INTRODUCTION:
You’ve probably heard the saying: “You can please all of the people some of the time, and you can please some of the people all of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” As we study this next passage of Scripture, John 11:47-57, we can add another phrase to that saying. That phrase is: “You can please some of the people none of the time.”
I. THE DILEMMA (verses 45-48)
Jesus had just performed His last and greatest public miracle when He raised Lazarus from the dead. As a result of that miracle, verse 45 says that many of those who were present at the tomb of Lazarus believed in Jesus as their Messiah after they watched Lazarus come out of the tomb at the command of Jesus. However, some of the observers who were standing there were not happy at all. In the midst of the joy, amazement, and celebration, there were a few who did not respond appropriately to the miracle and the miracle-worker. They went and told the Pharisees, who became very angry and very worried.
Verse 47 says, “Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, ‘What are we doing?” The leaders quickly met as a council. It was an informal gathering rather than an official meeting of the council. This council was called the Sanhedrin and was composed of 71 members, including the chief priests, the high priest, the captain of the temple, and members of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They were all very upset and kept saying among themselves, “What are we doing?” or “What are we going to do?”.
The term “think tank” was coined during World War 2. It was used to describe a safe place where wartime plans and strategies could be discussed and implemented. As we shall see in this passage of Scripture, the term “think tank” fits this occasion very well. The council of the Jews needs a strategy, and it needs one in a hurry. What is the reason for their frustration and their panic? The apostle John states it at the end of verse 47 when he quotes their words: “this man performs many signs.” Notice that they won’t even refer to Jesus by name. To them, Jesus is just a common man, but they do ascribe many signs or miracles to Him. They couldn’t deny the miracles – there were so many of them, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead was performed right before their very eyes. Yet they stubbornly refused to believe Jesus’ claims and all the undeniable evidence that supported those claims.
Let’s take a close look at their conversation with one another in verse 48. Their words reveal the major reason for their hatred for Jesus. Here is what they are saying: “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.” The members of the council are coming to a consensus: “We need to put a stop to this Man and His miracles as soon as possible.” They fear what might happen to their way of life if Jesus continues to gain followers. What is their way of life? What are these Jewish leaders really afraid of? I think the answer to those questions is given in verse 48, and they are the ones who are giving us the answer. The little word “our” is used twice in their conversation.
In the Sanhedrin, there were both Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees were not a political party. They were a religious sect within Judaism. Their sole purpose was to know and practice every little detail of the Law of Moses. As long as they were free to do so, they weren’t really concerned about the government that was ruling over them. On the other hand, the Sadducees were a political and religious sect. They were the wealthy nobility among the Jews. All the priests were members of the Sadducees. As commentator William Barclay puts it: “So long as they were allowed to enjoy and to retain their wealth, their comfort, and their position of authority, they were well content to collaborate with Rome.”
So why were these leaders so upset by the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead that they gathered together for an emergency council meeting? In verse 48 they describe the potential effects of this miracle and then the potential consequences to themselves. Let’s look first at the potential effects. Here are their words: “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him.” They are exaggerating but they do have a good point. Verse 45 said that “many believed in Him [Jesus]” as a result of the resurrection of Lazarus. They saw the reaction of the people firsthand. That is unsettling, especially in light of the potential consequences. In the rest of verse 48, the leaders describe those potential consequences when they say, “and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Now we know their reason for going into “panic mode”. It’s jealousy!
We sometimes use the words “jealousy” and “envy” interchangeably, but there is an important difference between the two words. To envy is to want something which belongs to another person. One of the ten commandments is: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his wife or his servant, his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
By contrast, jealousy is the fear that something we possess will be taken away by another person. What do these Jewish leaders possess that they fear will be taken away from them? The word “our”, used in their conversation with one another, gives us the answer. When they say “our place and our nation”, they are claiming that the temple and the nation belong to them. They consider the temple and the nation to be the places where they exercise their authority and bring honor and praise to themselves. They can’t allow Jesus to take away their social and political power and prestige. It would destroy their whole way of life as the elite among the Jews.
Maybe you’ve heard this phrase used before: “That person has a one-track mind.” What is a one-track mind? Let me illustrate. A little boy was asked by his teacher, “Johnny, what is your favorite animal?” He said, “Fried chicken!” Being a PETA supporter [People for Ethical Treatment of Animals], she sent him to the principal’s office. The next day she asked him, “Johnny, what is your favorite living animal?” He said, “Chicken!” She said, “Out of all the various kinds of animals, your favorite is a chicken?” “Why?” He said, “I see it as a potential fried chicken!” Off to the principal’s office, he went. The next day, the teacher asked Johnny, “Who is the famous person you admire the most?” He replied, “Colonel Sanders!” [Kentucky Fried Chicken].
