The questions we must first ask in relation to our question:
Was it divine judgement or human judgement that sentenced Jesus to death?
If God predestined Christ to die, why would He stop it?
Why was Jesus’ death predestined in the first place?
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is arguably the greatest example of human wickedness that we could possibly come to know—God coming down to us in the form of a man, only to be rejected and killed. Many argue that it was evil for God to allow His own son to die, yet we must evaluate who exactly is to blame for the death of Jesus.
The Sanhedrin (the Jewish supreme court) sentenced Christ; Pilate flogged him and handed him over to the Roman soldiers for crucifixion; and the Roman soldiers beat and crucified him.
God did not crucify Christ; we did.
This was not unexpected to God, however; in fact, it was predestined from the beginning of time, and Jesus knew and warned of what was to come. Jesus can be quoted as saying:
The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise
Not only does Jesus acknowledge that it will be human hands that cause his death, but he knew it before it had occurred. This all begs the question of why God would even predestine such an event in the first place? If He had the power to stop such events, why wouldn’t He?
The death of Jesus Christ was necessary for the redemption of our sinful nature. We needed an atoning sacrifice to free us from our sin in a way that simply apologising could not. Scripture states:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord – Romans 6:23
Conclusion
Jesus lived a perfect life on our behalf, such that anyone who trusts in His sacrifice can escape the death we deserve and enter into a new life because Jesus paid the wages of our sin on the cross. God raised Christ from the dead, and it is promised that those who live in Christ will be raised also. His death was necessary for God to reconcile us to Him, and Jesus knew this and willingly went to the cross for our sake.