An Epic Conspiracy
/Conspiracy theories are at an all-time high. I get messages almost daily from well-meaning people who intend to educate and inform me of the coming doom. And they might be right.
I’m not here to argue about real news or fake news. I’m here to tell you some good news.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop from Pexels
If Jesus had lived during the age of the internet and mass media, I wonder if we would have seen headlines like this: Secret Meetings Against Jesus of Nazareth - Exposed! Eyewitness to Conspiracy Against the Messiah! Religious Leaders Plot to Kill Jesus - Will You Stand By and Watch Your Messiah Be Murdered?
Corruption rules the day
Throughout the gospels we see the religious leaders making plans, meeting secretly, and “conspiring against Jesus” (See Matthew 12:14, 26:4, 27:1; Mark 3:6, 14:1, 15:1; John 11:53, 7:1 ).
What more could they do? They could plot, and scheme, and conspire, giving themselves the illusion of control. Yet they were powerless to lay a finger on Jesus until His God-appointed hour had come. In the book of John, we see at least seven references to Jesus eluding their grasp because “His time had not yet come.”
It would seem that Jesus was caught in a conspiracy theory of epic proportions. Powerful men were conspiring against the Son of God to take His life. They were gathering false witnesses, and building a case. Why didn’t Jesus or His followers do anything to stop them?
Rise up
Certainly, Peter would have tried to overthrow them if he had believed Jesus’ predictions of being murdered. But taken by surprise, the best he could do was lop the ear off one of the soldiers when they came for Jesus.
Immediately, Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?’” John 18:11 (NIV) This dark, despicable unfolding of events was not the work of men, but the execution of His Father’s plan.
To any bystander, and to Jesus’ disciples, the entire world was unraveling. Despite the political corruption and injustice of it all, we read over and over, “This was to fulfill the word of the prophet…”
When Jesus saw the time of His death drawing near, He said "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified... Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour’”. John 12:23, 27 (NIV)
Things are not what they seem
This very hour was not, as the religious leaders would have claimed, their moment of victory. It was their moment of defeat. God used the plotting of evil, sinful men who misunderstood the truth, to carry out His perfect plan.
Jesus did not have His life taken from Him. He told His disciples as much. “No one takes [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” John 10:18 (NIV)
When Jesus was beaten, mocked, and crucified, God was not absent from His throne. Things were happening according to plan. His plan. Not the disciples, not the religious leaders, not even the spiritual forces of evil. Though some of those may have wanted to take credit. We know that “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly”. Romans 5;6 NIV
Which brings me to today. There are conspiracy theories flying around the internet like gnats buzzing around my head on a summer evening. Sometimes I look at them. Often I don’t. Because this is what I know to be true. God is still on His throne. God. Is. Still. In. Control.
A deeper magic
When the religious leaders did their happy dance at the foot of the cross, and patted one another on the back for their “victory”, they were mistaken. As CS Lewis might say, they didn’t know the deeper magic. It reminds me of this quote from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe:
“... though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."
Jesus' crucifixion was the reversal of the curse. His death brought life. When three days later, Jesus rose victorious, the work God had planned for our salvation from before the foundation of the world was complete. Everything had gone according to plan.