The crucifixion of Christ is the central event of the Gospel, and of world history. Yet, it is also one of the most adamantly denied events in all of history. Some religions teach that Christ was never crucified, others that His crucifixion was a mistake, or that it was a surprise to God, who then had to come up with a “plan B” until Jesus could come back and try again to establish His Kingdom on earth. Yet, Scripture is very clear as to both the reality of the crucifixion and God’s foreknowledge of it.
All four Gospel writers lay out this fact very briefly, with an understanding that the first century readers would know all the horrors involved in crucifixion; so all four writers simply say, “…they crucified Him” (Matt 27:35, Mk 15:24, Lk 23:33, Jn 19:18). While this event was not at all what the disciples were expecting, our Lord had clearly foretold its coming and done what could be done to prepare them for it. As He sat down with them to the last supper, He told them plainly, “Ye know that after two days is the feast of passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified” (Matt 26:2). Just a few days prior to that, when Mary broke open the alabaster box to anoint Jesus’ feet He said, “…She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying” (Mk 14:8).
Jesus had been clear all along that this death was central to His mission. As Jesus made His final journey to Jerusalem, He plainly said that he would be betrayed to the Jewish leaders, who would condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Romans, who would mock, scourge, and crucify Him, and then He would rise from the dead on the third day (Matt 20:17-19). Nevertheless, because it was so far from their expectations, the disciples failed to understand what He meant (Lk 18:34).
Christ’s foreknowledge and prediction of His own crucifixion is consistent with what is seen in Old Testament Scripture as well. The Psalms are quite explicit in their prophecies concerning the Messiah. Psalm 22:1 is quoted by our Lord as He hung on the cross. Since this Psalm was memorized and regularly repeated by faithful Jews, the verses that followed would have flowed through the minds of those who were witnessing the scenes of the crucifixion. “They pierced my hands and my feet … They parted my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” (Ps 22:16, 18). Isaiah 53 similarly foretells the crucifixion in detail. There are many other prophecies that can be pointed to, which show that the crucifixion was foreknown as a part of God’s plan. “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son” (Zech 12:10). Just as Peter said on the day of Pentecost,
Him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. (Act. 2:23).
When one considers the fact that God is all-knowing, His foreknowledge of the crucifixion is no surprise. There is nothing that God does not know, nothing He does not see or hear, and nothing that could ever take Him by surprise or be hidden from Him.
LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether (Ps 139:1-4).
That means that God knows me and He knows you. He knows all my sins, all my failures, all my imperfections. I may be able to put on a good act and fool even those closest to me, but God sees right through it, and knows the whole truth (Heb 4:13). As troubling as that ought to be, it is also wonderful and amazing.
It is precisely because God knew from before time that I would need a savior that He formed a plan and sent His Son to pay the price that I could never pay (Rom 5:8-10).
How wonderful to think that our God is so loving, so wise, and so powerful, that He knew all the ways I would fail Him and betray Him, yet He chose to love me anyway. He knows now where I stand, and where you stand. He knows our weaknesses and our fears, and in that knowledge, through the blood of His Son, He offers of hope, healing, and forgiveness.
-Justin Hopkins