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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him. 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.

So from that day on they plotted to take His life.

Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead He withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where He stayed with His disciples.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t He coming to the festival at all?”

But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest Him.

John 11:45-57

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It was a defining moment in Jesus’ ministry and life in more ways than one.

His resurrection of Lazarus, in the presence of a group of Jews who had been mourning the death, had a major impact on those present and those who simply heard about it. We know this because the scriptures tell us so in the closing verses of John, Chapter 11. First, the impact on those who witnessed the event:

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

As we have seen in other instances where Jesus’ power was on full display, some of the people who saw what He had done placed their belief in Him. On the other hand, others continued to reject Him and in this particular instance, these people went to the Pharisees to make a report about what Jesus had done. As we see in our passage today, the news brought increased concern within the group of Jewish religious leaders.

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.

So from that day on they plotted to take His life.

Note here that the Pharisees were not at all happy that a man was among them that worked great miracles, blessing people who had been once afflicted. They couldn’t accept that Jesus had actually restored the sight of a man who had been blind from birth and in the case of Lazarus, they weren’t even centered on the joy of a man coming back to life from the dead. Rather, they were worried about themselves, their reputation, and even their own existence as religious leaders. Jews who were seeing what Jesus was doing and/or hearing His teaching were changing over from following the Jewish way to this new Christ-centered life. By their own words, the Pharisees were afraid that eventually everyone would believe in Him and their belief system would perish along with the nation.

How would they eliminate this threat?

Enter the high priest Caiaphas who shares a prophesy about Jesus. This prophesy had Jesus dying, one man for the people, one man in the place of the entire Jewish nation and the “scattered children of God”.

What would be the end result of this singular, saving sacrifice?

The nation would be rescued and the people would be brought together as one.

It was a plan that everyone embraced because the next words we read is that they started to plot a way to take Jesus’ life from Him.

Well, Jesus, knowing all the motives of the hearts of all people, whether open or hidden, was aware that He was in danger and so he chose to go undercover, not moving around publicly in Judea for fear He would be recognized and an attempt would be made on His life before the proper time. He went north of Judea to the village of Ephraim, located near the wilderness. There He stayed with His disciples.

Meanwhile, the time was approaching for the Jewish Passover and many devout Jews were getting set to make the trip to Jerusalem to become ceremonially clean before the Passover. Once in the capital city, the people looked for Jesus but could not find Him. While in the temple courts, they asked one another:

“What do you think? Isn’t He coming to the festival at all?”

Jesus was soon to arrive and participate but it wasn’t yet time. He knew what His Father had set forth for Him to do and He knew that once He was in Jerusalem, He would be vulnerable and open to arrest as the chief priests and Pharisees had issues orders for this to happen if He was seen.

The final days of Jesus’ life were coming and the high priest Caiaphas’ prophesy was only half right. Yes, Jesus, the One man, would have to die in the place of others in order to save them. But His death wasn’t only on behalf of the Jews but every person in God’s creation. He was sent by God to bring salvation to the Jew and the Gentile, removing the separation between God and His people that was created by sin.

Indeed, Jesus came to die and to save. Unfortunately, the Pharisees and chief priests of the day were too self-absorbed to realize He was actually there to save them. Because of their jealousy and self centeredness, they were blinded to the Savior of the world, sent by the God they claimed to be in partnership with. It is one of the most heartbreaking tragedies in the scriptures but these Jewish religious authorities had no one to blame but themselves. Had they even tried to consider for a moment that Jesus was who He said He was, and take a moment to go to God to validate the claims, then the entire story could have been different.

But that’s not what happened. The Pharisees and chief priests were ready to arrest Jesus, falsely accuse Him, and then hand Him over to the Romans for execution, essentially letting the Empire do their dirty work for them.

All because they only got things half right.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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