Lazarus Lives!

Caiaphas and the Counsel (v. 45-50)

Believers and Tattletales (v. 45, 46)

The Believers (v. 45)

The Context

Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead!

There are enough witnesses to verify the veracity of the event.

Lazarus clearly wasn’t waiting inside to the tomb for four days without food, water or air in order to achieve some deception.

Are they just more sign seekers?

Elsewhere in the Gospel of John those who came to believe in Jesus just from watching Him perform miracles were proven to be false disciples.

This is seen both in chapter two and again in chapter 8.

However, in both of those instances John was careful to record later interaction that proved the state of their faith as false.

In other words John tells us that yes they believed something about Jesus just not the right things about Jesus.

In this text however, John does not record any narrative nor make any comment about the caliber of their belief. The fact that John does not feel the need to explain or negate their belief tells me that at least for most of them their belief was genuine.

Their response seems like that of the Samaritans in John 4:42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”

The group who believed are in this case the larger group. Perhaps this is consistent the the fact that those who were attending Lazarus’ funeral would have been the friends and family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and the kinds of people that they chose to surround themselves with were more considerate of truth than others in Israel.

The Tattletales (v. 46)

What they did.

Went to the Pharisees

Why did they go to the Pharisees and not some other group?

It seems that at this time the Pharisees were the group more favored by the majority of people.

Told them what happened.

What Jesus said

What Jesus did - namely that he raised Lazarus from the dead.

The nature of their unbelief

One of the doctrinal truths that this passage teaches us is about the nature of unbelief.

We see it from two perspectives in this text.

Here we see it from the perspective of those who witnessed the miracle of Lazarus and then chose to reject Jesus and betray their friends.

Secondly, we see it from the perspective the the Jewish leadership.

In terms of the tattletales what makes their unbelief unbelievable?

The fact that they just witnessed Jesus’ power over death in the resurrection of Lazarus.

In terms of miracles this is a step above turning water into wine. It shows a glimpse of His true power.

Yet, they still did not believe.

What do we learn from the tattletales about the nature of unbelief?

True faith/belief is not evidence based.

A miracle is often not enough to overcome a hard heart.

They had all the evidence they needed and they still did not believe.

True faith /belief is heart based. It is something that takes place in the heart of man not something that is seen and therefore believed.

True faith / belief is relational rather than rational. Those who genuinely believed in Jesus placed their faith in the person not just His miracles. It is not just about what He can do, but who He is.

True faith / belief is trusting Jesus to care for a needs that are beyond our ability to care for ourselves.

The Counsel (v. 47, 48)

The Sanhedrin

It consisted of seventy men which included: Pharisees, Sadducees, Priests and Elders.

It was presided over by the high priest.

It was modelled after Moses and the seventy elders.

It was the highest ruling body of the Jews, with responsibility for local rule over Jews in the Roman province of Judea.

Included in its responsibilities were the investigation of charges related to the violations of the Mosaic law and the assessment of claims made by people to be prophets or the Messiah.

Politically, the Sanhedrin walked a tightrope, answering to the Roman governor while at the same time trying to stay in favour with the majority of the people.

Urgent Question - What are we doing? (v. 47)

Implied answer: nothing or certainly not enough!

Their first strategy was to wait and hope that Jesus would fizzle out in popularity like so many other before Him had done.

Jesus is different, the resurrection of Lazarus proves what they all feared. Jesus isn’t just going to go away on His own.

Their Fear (v. 48)

The people will believe on Him.

That belief in Jesus will move from a small minority to the majority view

Where will that leave us?

The Romans

They will take away our place - probably a reference to the temple.

They will take away our nation - They enjoyed at least some autonomy under Roman rule. They were partially self governed and were allowed to practice their own religion.

The most striking thing about this discussion is its unintentional confession of Christ’s strength versus their weakness.

They make no attempt to deny the miracles

Their willingness to work together reveals their desperation.

Caiaphas (v. 49, 50)

The Man

Caiaphas was the son-in-law of Annas, the former high priest, which may have accounted for his own rise to power.

Caiaphas was also a member of one of the ruling Jewish sects, the Sadducees.

Sadducees were often wealthy men of high position and, as they sought to appease their Roman rulers, were heavily involved in politics. They held the majority seat in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, over which Caiaphas ruled for the 18 years he served as high priest.

In terms of theology, Sadducees denied the afterlife and any existence of the spiritual world (angels, demons, etc.). Because of these things, they were often at odds with Jesus due to His teachings about humility, heaven, and His own deity.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that this secret counsel took place in Caiaphas’ home.

The Message

“You know nothing at all!” - perhaps he directed this phrase toward the Pharisees “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

“it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that whole nation not perish”

“it is expedient for you” - they would have personal benefit if Jesus died.

“that one man die” - guilty or not guilty Jesus has to die

“for the people, and that the whole nation no perish” - to prevent Roman punishment

Caiaphas’ argument is summed up in a common phrase that we use today “Jesus must die because the end justifies the means.”

