John 11, Part 4
Notes
Transcript
Plot to Kill Jesus
Plot to Kill Jesus
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.
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
The reaction to Jesus’ great power was divided. Some believed on Him. Others were gripped with obstinate unbelief and caused trouble. They refused to accept Jesus as the Son of God despite the most powerful evidence. They ignored the evidence and evaded the issue of His demand for belief. Therefore, they lost their opportunity “to see the glory of God”
The Sanhedrin met to discuss Jesus and to decide what to do about Him. This was an official meeting of the nation’s leaders, including religious leaders. These were the very ones who should have been leading the people to God and giving moral and spiritual direction to the nation. Yet, here they were determining what to do about Jesus. The scene was pathetic and ironic.
a. There was Jesus, the Son of God, standing right before them, having come to reveal God to all men everywhere.
b. There were the “many miracles” which Jesus had done to prove that He was truly the Son of God (v.47).
c. There were the leaders, the very ones …
• who should have been rejoicing and receiving Him
• who recognized and acknowledged His “many miracles” and His great teaching—so great that “all” were about to follow Him (v.48)
• who were taking the lead in rejecting and opposing Him
Thought 1. The scene is repeated every time a person deliberately rejects and opposes Christ. A person who hears and sees the works of Christ should …
• rejoice and receive Him
• recognize and acknowledge His work
• not reject and oppose Him and His salvation
Sanhedrin: the ruling body, both the governing council and supreme court of the Jews. It had seventy-one members and was presided over by the High Priest. However, it took a quorum of only twenty-three members to pass the laws of the nation. Its membership was made up of Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes or lawyers, and elders who were lay leaders from among the people. The legal power of the Sanhedrin to pass the death sentence was restricted about twenty years before the trial of Jesus. However, they did retain the right of excommunication. To secure Jesus’ death, they were forced by law to appeal to the Romans for the death sentence.
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.”
The basic reason for unbelief and opposition is selfish fear. Self-centered fear, the fear of losing something, causes man to reject and oppose others. Three things in particular caused the leaders to fear Jesus.
a. There was the fear of losing their esteem, recognition, and following. If the leaders lost the “people,” they would have lost the same as any man who loses his circle of attention (friends, fellow-workers, neighbors, whomever):
b. There was the fear of losing their place, position, influence, and authority. If they lost their place, they would have again lost what every man loses, his …
c. There was the fear of losing their nation.
Thought 1. It is a man’s selfishness that causes him to cling both to himself and to his possessions. Man wants …
• to control all he is and has
• to do his own thing as he wills and desires
• to have no interference in his life and desires, or as little as possible
When Jesus comes along demanding that a man change by denying himself and giving all he is and has to meet the desperate needs of a lost and starving world—man rejects and opposes Jesus. Man is unwilling to deny himself, unwilling to live a life that is totally sacrificial.
The Conclusion of Unbelief and Opposition
The Conclusion of Unbelief and Opposition
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.”
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.
53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
The decision to oppose Jesus was made by the High Priest himself, Caiaphas, the highest religious leader in the nation. The very person who should have been leading the others to Jesus was suggesting that everyone reject and oppose Him
Thought 1. How tragic it is …
• that religious positions sometimes become political
• that men reject Christ for the things of this world
• that men exchange eternity for a few short years
The conclusion suggested by the High Priest was that Jesus should be sacrificed for the people. The people were following Jesus in such numbers that the leaders feared two things.
⇒ The Romans might conclude that Jesus was arousing the people to riot. The Romans would, therefore, move in and disperse the people, taking away even what little liberty they had as a conquered nation.
⇒ The Romans might blame them, the present leadership, and remove them from power.
The thought proposed was that it was better for Jesus to die than for the people to perish. Jesus should be sacrificed and killed in order to save the people.
c. The mystery of the conclusion was astounding. Note that the High Priest was being used as a spokesman by God: “This spake he not of himself.” He was predicting the death of Jesus Christ. He proclaimed that Jesus should die for the people and be sacrificed in order to save the people. Note two facts.
1) The idea of substitution was the suggestion: that “Jesus should die for that nation” (v.51).
2) Jesus Christ was to die to save both Jew and Gentile, all “the children of God that were scattered abroad”
d. The decision was made and Jesus was rejected. They wanted nothing to do with Him. Note the words “from that day forth.” The idea is that from that very moment on, they were set on doing away with Him.
Thought 1. How tragic the decision …
• to reject Christ
• to have nothing to do with Him
• to push Him off to the side, out of the way, as unimportant
• to do away with Him
• to oppose Him
*** High Priest—Caiaphas: the office of High Priest began with Aaron and his sons. The office was hereditary and was for life; however, when the Romans conquered Palestine, they made the office political. They chose their own man, a man who would cooperate with the Roman government. Finding such a man was often difficult. For example, between 37 B.C. and 67 A.D. there were at least twenty-eight High Priests. These men were greatly respected and highly honored throughout life. Even when they were removed from power by the Romans, they were still consulted by other Jewish leaders. The ex-High Priest, Annas, is a prime example. He still wielded unusual power. He and the other men who had served as High Priests or else held the top positions of leadership were also called “chief priests.”
The term of office for a High Priest was determined solely by the Romans. The Romans let a High Priest reign as long as he pleased them. The reign of each of the twenty-eight priests averaged only about three years, except for Caiaphas. Caiaphas was High Priest for eighteen years (18 A.D. to 36 A.D.). Apparently he was a master of intrigue and compromise. This throws great light on his fearing an uproar and wishing to wait until the feast was over to arrest Jesus. There was the danger that the people might rally to the support of Jesus if they saw Him arrested. So many believed Him to be a great prophet that a serious uprising was a real possibility. Caiaphas knew the Romans would hold him responsible and remove him from office. He would lose everything he had. The shrewdness of the man is seen in the strategy he laid. They were to arrest Jesus quietly after the masses had left the feast.
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 withdrew from those who rejected Him. He …
• went away
• pleaded no more with them
• walked no more among them
• gave them up to their own desires
The Lord’s Spirit does not always strive with men. Jesus even told His disciples to turn their backs upon rejecters.
Jesus then concentrated on and drew closer to His disciples.
Gods Providence
Gods Providence
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.
God controlled the time. It was the Passover season, a significant fact. The Feast symbolized the removal of sins. Note that while the people were celebrating the Passover Feast, the leaders were seeking to commit the most heinous crime: the murder of the very Son of God Himself.
God stirred the people’s interest. Pilgrims flooded into Jerusalem by the hundreds of thousands during the Passover season. The picture is that of people buzzing about wondering and asking if Jesus would come to the Feast. Note that the people actually “sought” Jesus (v.56). God took even the rejection of evil men and worked it out to cause others to seek His Son.
Thought 1. God takes the rejection and opposition of men and uses it to stir interest in His Son. Throughout history some of the greatest movements and revivals of Christianity have been the result of persecution and attempts to stamp out the name of Christ. A man’s rejection is often used by God to stir salvation in others.
God controlled man’s devilish plots. He kept the people from cooperating with the leaders and betraying His Son. No man can move against the name of Christ nor against the followers of Christ until God is ready. Although the world is corrupt and evil, God controls the times of His Son and His Son’s followers. Not a hair of their head can be touched until God is ready to use the trial and persecution for good.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2004. The Gospel according to John. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
