Jesus’ disciples had questioned the wisdom of His decision to go to Bethany for Lazarus because they knew that the Jews wanted to kill Jesus. It is plain that this desire was not merely held by the common Jew; the religious leadership was in on it, too.
When witnesses reported to the Pharisees that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, the Pharisees apparently did not know what to do. They did not believe that this miracle proved that Jesus was from God. Moreover, they felt that there were some greater concerns to deal with. They convened a council with the chief priests.
This was their concern: With Jesus performing so many miraculous signs, many people would believe in Him. They would believe that Jesus was the Messiah (horror of horrors!), and in the minds of the Jews at that time, this meant something specific: the Messiah was the one who would be enabled by God to throw off the Roman oppression. If the people believed in Jesus as the Messiah, they would want to start a revolt! This scared the chief priests and the Pharisees because the Romans were powerful, and they would not take a Jewish revolt lightly. They would send their powerful armies to destroy the Jews as a nation, and the Jews would be either killed or dispersed throughout the world. The religious leaders’ concern, in other words, was not purely religious; their concern was largely political. These political thoughts tied into their religion, because it would be impossible for the Jews to worship God appropriately, sacrificing in His temple and celebrating His feasts together in Jerusalem, if they were dead and scattered, or if the Romans destroyed the temple (as they did in AD 70). All in all, the chief priests and Pharisees were motivated by fear, and their fear kept them from appreciating the wonderful things Jesus was doing and teaching.
Caiaphas was high priest that year, and in the midst of their council he stood up and said that under such circumstances the nation would be better off if one man – Jesus – were to die. John tells us that this was prophetic, and that this prophecy extended not only to the Jewish nation, but also to the “children of God who are scattered abroad;” Jesus’ death would bring them all together. Now Caiaphas probably meant by this that Jesus’ death would benefit not only the Jews in Israel but also the scattered Jews, but the implications for the Gentiles are plain now that Jesus’ death has gathered us into God’s family.
The text concludes that from then on the religious leadership in Judea planned to kill Jesus, and that He therefore withdrew with His disciples to a city called Ephraim that was near the wilderness.
The danger to Jesus’ life when He went to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead was real, but Jesus went anyway. He loved Lazarus and Mary and Martha, and so He went for their sakes in spite of the danger to His own life. And despite Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, the religious leaders refused to rally around Him as the one God had sent – their Messiah. Why? Because of political fears. Their fear of powerful men got in the way so that they could not respond in faith to the all-powerful God.
Why do men scare us so much? We can be with God! Why does it scare us when men reject us, when they hate us, when even our most-loved friends and family and our most cherished relationships might be broken apart if we choose to follow Christ? Why do we value people more than God? God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Spirit are infinitely valuable, infinitely powerful, infinitely loving! The blessings of a relationship with Jesus Christ go way beyond anything that any men can offer. Loyalty to sinful men for any reason is ridiculous when a perfect God calls us to be loyal to Him – and He made us! We owe Him everything… Everything!
Father, may my thoughts about what people might do never again keep me from acting on what I know You want done; may people never come between me and Jesus Christ!
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