Perhaps, the council was concerned and confused. They knew that Jesus was doing miracles. They understood that unless something was done His following would only grow and attract the attention of Rome. But they did not know what to do. Who knows how many suggestions they burned through before one man in that group, said: “There is one thing to be done,never mind about the miracles. Never mind about his teaching. Never mind about his character. The man must die. For, every minute that he lives the danger to ourselves and our prerogatives is intensified.” Caiaphas voiced his viewpoint in terms of the greater good of Israel. Politicians always do. Nevertheless, his advice to the council was clearly pure self-interest. And it carried, for the decision was reached immediately to do away with Jesus (v. 53).

The Nature of their Unbelief

The tattletales earlier taught us that belief is not evidence based.

The Pharisees and Sadducees teach us that fear is often what tethers us to unbelief.

Loss of control

Loss of power

Loss of wealth

Commentary by John (v. 51, 52)

“he did not say this on his own initiative (not of himself KJV) but being the high priest that year he prophesied...”

This does not mean that Caiaphas was forced to speak against his will.

God providentially infused Caiaphas’ words with a meaning beyond anything he could understand.

Caiaphas was the high priest and thus in their religious systems he was God’s spokesman on earth.

Alexander Maclaren wrote: “Did not the Spirit of God breathe through Balaam of old? Is there anything incredible in a man’s prophesying unconsciously? Did not Pilate do so, when he nailed over the cross, ‘This is the King of the Jews,’ and wrote it in Hebrew, and in Greek, and in Latin, conceiving himself to be perpetuating a rude jest, while he was proclaiming an everlasting truth? When the Pharisees stood at the foot of the Cross and taunted Him, ‘He saved others, himself he cannot save,’ did they not, too, speak deeper things than they knew? And were not the lips of this unworthy, selfish, unspiritual, unscrupulous, cruel priest so used as that, all unconsciously, his words lent themselves to the proclamation of the glorious central truth of Christianity, that Christ died for the nation that slew him and rejected him, nor for them alone, but for all the world?”

“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.

In a purely Jewish context, ‘the scattered children of God’ would be understood to refer to the Jews of the diaspora, who would be gathered together in the promised land to share in the kingdom of God.

But in a wider sense, it referred to the salvation of the Gentiles and their union with the Jews in the church.

God can use even the wrath of men to accomplish His purposes.

In his brief comments about the words of Caiaphas John makes a powerful statement concerning the sovereignty of God.

Christ in the Country (v. 53, 54)

The Decision of the Council (v. 53, 54a)

From that day forward they planned to kill Him.

They had tried to kill Him before, but those attempts were always unplanned and acts of passionate hatred.

This was premeditated murder.

Jesus was perfectly aware of their plans and therefore avoided going out in public for the time being. (v 54a)

He travels to the rural city of Ephraim.

This is likely the O.T. city of Ephron seen in 2 Chronicles. A modern village still remains there today.

It is four miles north east of Bethel where Jesus was with Marty, Martha and Lazarus and it is twelve miles from Jerusalem.

D.A. Carson points out that this town was “far enough away to be safe for the time being, but close enough to be able to attend the culminating Passover at the hour determined by his Father.”

The point of verse 54 beyond helping us track the movements of Jesus during the last days of His life is to show us that Jesus was in complete control of the timing of all the upcoming events.

Celebrating the Passover (v. 55-57)

John’s Cultural Anchors: The Passover

This is the third passover mentioned by John. (Chapter 2 then 6 and now here at the end of 11)

Passover is a Jewish festival celebrating the exodus from Egypt and the Israelites’ freedom from slavery to the Egyptians.

The book of Exodus tells of the origin of Passover. God promised to redeem His people from the bondage of Pharaoh (Exodus 6:6). God sent Moses to the Egyptian king with the command that Pharaoh “let my people go” (Exodus 8:1). When Pharaoh refused, God brought ten plagues on the land of Egypt. The tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of all the firstborn in Egypt.

The night of the first Passover was the night of the tenth plague. On that fateful night, God told the Israelites to sacrifice a spotless lamb and mark their doorposts and lintels with its blood (Exodus 12:21–22). Then, when the Lord passed through the nation, He would “pass over” the households that showed the blood (verse 23). In a very real way, the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from death, as it kept the destroyer from entering their homes. The Israelites were saved from the plague, and their firstborn children stayed alive. From then on, every firstborn son of the Israelites belonged to the Lord and had to be redeemed with a sacrifice

The need for ceremonial purification before Passover is stipulated in Numbers 9:6ff. for those who had contracted ceremonial defilement of some sort (e.g. by touching a corpse), and was still operative in Jesus’ day (cf. Schlatter, pp. 261–262). The appropriate purificatory rites occupied one week before Passover. Jesus himself felt no need to cleanse himself in this way: his movements are reported in 12:1.

Everyone was looking for Jesus (v. 56)

Now everyone knew what the Sanhedrin intended for Jesus. (57)

Final Application

God was in control then and He is in control now.

The nature of unbelief

Some of you have a friend or family member stuck in their unbelief. Like the rest of us you may be tempted to think “God if you would just...” they would believe

The truth is we don’t know what breaks a heart of stone, but God does. The best we can do is to be faithful in our prayers and watchful for opportunities to speak the truth.

Maybe you found yourself here this morning having never trusted Christ.