“So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.”  2 Chron. 10:19

This verse from our Old Testament reading today foreshadows the end of our New Testament reading.  John’s gospel makes clear the division between the Jews (“Israel”) and Jesus (“of the house of David”).  But there is another verse that also speaks from the Old Testament reading to the New Testament reading today.  “…for this is My (God’s) doing.”  2 Chron. 11:4.  Jesus was opposed by the Jews, the Pharisees, the Jewish Leaders, or the Scribes, depending on which story and which gospel you are reading.  Some say Jesus was killed by the Jews, and some say it was at the hand of Rome.  And both of these would be true in their own way.  The Jewish leaders sought out ways to arrest Jesus, handed Him over to the Romans, and riled up the crowd against Him at His trial.  The Romans were the ones to pronounce the sentence of death and to carry it out since the Jews did not have the authority to do so.  Both are to be held accountable for Jesus’ death.

But ultimately, it was God’s doing that Jesus should die for His people.  This was not a change in God’s plan once people began to sin.  This was not a “plan B” at all.  It was the plan from the beginning of time.  All events happened, were directed by God, to create this scenario, to lead to the cross.  Israel’s rebellion against the house of David personified in Jesus Christ was God’s doing.  It is His fault.

But if we are to lay the blame for Jesus’ death at God’s feet, then we must also give Him credit for the Resurrection, for you can’t have one without the other.  As foreshadowed so specifically in Lazarus’ rising, the stone of Jesus’ tomb would be rolled away and Jesus would rise again as well.  It may be the ultimate proof of God’s omnipotence and direction in our lives, that He would plan to sacrifice Jesus for our sins, only to resurrect Him as the first, but not the last, of us to experience resurrection.  It is God’s plan, God’s doing, but the end of the plan is eternal life with Him.

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