Absolutely it was. Even in the days of Genesis, the death of Jesus was predicted especially when Jacob gave his last prophecies before he died about Judah (Gen 49). The Father has always willed it for Jesus to die for our sins. But it was funny the timing of it all. For about 5000 years, the Jews had to live under the law. This required sacrifices and forgiveness was a lot harder, and it was harder to please God because it was done by our works (most not all because God has always been pleased by faith.) I believe that God didn't make it so Jesus died sooner because He wanted us to appreciate grace. If God had of just saved us in Exodus (through Jesus), the Jews would take it for granted and probably wouldn't even think they needed Jesus. I can see the evangelist Ray Comforts' logic about getting a person saved by comparing them to the law. As I said, the law revealed to the Israelites that they were terrible sinners. In fact, one of the functions of the law was to condemn. That condemnation led the Israelites to appreciate Jesus. Anyway, my second point was that it was the will of the whole Trinity for Jesus to die. The Father willed it, the Spirit willed it (because He is the Spirit of the Father) and Jesus willed it. In fact in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us that He willingly died for us. So it was not a case of the Father forcing Jesus to do it. It was all done at Jesus' will. If Jesus wanted to, being God, He could have sent tens of thousands of Angels to stop the Romans from killing Him. So in fact, it wasn't primarily the will of the Romans to kill Jesus. It happened because God allowed it to happen.