Right on Schedule

Let’s step back and recap a little here. Jesus has been causing a lot of trouble lately. He’s been saying things that, if they weren’t true, would give the Jews really good reason to stone Him. They wanted to arrest Him on a few occasions (John 7:30, 8:20, and probably  more that I can’t recall), but it wasn’t time yet. Most recently, though, He got into really big trouble for making Himself out to be God.

He has not failed to back His claims up, though. He’s turned water to wine, healed some people, fed thousands of people, and opened the eyes of a man born blind (I’m probably leaving some out, too). Most recently, though, He raised Lazarus from the dead. That’s probably the most impressive thing He’s done so far; people are really starting to jump on the Jesus bandwagon now.

The Evil Scheming Begins

John 11:45–46

⁴⁵ Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶ but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

A bunch of the Jews who had seen this believed. You would think that’s really the only option; Jesus raised a man from the dead after four days. How could anyone not believe in Him after all He’s done? Of course, not everyone did. Some of them felt the need to tattle on Jesus to the Pharisees.

This just seems dumb to me, maybe I’m a little hard on them. I just can’t even imagine what they’re complaint was, “Uh, this guy has started raising people from the dead.” How is that a bad thing? One would hope that the Pharisees, after hearing of such an amazing thing, would believe that Jesus is everything He’s claimed to be. How much more can Jesus do?

John 11:47–48

⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

Of course they don’t believe in Him, though. Jesus is, by their own admission, performing many signs. In their hardness of hearts, though, they refuse to believe. They know that it’s completely plausible that He is the Messiah; they’re even worried that everyone is going to believe in Him. They’re afraid, though, of what that will mean.

The Jews and the Romans had an agreement. Israel got to chill in their land as long as they didn’t cause problems, basically. Rome also got to pick the high priest (whom we’ll meet later), and there were some other stipulations. They even got to worship God in their own temple.

These religious authorities were afraid that if everyone believed in Jesus, bad things would start happening. Rome might sweep in and take away all their ‘rights’. That would be no fun. They had to do something, but what?

John 11:49–50

⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰ Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

The brains of the operation pipes in. He tells them all how stupid they are (religious authorities back in the day weren’t just filthy sinners, they were also quite rude), and explains some Spock-ian ethics, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

Of course, he probably wasn’t really terribly concerned with the needs of the many. He was just looking out for himself and his boys, “It is better for you…” They really had no desire to see God’s will be done and His people spared; they just wanted to continue to live their comfortable lives.

John 11:51–52

⁵¹ He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

Now John has decided to toss in some commentary; that’s why I love John’s gospel. I’d be so lost if he didn’t explain stuff. Even though this whole “killing Jesus to save Israel” thing seemed like it was Caiaphas’s idea, it wasn’t entirely original. God had this planned from before time. He used Caiaphas as a mouth-piece.

Jesus had to die for the nation, and also to gather God’s scattered children. I’m pretty sure those scattered children are the gentiles who would eventually become Christians (I’ve got a few reasons, if anyone asks I can put them in a comment). However one has to ask: how does Jesus’ death gather together all the children of God into one?

Random (and Somewhat Parenthetical) Theology

Until Jesus, the only way for the gentiles to really be saved was through Israel. It wasn’t that Israel saved anyone, but they had the Law and the Temple. If you wanted to get to know God, you went to the Jews. They were the ones that knew God. That’s why Jesus told them that they were a city set on a hill, the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

The trouble, though, is that Israel was failing pretty epically at their job. One only needs to read a few of the Old Testament prophets to realize that they were completely misrepresenting God. More recently, though, Jesus told them that they were more Satan’s children than God’s (see John 8:44). He would even go so far as to say, “[…]you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15).

So not only were the Jews rather hopeless, having yet spurning every advantage God had given them, the gentiles also didn’t have much hope. If God was to save His children, His sheep from the flock of Israel and from other folds (John 10:16), He had to do it through someone other than Israel… although He had promised that He would bless all the nations in Israel.

That’s why God sent Jesus, His own Son. Jesus came down fully God and fully man, descended from David. Jesus lived the life Israel was supposed to live. He spent His entire life pointing to the Father. Then He died. He died to break down the barrier between Jew and gentile (see the latter half of Ephesians 2).

Jesus died so that as He was crucified, our bodies of sin could also be brought to nothing (Romans 6:6). Sin is what kept Israel from being a light, and prevented the gentiles from even seeking God. The rituals and sacrifices Israel did could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4), but Jesus’ death did (Hebrews 9:28).

Now we don’t look to Israel and we don’t look to the Law to get to God. We look to Jesus, the Son of God who came down to us. He eliminated the distinction between Jew and gentile by being the fulfillment of the Law, and He got rid of the sin that kept both groups from God by dying. Then He rose again so that we could all rise in Him as children of God (because He is God’s Son).

Back to the Story

Alright, there’s not a lot left to do here.

John 11:53–54

⁵³ So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. 

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

Jesus knew that they would try to put Him to death. He knew that they had started actively trying to kill Him. However, it wasn’t time yet, so He found a nice place to lay low with His disciples until it was time.

John 11:55–57

⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

The time to sacrifice the Passover Lamb was coming. Everyone was looking for Him so they could arrest Him and kill Him. Despite man’s wickedness, everything was going according to plan.