He Had No Idea What He Was Saying

in

Jerusalem was under Roman occupation at the time of Jesus, but the Jews were permitted a degree of autonomy with regard to religious matters. So, the Jewish leaders are nervous at the crowds’ enthusiasm for Jesus, because they are worried he will upset the delicate balance they had achieved with the Romans. That’s the background for this comment from Caiaphas, the high priest:

“Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. [This is Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and John is referring to the raising of Lazarus. —AF] But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. [John 11:45-52]

He had no idea what he was saying and he didn’t mean it in the way it happened, but that’s exactly what Jesus did: one man died for the people.

Amazing.

 

Today’s Scripture

John 11:45-57

No Good Options

in

Here’s what you need to understand about Jesus and Lazarus:

Jesus has just had to flee Jerusalem and take refuge out in the wilderness, beyond the Jordan River, because the people in Jerusalem tried to stone him. (See the immediately preceding chapter, John 10:31-39).

Then, he gets word that Lazarus, who lives right outside Jerusalem, is sick to the point of death. Here’s the problem:

  • If he goes to Lazarus, he will be going to his own death;

  • If he doesn’t go to Lazarus, then Lazarus will die.

It’s one or the other.

So, this is why John says:

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “‘Let us go back to Judea.’

“‘But Rabbi,’” they said, “‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’”

He waits two days, but then decides to go anyway, knowing he’s going to his death.

Which prompts this reaction from Thomas:

“Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’”

At the Last Supper, Jesus will tell his disciples that the greatest love one person can show another is to lay down his life for him. With Lazarus, Jesus demonstrates the principle: he saves Lazarus, but ensures his own death.

 

Today’s Scripture

John 11:1-44