty God, gave such a command to Lazarus, and the commanded one obeyed.
Naturally a man who had command not only over life but also over death as well, would be held in high esteem by the multitude. And if, in the course of his conversion , he made statements which heretofore had never been made, people would, because of the power he had displayed, tend to believe without question.
The following of such a one would grow, and those who had, so far led the people would, no doubt, see their power waning and their previous hold on their followers slipping.
Such was the position of the Sadducees and the Pharisees as caused by the appearance of Christ, His miracles and His teaching.
It would seem obvious then that the main opposition against Jesus would come from this quarter. Ever since the cleansing of the Temple (mentioned in Part I), the Scribes and Pharisees had sought to destroy him. The main outcry against Jesus was that he was a blasphemer and defied the law, profaned the Sabbaths, etc. But if we read between the lines, we can easily see that the real reason for the opposition was desire to see the end of the Man from Nazareth because, in him, they saw a threat to their exalted social position, and a danger to the revenues which they extracted from the people whose Spiritual life they ruled.
The constant presence of Christ and fear of his actions prompted the conspiracy of the chief priests with Judas Iscariot to take the life of Christ.
Judas, a piece of “rocky ground” upon which the seed of the word fell, sprang up and died, must indeed have been a pitiable wretch in his last hours.
He was a man, greedy for wealth and power. It is assumed that he believed Christ would set up His Kingdom within their lifetime and Judas expected to have a high administrative position in that kingdom. Judas expected Jesus to be made a king and consequently he was bitterly disappointed and so it appears that he at,-tempted to console himself by starting to dip into the bag of money which had been given into his care.
Later on, as the lust for money gained predominance in his twisted mind, he devised the diabolical plot whereby he would betray his Master for 30 pieces of silver.
The opportunity for Judas to put his plan into action came as Jesus instituted the feast whereby we remember him each Sunday (Mark 14).
With amazing speed then, the end of Christ’s ministry came—for from a study of the four Gospels we deduce that from the time of his arrest at midnight in the Garden of Gethsemane on the 14th or 15th of April in one of the years between 29-33 A.D., until his Crucifixion a space of only approximately 15 hours elapsed.
So anxious were they to destroy Jesus that little care was taken even to coordinate the stories of the witnesses paid to testify against Christ at his “trial.” For the Scriptures tell us that his accusers could not agree.
As we all know, Jesus was scourged, condemned, and then crucified on Golgothas Hill—that Scripture might be fulfilled. The sacrifice was unknowingly perfected by a soldier who shed the blood of the “Sacrificial Lamb” by thrusting a spear into His side.
A rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, begged for the body of Jesus and laid it in his tomb. A stone was used to seal the tomb and Roman soldiers guarded it but, even so, the tomb was empty when Mary came to see where Christ lay.
Whilst his executioners thought death would end the ministry of Christ, this was not so. For Christ appeared to his disciples again before his Ascension, and at the time of the Ascension itself as recorded in Acts 1, v. 11, the men of Galilee were told that Christ would come again to the earth in like manner as he had gone into heaven.
In the death and resurrection of Christ, we are given a hope of Salvation and a place in the Kingdom, which is the One Hope we share.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One