Who sent Jesus to the Cross?

Who sent Jesus to the Cross?

Of course how many would be the first to tell us they know who it was.  Some will accuse Satan as the most probable since it was this person with an evil intent to get even with God for not allowing him to have his way.  

So let’s begin by finding the most remotely attributes that place Satan at the head of the probable entities that had the greatest reason, in his mind, to be the one.  Go to Genesis where God confronted the devil after finding Adam and his wife naked in the garden.  The Lord God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”  He answered, “because I heard you in the garden;  but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”  Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree I had forbidden you to eat!”  (now we see the typical blame game).  The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me - she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.”  The Lord then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?”  The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”  

Then the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because  you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;  He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”   (Gn 3: 9 - 15).

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”  Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  (Mt 3: 13 - 15, 4: 1).

Jesus said to the devil in reply to the last temptation, “It also says, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”  When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.  (Lk 4: 12 - 13).  Here we shall see the next time in another garden.

As Satan got a glimpse of the Cross and Jesus heading toward it he became a rampart to block the path of Jesus’ trek that would become the final charge of crushing the evil that Satan tried to accomplish but failed in the end. 

After withdrawing about a stone’s throw from his disciples and kneeling, he prayed, saying, “Father if you are willing, take away this cup from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”  (Lk 22: 41 - 42).  This suggestion was placed there by Satan as his last attempt to block the Crucifixion; the reference above from Luke 4: 12 - 13.  

What about sin?  Sin was the element that Jesus died to end, but it was not the manner that sent him to die.  The Father knew that the only way to forgive man’s sin was to take the place of a paid-in-full sacrifice that all evil would now bow to the divine grace that is God himself.  He paid our ransom by sending his Son to complete the necessary final charge of mercy needed to say; “I am the way, the life, and the hope for my creatures whom I will never pull back my love from.”

The prophets’ task of ensuring than the shepherds’ task of saving their sheep was to teach their flock what salvation is all about and take care of their spiritual needs before their own personal needs.  However, the very blessings handed to the priests (shepherds) were being made unfulfilled since God was unhappy with their selfish attitude by filling their own stomachs.

But what sort of shepherds are they who for fear of giving offense not only fail to prepare the sheep for the temptations that threaten, but even promise them worldly happiness?  God himself made no such promise to this world.  On the contrary, God foretold hardship upon hardship in this world until the end of time.  And you want the Christian to be exempt from these troubles?  Precisely because he is a Christian, he is destined to suffer more in this world.  For the Apostle says: All who desire to live a holy life in Christ will suffer persecution.   (This paragraph taken from the 2nd reading by St. Augustine for Friday of the 24th week in ordinary time).

Warnings from the three prophets above are to the shepherds of today as well as the priests from the Old Testament.  None of us who preach and/or write to those who seek advice from their shepherds must keep in mind that if we have been given the talents to teach God’s word we must not hold back from feeding hungry souls to hear the truth of Christ’s Passion and what it means to the souls that will listen.  

Ralph B. Hathaway