THE PLOT TO KILL JESUS

John 11:45-57 / Keywords 11:45-46

 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

 

The Plot to Kill Jesus

11:45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed 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 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 temple 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.

54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

1. False news, misinformation, and partisan politics cast a shadow on objectivity and polarize our society. It was no different in Jesus’ day. Those in power could dictate what was right and wrong while those who thought differently were labeled as heretics and outcasts. Sometimes, it seems like our life is at stake for what we believe. It may be easier just to agree with others, to turn in our consciences, and to judge and condemn those who think differently.

 

2. Jesus stood up for and loved those who had no right to speak up, who lived in the shadows of society. He raised the dead to life. When people believed in him, a new life was being born, only it seemed to threaten those in power. Caiaphas, the high priest, determined that Jesus must be put to death to save their people— and their own power and influence. While his motive may not have been pure, the words spoke true to what Jesus was trying to accomplish.

 

3. Being a marked man was not easy for Jesus. But he did not shrink into oblivion. In God’s time, Jesus would triumph, not through political power, but through death and resurrection.

 

Prayer Lord, you loved us enough to die for us. Give me courage to live with resurrection faith.

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