You said "The people may have called him a king on Palm Sunday, but just a few days later, they changed their tune. Instead of a cause for celebration, being king was a reason for Jesus to be crucified. During his trial, Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews."
While the leaders of the Jews may have wanted him dead, the vast population did not, for scripture clearly tells us that most people in Israel at the time, certainly did not support the killing of Christ.
The reason we are told that the religious leaders took Jesus at night, was to prevent the vast majority of people from rioting if they knew he was a prisoner. (Matt 26:3-5) The multitudes saw Jesus as a prophet, he healed thousands of them, they certainly didn’t want him to die.
The night that they took Jesus was the Passover, when everyone in Israel was in his own home eating a meal of roast lamb. (Exo 12:1-13) This effectively got all support for Jesus out of the way, as all those who followed him would be keeping the Law of God, as he directed and demonstrated to them was the right thing to do. (Matt 5:17)
The people as a nation hailed Jesus, and welcomed him into Jerusalem as the Messiah who was sent by the God of Israel to be their new king. (Matt 21:9-11, Mark 11:8-10; Luke 19:35-38) The leaders were scared of Jesus’ popularity, and told him to rebuke the crowds that followed him and praised him as the Messiah. (Luke 19:39-40) Why would these crowds of people want to kill the one whom they praised as their king only a few days after welcoming him with singing and praise?
He was not killed by the people, but he was delivered by the leaders to Pilate. They desired to kill him, because they were motivated by envy and jealousy. (Matt 27:18, Mark 15:10)
The religious leaders were terrified of the people’s support for him, and feared that Jesus would take over their position and status. They therefore knew that if they arrested him during the day they would be greatly out-numbered by those who wanted him kept alive. (Matt 21:45-46, Luke 20:19, Mark 14:2) The leaders even said they were the ones guilty of his death, no one else. (Matt 27:24-25)
I agree with most of this. However, when I read the accounts of Jesus' trial, I do see more than just the religious leaders there calling for Jesus to be crucified. Yes, the religious leaders were definitely behind Jesus' arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Yes, the religious leaders did this secretly because they didn't want the crowds in town for the Passover to riot, and they were afraid of the people.
However, all four accounts in the gospels of Jesus' trial say that the religious leaders incited the crowd, composed of Jews, to shout "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" (Matthew 27:20-25, Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:13-25, John 18:28-19:16). Although we don't really know the size of this crowd, and we don't know how many in that crowd were the same as those who had welcomed him on Palm Sunday just a few days before, we do know that it was more than just the religious leaders who were there and who were calling for Jesus to be crucified. In Matthew 27:24-25 that you mentioned applied to only the leaders, it actually applies to all the people who were there - the whole crowd, not just the leaders. The crowd had to be sizeable enough to convince Pilate and Herod to hand Jesus over to be crucified. Even Peter accused the Jews in general of putting Jesus to death (Acts 2:22-23), and he was an eyewitness to the events.
But the most important thing to remember, especially in the context of looking at God's sovereignty, was that really God was the one who orchestrated all of these events. He was the one who sent Jesus to earth to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He was the one who planned every intricate detail of Jesus' betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Acts 2:23 says, "This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge." And God was also the one by whose power Jesus was raised from the dead.
We can blame or not blame whoever we want for the actual events of Jesus' crucifixion. But the truth is, Jesus came to die for every single person's sin - yours, mine, the religious leaders, the disciples, everyone. We are all equally guilty for the need for Jesus to be crucified to pay the price for our sins.
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You said "The people may have called him a king on Palm Sunday, but just a few days later, they changed their tune. Instead of a cause for celebration, being king was a reason for Jesus to be crucified. During his trial, Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews."
While the leaders of the Jews may have wanted him dead, the vast population did not, for scripture clearly tells us that most people in Israel at the time, certainly did not support the killing of Christ.
The reason we are told that the religious leaders took Jesus at night, was to prevent the vast majority of people from rioting if they knew he was a prisoner. (Matt 26:3-5) The multitudes saw Jesus as a prophet, he healed thousands of them, they certainly didn’t want him to die.
The night that they took Jesus was the Passover, when everyone in Israel was in his own home eating a meal of roast lamb. (Exo 12:1-13) This effectively got all support for Jesus out of the way, as all those who followed him would be keeping the Law of God, as he directed and demonstrated to them was the right thing to do. (Matt 5:17)
The people as a nation hailed Jesus, and welcomed him into Jerusalem as the Messiah who was sent by the God of Israel to be their new king. (Matt 21:9-11, Mark 11:8-10; Luke 19:35-38) The leaders were scared of Jesus’ popularity, and told him to rebuke the crowds that followed him and praised him as the Messiah. (Luke 19:39-40) Why would these crowds of people want to kill the one whom they praised as their king only a few days after welcoming him with singing and praise?
He was not killed by the people, but he was delivered by the leaders to Pilate. They desired to kill him, because they were motivated by envy and jealousy. (Matt 27:18, Mark 15:10)
The religious leaders were terrified of the people’s support for him, and feared that Jesus would take over their position and status. They therefore knew that if they arrested him during the day they would be greatly out-numbered by those who wanted him kept alive. (Matt 21:45-46, Luke 20:19, Mark 14:2) The leaders even said they were the ones guilty of his death, no one else. (Matt 27:24-25)
I agree with most of this. However, when I read the accounts of Jesus' trial, I do see more than just the religious leaders there calling for Jesus to be crucified. Yes, the religious leaders were definitely behind Jesus' arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Yes, the religious leaders did this secretly because they didn't want the crowds in town for the Passover to riot, and they were afraid of the people.
However, all four accounts in the gospels of Jesus' trial say that the religious leaders incited the crowd, composed of Jews, to shout "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" (Matthew 27:20-25, Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:13-25, John 18:28-19:16). Although we don't really know the size of this crowd, and we don't know how many in that crowd were the same as those who had welcomed him on Palm Sunday just a few days before, we do know that it was more than just the religious leaders who were there and who were calling for Jesus to be crucified. In Matthew 27:24-25 that you mentioned applied to only the leaders, it actually applies to all the people who were there - the whole crowd, not just the leaders. The crowd had to be sizeable enough to convince Pilate and Herod to hand Jesus over to be crucified. Even Peter accused the Jews in general of putting Jesus to death (Acts 2:22-23), and he was an eyewitness to the events.
But the most important thing to remember, especially in the context of looking at God's sovereignty, was that really God was the one who orchestrated all of these events. He was the one who sent Jesus to earth to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He was the one who planned every intricate detail of Jesus' betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Acts 2:23 says, "This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge." And God was also the one by whose power Jesus was raised from the dead.
We can blame or not blame whoever we want for the actual events of Jesus' crucifixion. But the truth is, Jesus came to die for every single person's sin - yours, mine, the religious leaders, the disciples, everyone. We are all equally guilty for the need for Jesus to be crucified to pay the price for our sins.