(45) Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did [raised Lazarus from the dead], put their faith in Him. (46) But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. (47) 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 miraculous signs." (48) If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."
(49) Then one of them named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year spoke up, "You know nothing at all! (50) You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." (51) He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, (52) and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one." (53) So from that day on they plotted to take his life. Therefore, Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. (emphasis added)
--John 11:45-54 (NIV)
I always thought the Jewish leaders were jealous of Jesus because many people were putting their faith in Him and he was gaining a lot of followers and the people would listen to Jesus rather than them, but it was really more than this. In my Contemporary English version, the footnote to this passage explained that they were afraid Jesus was getting a lot of followers to rebel against the Romans and then the Roman army would come and destroy their temple and their nation. When Caiaphas talked about Jesus dying to save their nation, little did he know that he was prophesying about Jesus' death in order to save all people. When I read verses 50-52, I thought of I Peter 3:18 which says: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
The fact that God would leave His glorious heaven to become flesh and die a cruel undeserved death on the cross so I can be forgiven and spend eternity in heaven with God forever is just mind boggling and so amazing! Amazing love, How Can It Be, that thou, my God should die for me!
Please share a highlight from your scripture reading this week in a comment or feel free to comment on this post. Reminder: The third segment of "The Bible" mini-series is on the History channel tonight at 8 p.m. EST. I'm enjoying it!
(other Sunday Sharing posts from the Gospel of John):
The First Speed Boat
A Personal God
He Knows My Thoughts
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5 comments:
Too many people believe sickness is the result of sin but Jesus healing the man of blindness refutes this notion. "Neither sinned; it was so God could be glorified." We seem to get the consequences of sin confused with the sin. Yes, there are consequences to sinful behavior and those consequences are visited upon the third and fourth generations. It's always best to choose God's way as His way is best.
Thistle Cove, you make a good point! Thanks for taking time to comment.
so true thistle cove
Great post Karen!
I've been meditating a lot on the sermon I heard last Sunday. It was on Daniel 10, where the angel visits Daniel three weeks late because satan was hindering him. I just loved that. Not the fact that satan hindered him! But that God had answered Daniel's prayer immediately, satan was the one that prevented the answer from being immediate. Sometimes I pray, and while I know God is listening and will answer, I get so impatient. Or I forget that He really will answer every prayer I pray. Do you know what I mean? It just really struck me that God always answers prayers! And what I may take as Him saying "no", it actually might be satan preventing the answer from reaching me today.
I don't know if my thoughts are making sense. But I also loved the reminder that angels are always there and they are fighting for us! How cool is that?! :)
(sorry for a lengthy comment, just wanted to share. :)
Kara, This is exactly what I want, people sharing their discoveries from scripture. I do agree with you about how cool it is that a whole unseen world is going on all around us with spiritual battles. This is a very interesting portion of scripture. Did you ever go through Beth Moore's study on Daniel by any chance? It's awesome!
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