Jesus’ mission on earth was to die in propitiation for human sin (1 John 2:2). If anyone could be held responsible for Christ’s death, it is not only Judas and Pilate, but all humanity. The Bible says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24) and “by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
There were people who played their parts in the death of Christ. In Matthew 26:24 Jesus says, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” The fact that the Scriptures predicted the betrayal of Judas in no way absolved him from his personal responsibility in the matter. God had not predestined him to betray the Lord. The decision of Judas was a deliberate choice on his part. While Judas played a part in the death of Jesus, he had many opportunities to avoid what he did.
While Pontius Pilate was the Roman officer who legally sentenced Jesus, He would have died anyway had not Pilate wrote it off. Christ was to die, how and by whom is besides the fact. His mission was to save us from our sins and He therefore had to pay the penalty of sin, which is death.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
