Walking With Christ

There’s a detail in the crucifixion story that most people miss—but once you see it, you can’t unsee it.  It exposes the spiritual reality behind the cross and forces us to ask:  Whose altar was Jesus really offered on?

The answer?  Not God’s.  I pointed this out yesterday, but today, I want to show that this was all part of the plan from the beginning.

The Eden Prophecy

In the garden, God made a declaration—not just to Adam and Eve, but directly to the serpent:

Genesis 3:15  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.(ESV)

This prophecy is the seed of all redemptive history.  It declared that a descendant of Eve would one day crush the serpent’s head.  Satan didn’t know when or how—it was a riddle wrapped in bloodline.  So he did what prideful beings do:  he began to scheme.  From Pharaoh to Herod, from Cain to Judas, the serpent hunted the Seed.

Satan’s Orchestration

Fast forward to Matthew 26:57.  Jesus is arrested and brought before Caiaphas, the high priest.  But the room was already filled.  The scribes and elders were already gathered.  The trial wasn’t called—it was planned.

Matthew 26:59  Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death.(ESV)

They weren’t looking for truth.  They were looking for a legal loophole to execute God.  But behind the scenes, this was Satan’s orchestration.  He had entered Judas (Luke 22:3).  He had filled the priests with pride.  He had stacked the council with the corrupt.  He believed if he could kill the Messiah, the prophecy of Eden would fail.  But Satan is blind inside time.  He couldn’t see what was coming.

Pride’s Pattern

This isn’t just about murder—it’s about motive.  The Pharisees weren’t driven by justice.  They were driven by pride.  Jesus threatened their influence, their platform, and their fragile control.  They were the spiritual descendants of the original rebel:

Isaiah 14:13-14  (13)You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; (14)I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’(ESV)

The same pride that caused Lucifer’s fall infected the priesthood.  The men called to represent God were now tools of His enemy.  And here’s the worst part:  they believed they were serving God.

False Worship

The priests, in the end, offered Jesus to Caesar.

John 19:15  They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!”  Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”  The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”(ESV)

Think about that.  The high priest, who was supposed to offer sacrifices to Yahweh on behalf of the people, now offered the perfect Lamb—but not to God.  He handed Jesus over to Pilate, and by extension, to Rome.  And in that era, Caesar wasn’t just king—he was worshipped as a god.  So the priesthood, in their pride and blindness, offered God’s Son to a false god on a pagan altar.  They didn’t just reject Jesus.  They worshipped Satan by embracing his kingdom.

“You can only serve one master…” — Matthew 6:24

They made their choice.

The Great Reversal

But here’s the brilliance of God: He accepted the sacrifice anyway.  Satan thought he had won.  He finally killed the Seed.  But the serpent didn’t realize what he had done:  He became the executioner in a sacrifice that broke his own power.

Acts 2:23  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.(ESV)

Colossians 2:15  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.(ESV)

God used Satan’s own altar to fulfill Eden’s prophecy.  The bruised heel crushed the serpent’s head.  The enemy thought that through the death of Christ he had won.

1 Corinthians 2:8  None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(ESV)

It was planned from the beginning.  The prophecy was even told to Satan in the garden after the fall.

Application:  You Still Choose

This story isn’t ancient history.  It plays out every day in your heart and mine.  You either offer your life to the true God, in humility and faith…

Or you offer it to the god of this world, through pride and self-rule.  The question is simple, but eternal:  Whose altar are you standing at?

The priests didn’t know they were worshiping Satan.  The people didn’t know they were shouting for the death of their Deliverer.  Do you know who you’re serving?

Because the wrong altar will still accept your offering.  But only one leads to life.