The
rabbis, for instance, taught that a Jew with leprosy would be able to be healed only by the Messiah. One
day a leper came to Jesus pleading to be healed. Jesus touched him; his leprosy
disappeared. “Go your way,” He said, “show yourself to the priest, and offer
for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them”
(Mark 1:44).
Again, it
was not unknown for demon spirits to be cast out, but it was believed that only
the Messiah would be able to cast out a dumb spirit. A man was brought to Jesus
who was blind and mute. Jesus delivered him, so that he both spake and saw
(Matthew 12;22).
It
was said that only the Messiah would be able to heal a man blind from birth. When
Jesus saw such a man, He didn’t heal him immediately, but anointed his eyes
with clay and sent him to wash at the pool of Siloam, where there would be a
good number of people (John 9:1 – 7).
The Pharisees had to investigate these
miracles. They had two options: to declare that Jesus was the Messiah, or to
come up with some other explanation for the healings. Jesus did not agree with
some of the Pharisees’ beliefs: He was not their idea of what the Messiah
should be. They chose the latter course. “This fellow does not cast out demons
except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons,” they said (Matthew12:24). Jesus
explained that this was the unforgivable sin, but to no avail.
“We want to see a sign from you,” the scribes
and Pharisees said. They had already had all the signs they needed. The only
sign that evil and adulterous generation would be given, said Jesus, was the
sign of the prophet Jonah, who was three days and three nights in the belly of
the great fish. So would the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth (Matthew 12:39, 40). Jesus’ resurrection was the greatest
sign of all.
Some
would say that Jesus demonstrated that last sign, the sign of resurrection,
when Lazarus died. Jesus deliberately waited until Lazarus had been in the tomb
for four days before He called him out. It was then the chief priests and the
Pharisees called a council and said, “What shall we do? For this man works many
signs. If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the
Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” Caiaphas, who was
high priest that year, said “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that
it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the
whole nation should perish.” From that day they plotted to put Jesus to death
(John 11:45 – 53).
It
was no coincidence Jesus died at Passover. When Passover was instituted in
Egypt, the Israelites were told to take a male lamb for each household and set
it aside on the 10th day of the month Nisan, apparently to check that the lamb
was without blemish. It was to be slaughtered on the 14th of Nisan and its
blood daubed on the doorposts of the house. That night the firstborn in every
house would die – except for the firstborn in the houses covered by the blood
of the lamb.
The
year that Jesus died, the 10th of Nisan fell on what Christians have come to
know as Palm Sunday. Jesus set Himself aside as the Lamb of God on that day. He
was tested with some tough questions on the several days that followed. By what authority are you doing these
things? And who gave you this authority? Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar,
or not? A woman had seven husbands. In the resurrection, whose wife will she
be? Which is the first commandment of all?
The
religious leaders did not want Jesus to die at Passover. “Not during the
feast,” they said, “lest there be an uproar among the people” (Matthew 26:5).
But the prophetic significance of Scripture had to be fulfilled. Jesus had
exposed Judas as the betrayer at the Last Supper, and told him “What you do, do
quickly.” That night, Jesus was arrested. The following day He was crucified.
Jesus,
“our Passover,” the Bible says, “was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
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