John Part 23
Notes
Transcript
Ok, we ended 3 weeks ago after Lazuras was raised from the dead in chapter 11,
and we stopped at verse 44.
Lazuras has just been raised.
And now, let’s pick back up at verse 45.
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.
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.”
Now, we see here that some of the Jews began to believe in Jesus
After he raised Lazuras
I have no idea how it wasn’t all of them
For the life of me
I cannot understand how it is only Some that believe
A man was dead for 4 days
and Jesus calls him out of the grave
and only some believed
It wasn’t as if this happened all the time.
It wasn’t as if this could have been a camera trick
They saw it happen with their own eyes
according to verse 45
and only SOME beleived
And verse 46 says, but SOME went an told on Jesus.
How can they tell on him
if they did not witness the miracle
So, we know they saw it
and yet, they did not believe
We sometimes wonder why God doesn’t just do miracles over and over again
So that everyone will believe
well, here’s why
Because even when some is raised from the dead
they will refuse to believe
Also, if Jesus did every miracle
every time we prayed for one
then they would not be miracles
If every person that walked in here with cancer
was healed the first time we prayed
then doctors would explain it away
It is a miracle, precisely because it does NOT happen
every time we pray
So, that when it does happen
we can’t just say,
well that always happens.
So, some believed
and some saw the miracle
and went and tattled on Jesus.
Then verse 47 says they got all the leaders together
to discuss this matter
because, raising someone from the dead
is a big deal
and it might cause many to believe in Jesus
and we need to be ready for that…
Why you ask?
Well, because it was the passover
It was a time when many Jews were in Jerusalem
And large crowds are more likely than small crowds
to become a riot.
So, it is very possible that Rome had more troops on the scene
patrolling the streets
Historians, outside the Bible talked about other Messiah figures
who came and made a scene
and caused riots
and large crowds
and Rome squashed it
So, their fears were warranted
They didn’t want Jesus to cause a riot
and get the spotlight of Rome on them
and the reason why is in verse 48.
They were afraid to lose their place and their nation.
Now, what does this mean?
Well, according to some scholars
Place means political position.
The council’s fear centered on the Romans removing “both our place and our nation” (John 11:47–50)—a statement that requires unpacking two distinct concerns, though scholars debate which meaning John intends.
”Place” (τόπος) carries multiple possible meanings. Some scholars argue the place refers to the leaders’ position of authority, a meaning supported by first-century Greek usage[1]. This interpretation gains force from the political context: during Roman occupation, the high priesthood was no longer a lifetime office, with twenty-eight known high priests serving between 37 BCE and 70 CE, as Rome could remove and appoint leaders at will[1]. Although the high priesthood was supposed to be a lifetime appointment, the Roman exercise of authority made the position tenuous, with several high priests holding office for only one year[2].
Alternatively, some scholars interpret place as referring to the Temple or Jerusalem, but this interpretation doesn’t make as much sense to me.
”Nation” (ἔθνος) refers straightforwardly to the Jewish nation itself, with the leaders fearing that Roman intervention would destroy both their temple and nation, since many first-century rebellions were messianic in nature and Rome would interpret Jesus’s popularity as another anti-Roman uprising[3].
The most compelling reading suggests the council harbored selfish interest in maintaining their political position, with concern for the nation serving as secondary justification—Jesus’s death would preserve the nation, and the nation’s survival guaranteed the leaders’ continued exercise of power[1].
[1] Peter Claver Ajer and Jean-Francois Racine, The Death of Jesus and the Politics of Place in the Gospel of John (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2016). [See here, here, here, here, here, here, here.]
[2] Andreas J. Köstenberger, “John,” in The Baker Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, ed. J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020), 981.
[3] Grant Osborne, Philip W. Comfort, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 13: John and 1, 2, and 3 John (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2007), 173.
So, in other words…
They didn’t want to lose their power
And they thought that If Jesus caused a rebellion
Rome would pick a new group of Jewish leaders
at best
And destroy the city
at worst.
So, at the heart of their motive is a bit of selfishness
but it does seem to be
that they may have had some concern for losing
their Jewish way of life
What the Jews had was a compromise
They had to be subject to Roman rule
Pilot was the final say
but inside the confines of this
they also had a little leeway
to remain “Jewish” is culture
This was actually quite special
Most other nations had to become Roman or die.
Be pagan, or be eaten by a lion on the Colleseum.
So, the Jews were trying to protect what little Judaism
they had left.
And they didn’t want some rebel leader to ruin that all…
But what they didn’t realize was that Jesus was like the other failed rebel Messiahs
He was the real deal.
He was God in the flesh.
He wasn’t just going to save their place and their nation
He was going to save every sinner that ever lived
But how could they know this?
They should have seen the signs
Sure
But they had seen Messiah’s come,
raise a riot
Lead a rebellion
and get themselves killed
and all the Jewish rulers demoted or killed also
So, they were not easily convinced.
And apparently, even the rasing of Lazurus
didn’t convince them
And John is trying to explain why it didn’t convince them.
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.
Now, this part is super interesting
At least it is for me
I guess I geek out on this kinda stuff
but there’s something here that is almost missed in translation
Not really, but almost
So, Caiaphas is high priest for that year
Not for life like he was supposed to be
but for that year, since he was controlled by the Romans
And He is trying to protect what little power he has
So, he says that Jesus needs to die for the people
not that the whole nation should perish
What’s easy to miss here
is that he uses two different words to describe who Jesus dies for
The People
The Nation.
People is a greek word that is used in the OT for God’s people
And Nation is the word ethnos,
which is like words for ethnicity or race
And Caiaphas was talking about one thing,
But John says, he didn’t realize that he was actually prophesying
that Jesus would not only die for their “nation”
or the Jewish ethinic race
But that Jesus would also die for ALL of God’s children.
I get chills thinking about it
Imagine him just saying that sentence
Never realizing it was actually a prophecy
which Jesus was about to fulfill.
He may have been a puppet priest
but he was still the high priest
and as the high priest
he prophecies that Jesus was going die for the Jews
and for all the other people in the world
Wow.
53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
They had their motive
Jesus is going to make us lose our Jewish way of life
He is going to cause Rome to take away what little power we have
At best, Pilot will replace the jewish rulers with new ones.
At worst, they will come in and destroy the temple
and make us all be pagans or face death.
So, kill Jesus and save the people and nation, they thought
And that’s exactly what was going to happen.
Jesus was going to save the Jews, and all other people with his death.
Just not in the way Caiaphas thought he would.
And as we finish out the chapter
We see that they mean to carry out their plans
as everyone is searching for Jesus
a wanted man
Wanted, not for a crime,
but wanted to keep him from messing up their little bit of power…
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.
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.
Now, what can we learn from the motives of the Jews.
I think one thing we can apply to today is this…
If you choose a little bit of power over Jesus
You are missing out on so much more power that you could have had…
Now, in light of that story
and the motive behind killing Jesus
Which was preservation of power and position
Let’s read the next story John shares…
Time Check
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,
5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
So, compare Mary to the Jews in the last chapter.
Was Judas acting the same as the Jews in the last chapter?
The poor you always have, but you do not always have me…
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,
11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
They didn’t just want to kill Jesus
They wanted to kill Lazarus.
And this is why.
Because of Lazarus
Many were believing in Jesus.
When Jesus takes a person from death
back into life
It causes people to believe
And the same is true about your own testimony…
(expound)