As you can see from this story, Johnny had a one-track mind. All he could think about was chicken! These Jewish leaders also demonstrated that they had one-track minds. All they could think about was themselves.
II. CAIAPHAS SPEAKS (verses 49-53)
It’s at this point that Caiaphas, the High Priest, raises his voice and addresses the council. He begins by criticizing them, saying, “You know nothing at all.” That statement must have captured the attention of everyone! He then gives his political opinion about the matter when he says, “it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation shall not perish.” Caiaphas didn’t realize it but God used his words as a prophecy of Christ’s substitutionary death for the sins of the world (Mark 10:45; John 3:16). It was an “unconscious prophecy”. Like Balaam’s donkey [in Numbers 22:27-31], neither Caiaphas nor the donkey had any inkling that God was speaking through them. The apostle John is writing this Gospel after the death and resurrection of Christ. Looking back upon that day, he realizes that the statement Caiaphas made to the Sanhedrin was actually prophetic.
His statement is also ironic. Jesus came to this earth to die, not to save the nation of Israel from physical destruction, but to save the world from eternal destruction through faith in Him. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The very things that the Jewish leaders wanted to protect themselves against were going to happen beyond their expectations. In less than 40 years, their temple and their nation would be destroyed, and their people would be scattered. That was not what Caiaphas had in mind when he spoke those words.
This meeting of the Sanhedrin was the turning point in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 53 says, “So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.” Jesus was now an outlaw. A bounty would soon be placed on His head [30 pieces of silver], and a bounty hunter [Judas] would take the money and turn Him in.
III, A TEMPORARY HIDEOUT (verses 54-57)
It’s at this point in time that Jesus makes His getaway. Verse 54 says, “Jesus therefore no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to a country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there He stayed with His disciples.” Was Jesus motivated by fear? Did He flee from the scene and go north to the hill country of Ephraim because He was afraid to die? No. He was on His Father’s timetable and this was not the time nor the manner in which He was to die. It is estimated that He and His disciples were now about 12-15 miles northeast of Jerusalem.
The Roman historian, Tacitus, said these words: “He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day.” When I was a senior in high school, I took two semesters of classical Greek. We translated portions of Xenophon’s Anabasis. One of the memorable events recorded in his book was the retreat of the 10,000 Greeks and Spartans. These elite soldiers were hired by Prince Cyrus of Persia in 401 BC to join his own troops in his rebellion against his brother, Artaxerxes, for control of the Persian Empire. When Cyrus was killed and his army defeated at the Battle of Cunaxa, these Greek soldiers were asked to surrender. They refused. Instead, they marched out of the land of Persia and back to their native land of Greece. They returned home so they might fight again at another time.
The Lord Jesus and His disciples also made a tactical retreat, but He would be back soon. Verse 55 says, “Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand”, Verses 56 and 57 tell us that the chief priest and the Pharisees were preparing an ambush in case He showed up at the feast. They weren’t expecting Him to arrive but they wanted to be ready just in case. Verse 56 contains a double negative in the Greek text. What these Jews were saying to one another in the temple was: “He wouldn’t dare to come to the feast!” But Jesus would be back in a few weeks, not to do battle with the enemies, but to give His own life to defeat the greatest enemy – sin and its eternal consequences. He would win the ultimate victory for all who believed in Him.
CONCLUSION:
This passage of scripture teaches us something about the providence of God. On the surface, we see confusion and panic. The Jewish leaders gather for an emergency meeting and Jesus and His disciples make a quick getaway. It looks like things have gotten out of control but, in actuality, everything is going according to plan – God’s plan. The events are fitting together in fulfillment of scripture and on God’s timetable. In the same way, God works in our lives according to His will and in His timing as we yield our lives to Him and His will or us.
There is also a lesson to be learned from the words of Caiaphas, the high priest. When Caiaphas said, in verse 50, ” . . . it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish”, he was speaking selfishly, completely unaware that his words were a fulfillment of the Law in Leviticus 16:15-22, as well as the prophecies in Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and elsewhere. These scripture passages talk about substitution, and substitution is at the very heart of the gospel message. In love, God the Father substituted His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for us (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18) so that our sins might be forgiven (Ephesians 1:7-8), and so that we might live for Him who died for us (Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:15). I hope that you are a true child of God and a follower of Jesus Christ, experiencing the peace that comes with forgiveness and the joy that comes from serving Him with all your heart.
CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED
Welcome to this completed site: John 11:47-57. This passage of Scripture is a turning point in the Gospel narrative. Jesus’ arrest and death are only a few weeks away.