Life of Christ 133
A few weeks prior to the
crucifixion, Jesus and His Apostles, who have been avoiding Galilee and Judea
of late, travel back to Bethany, which is close to Jerusalem, in order to
effect the resurrection of Lazarus. Primarily, Jesus did this in order to give
His Apostles a demonstration of His power over death so that their faith in Him
would be strengthened for what they were about to unknowingly face.
This resurrection of
Lazarus did not happen in a vacuum. Not only was Bethany only 15 city blocks
away from Jerusalem, but there many people present, ministering to Mary
and Martha in their grief, who saw what happened. Consequently, word of it gets
back to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem quickly. Our story today (John 11.45-54) is
the discussion that takes place in the Hall of Hewn Stone immediately
afterward.
Interestingly, no one
there denied the validity of the miraculous resurrection just performed. Which
is exceedingly curious, for it was the Sanhedrin's given job to investigate
reports of religious miracles in order to verify them. Indeed, this is probably
what led Nicodemus to Jesus in the dark of night three years prior in John 3 (see Life of Christ 28). Yet there is no discussion at all about the significance of the fact that a man
claiming to be Messiah had just, indisputably, raised a man from the dead less
than two miles away from Jerusalem.
The Sanhedrin, though,
while ignoring its patent responsibilities, is bent on quashing this latest
Jesus related disaster. At this point, nothing Jesus did was going to reach
them; they were hardened in their rebellious hatred of Him. They immediately
realized that the fact of Lazarus' resurrection (he was out there, walking
around and talking to people, 15 blocks away) would draw people to Jesus if
they did not do something. 'If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on
him' (John 11.48).
Their panic was driven,
not just by a personal hatred of Jesus, but out of political fright. The
Sanhedrin was the quasi-religious/political body that ruled Israel under Roman
suzerainty. It was composed of several main groups.
The Pharisees, though
they disliked Rome, already hated Jesus for religious reasons, believing He was
a false messiah. They were a majority of the populace, though a minority on the
Sanhedrin, but they were well represented.
The Sadducees were a
smaller popular party, but a larger leadership party, and they occupied the
majority of the seats on the Sanhedrin. They were afraid of Rome's military
power, and very concerned about what she could and might do to an Israel that
chose a new king (which was supposedly Jesus' goal, as they saw it), and
revolted against Rome.
Annas and Caiaphas James Tissot, 1880 |
Caiaphas, already
morally degenerate, saw the solution to all of these potential problems as
being the murder of Jesus Christ. 'And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the
high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor
consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people,
and that the whole nation perish not' (John 11.49-50).
In so doing, Caiaphas
unwittingly pronounced a Holy Spirit inspired prophecy, the last one ever
uttered by a Jew. 'And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that
year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that
nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God
that were scattered abroad' (John 11.51-52).
Having thus ignorantly
stated Jesus' actual purpose and accomplishment in life he then takes a
dramatic step. For a long time the Sanhedrin had quietly, behind the scenes,
allowed and then fostered a mob violence mentality against Jesus in order to
keep Him in check, and potentially remove Him from play. Now they take this an
awful step farther – an official vote is taken to organize and conspire a plot
to assassinate Him. 'Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to
put him to death' (John 11.53).
A coin issued by Bar Kokhba |
There is, sadly,
tremendous irony here. Not only does Caiaphas unconsciously prophesy the true
purpose of Jesus' life, but that which the Sanhedrin feared so greatly would
later come upon them for precisely these reasons. In AD 130 the Sanhedrin would
be responsible for writing the epitaph of the Jewish nation by subscribing to
the messianic claims of Simon bar Kokhba (Son of a Star), and following him as
he led Israel in its third revolt against Rome in the preceding 60 years. This
was the final revolt of the Jewish people, and though initially successful the
Romans responded by committing half of their total military force to put down
the revolt. The result was death on a massive scale (Roman historian Cassius
Dio estimates 580,000 Jews died; the Talmud says millions), and the complete
annihilation of the Jewish national state for the succeeding 1900 years. Bear
in mind, this is a different revolt than the one Josephus describes that
resulted in the sack of Jerusalem in AD 70, which was itself awful enough.
To put it mildly, a Sanhedrin full of Pharisees and
Sadducees chose the wrong messiah. In spite of all the fulfilled prophecies
seen in the life of Christ, in spite of His matchless holiness, in spite of His
powerful preaching, and in spite of dozens of verified public miracles, the
Sanhedrin chose to execute their own Messiah. Then, to add insult to injury, a
hundred later they accepted a false one and brought their nation to an
horrendous end.
Yet out of this disaster, as with the life of Joseph,
came tremendous blessing, for it was out of this disaster that my Saviour died
for me. And for you, 'being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God' (Acts 2.23).
God is amazing, isn't He?
'And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, and to them who are the called according to His purpose'
(Romans 8.28).
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