John 11:45-53
45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what
He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the
things which Jesus had done. 47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a
council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many
signs. 48 “If we let Him go on like
this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both
our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year,
said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you
that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51 Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being
high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the
nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but in
order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are
scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they planned
together to kill Him.
It is hard to anticipate how people will respond to Jesus. This was true when He walked the earth and it
continues to be true today. When Jesus
raised Lazarus from the dead it was a miracle impossible to ignore. People had to respond in some way. There were both positive and negative
responses. Jesus is a polarizing
figure. Some people love Him profoundly;
others hate Him profusely. However,
there are many people who are simply indifferent. In fact, the people are ignorant of Him, or
are so caught up in their own worlds that they don’t have the time or the
energy to consider Christ. This text
knows nothing of indifference. These
people had very strong responses to this miracle of Jesus.
SOME RESPONDED WITH FAITH: Many who saw Jesus raise Lazarus from
the dead responded by believing in Him.
This is the expected and intended response. God is on a mission to conform as many people
in as many places as possible to the image of Jesus Christ. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He
stated that the illness was for the glory of God. This is what He had in mind; people seeing
this miracle, so they would join the ranks of those who worship the Father
through faith in the Son in the power of the Spirit. Every place this story has been read in
Scripture and retold in innumerable churches and inestimable grave sides; it is
intended to bring people to faith in Jesus.
No matter how difficult our lives may be and how we might like to be
able to change our circumstances; we must always remember that Jesus has the
power to raise the dead. One day we will
all be resurrected, not like Lazarus who died again, but eternally to a life in
the presence of God or a life of torment separated from Him. The only thing that will determine the
difference in those resurrections, is our response to Jesus in faith.
SOME RESPONDED WITH FEAR: The religious leaders had a very
different response to the miracles of Jesus.
When they saw the many people coming to Jesus in faith; they responded
in fear. Not the fear of God; but fear
of men. They saw their power and
influence slipping from their grasp.
They saw the possibility that the people would declare Jesus Messiah and
crown Him King. This would bring on the
wrath of Rome and a change in power. As
much as these people despised Rome, they also recognized that it was only by
Rome’s permission that they were the one who held the most power in Israel. They were worried about their own status,
were jealous of His power and popularity and feared the consequences this might
cause in their lives. We continue to wrestle
with the loss of control over our own lives that faith in Christ instigates. We like to think that we can control our fate
and our destiny. This is a delusion. God has always been and will always be in
complete control whether we admit it or not.
God calls man to simply recognize what is true, surrender to Him and trust
in Jesus as the means through which He has provided forgiveness of sin and
access to His presence. Fear of losing
control that we never had in the first place, is a poor excuse for not trusting
Christ.
SOME RESPONDED WITH FURY: The high priest responds with a
solution to the fears the others presented.
His proposed was the fury of assassination. He tells those who are concerned with the
situation that it would be expedient for one man to die instead of bringing on
the wrath of Rome. In His mind, he was
suggesting that it would be better for them to kill the head of this “Jesus
movement,” than to have Rome come in and kill many men from the nation because
of the uprising. However, what the
Spirit of God prompted Him to say was that Jesus would die in order to make a
way for the entire nation to be saved.
He was the high priest even though he was corrupt and hungry of power;
God used His words to declare His real purpose in the death of Jesus. These religious leaders thought they were
conspiring against Jesus, when they were, in fact, cooperating with the
sovereign plan of salvation that had been revealed in the Old Testament and was
coming to fruition through their conniving.
It is a futile effort to try to rebel against the plans and purposes of
God.
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