Handed Over or Voluntarily Surrendered?

I read an e-mail today that was dealing with the death of Yahshua and the juxtaposition was, “who crucified Christ?”  My first thought was the religious ideas that had been hammered into my head sense the dawn of reason and understanding as a child in a Roman Catholic household – of course, I did; my sins killed Christ.  Everyone knows that; not my sins alone but those of every man, woman and child.  It was “me’ this horrible wretched and hopeless person, who knew better but always did wrong; it was me who killed Christ.  Great thing to have engraved into your soul; a murderess, a terrible person who just couldn’t do anything right, and because I didn’t (deliberately or unintentionally), this man called Yahshua had to get nailed to a cross and die alone…just because of me!

Now that that confession is out of the way, let’s turn to the article I read in the e-mail.  Of course it didn’t point a finger at me saying, “Shammah, it’s all your fault!”  The article dealt with the endless argument about who was responsible for Yahshua’s death:  the Romans or the Jews?

But guess what folks?  Neither is responsible for Yahshua’s death.  Yahshua surrendered his life, turned it back over to the Father’s Will….no matter what.  I like to think it wasn’t until that night in Gethsemane, when we are told he sweat so profusely, it was as if he sweat his blood.  I think it was then that the Father turned on the “lights of his mind” to show him what his journey was about and the final curtain he would face.  Being fully human, Yahshua must have wrestled with this terribly!  He was alone, he’d asked his disciples to watch and pray with him through the night…but they’d fallen asleep. So we have this solitary figure, I imagine kneeling on the ground, look up towards the heavens, towards His Father, “out there somewhere”, seeking Him, His Word, His Presence….and after but brief moments of a possible awareness of the presence of the Father with him, Yahshua was “given eyes to see” what would become of him.

I believe that had not Yahshua voluntarily surrendered, said, “Okay Father; I’ll do it.” then he would not have had to go through with the crucifixion; that the Father had also endowed Yahshua with “freedom of choice,” just as He has you and I.  Yahshua said, “Fine.  We’ll do it your way.”  I wonder if he mumbled under his breath, “I sure hope you know what you’re doing, ’cause I’m not going to get a second shot at this.  It’s final, finito, the end!”  Did Yahshua dare to question the reasoning behind what YHWH wanted him to do?  I think he did, if he was as “fully human” as you and I; as we are told he was.

No, Yahshua wasn’t handed over to those who would ultimately see him to his crucifixion; at least not involuntarily.  He was handed over, that is betrayed by one of his beloved disciples, Judas.  But Yahshua willingly went and he knew in advance that it was Judas who would betray him.  Talking about Judas, modern day man applies the term to a man when wanting to make a point about the bad character of that person, if they are unreliable and not to be trusted.  They would hear words, “You’re a real Judas, aren’t you,” and that isn’t intended to be a compliment.  Even Judas, well even he was carrying out the Father’s will for Yahshua, to play a part in the big scheme of the Father and allowing His intended purpose (for both Yahshua and Judas) to unfold.  I don’t think he knew that he was “voluntarily” betraying and in doing so he was really doing what YHWH wanted him to do.  He couldn’t have believed that; he wept and ultimately he took his own life.  He couldn’t live with the guilt of betrayal for one whom he’d travelled the roadways with, learning and discussing for three whole years.

This then, is the e-mail content I received, and the credit goes to the person and web link url at the end of the message.  Enjoy.

Crucifixion Facts & Fiction