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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. ~ John 11:45-54
The raising of Lazarus is the seventh miracle of the Lord Jesus recorded in John's Gospel. It is the greatest of all of the Lord Jesus' miracles. As a result, according to v.45, many believed in Him as their Messiah.
In light of all the Lord Jesus said and did, I find it amazing that many did not believe in Him. Can you imagine the resistance of these people to this miracle? So obstinate and stubborn is human unbelief that it can persist even in the face of overwhelming evidence.
In reaction to those who believed, the Pharisees called an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was made up of two parties, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in the supernatural, while the Sadducees did not.
In v.47-48, we read, “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 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.”
Caiaphas, a Sadducee, was the high priest. He had garnered the office of high priest by being the highest bidder for the job. The Romans had put the office up for sale, so that whoever among the Jews could come up with enough money got the job. As a Sadducee, Caiaphas did not believe in God.
Given his theology, it made sense that he was arrogant. In v.49, his arrogance is put on display. He says to the council, "You know nothing at all!" In effect, he suggests death for the Lord Jesus. This is the approach to life the Atheist takes when being threatened. Solomon, many years before this, said it this way: "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death."
In the mind of Caiaphas, the substitution was this: We kill Jesus so the Romans won’t kill us. We substitute Jesus for ourselves. In the mind of God, the substitution was this: I will kill my Son so I don’t have to kill you. God substitutes Jesus for His enemies.
In v.51-52, the Apostle John gives the alternative view. Speaking of Caiaphas, the high priest: "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." In Isaiah 53, it was predicted many years before: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Mankind can do nothing to thwart the will of God, and God never prevents the free choice of man. Unsaved man is so limited, so ignorant, so blinded, so selfish that, even allowed to exercise free will, he will invariably choose the wrong thing. That is why the exercise of free will only carries out what God has said will happen when a deformed and twisted will is allowed to make choices.
In v.53, we read, "So from that day on they plotted to take his life." They rejected the truth, and they did the bidding of God. When we reject truth, we become unable to see clearly. It is impossible to understand what is happening in life unless we see life from God's point of view. There are factors involved that we will miss, there are realities that we do not see, that nobody sees.
In v.54, we read, "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."
The Lord Jesus withdraws some 20 miles northeast of Jerusalem to an obscure village. As best we can tell, John 11 took place in February. Passover comes in early April, so the Lord Jesus had several weeks yet to wait. Thus, He withdraws and teaches his disciples in obscurity.
Note the design! There are no mistakes with God. He allows or causes things to happen to bring about His will. And, His will is best for us for He knows all. In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom illustrates the point.
Corrie and her sister Betsie had been imprisoned by the Nazis for hiding Jews behind the wall of their Holland home, and Nazi prison conditions pretty well unbearable. Corrie writes:
"Barracks 8 was in the quarantine compound. Next to us--perhaps as a deliberate warning to newcomers--were located the punishment barracks. From there, all day long and often into the night, came the sounds of hell itself. They were not the sounds of anger, or of any human emotion, but of a cruelty altogether detached: blows landing in regular rhythm, screams keeping pace. We would stand in our ten-deep ranks with our hands trembling at our sides, longing to jam them against our ears, to make the sounds stop. It grew harder and harder. Even within these four walls there was too much misery, too much seemingly pointless suffering. Every day something else failed to make sense, something else grew too heavy."
Yet, in the midst of the suffering, the women prisoners around Corrie and Betsie found comfort in the little Bible studies they held in the barracks. Corrie writes they gathered around the Bible "like waifs clustered around a blazing fire…The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the Word of God."
When they were moved to Barracks 28, Corrie was horrified by the fact that their reeking, straw-bed platforms swarmed with fleas. How could they live in such a place?
It was Betsie who discovered God's answer: "'"Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus." That's it, Corrie! That's His answer. "Give thanks in all circumstances!" That's what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!'
"I stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room…" They thanked God for the fact they were together. They thanked God they had a Bible. They even thanked God for the horrible crowds of prisoners, that more people would be able to hear God's Word. And then, Betsie thanked God for the fleas. "The fleas! This was too much. 'Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.'
"'"Give thanks in all circumstances,"' she quoted. 'It doesn't say, "in pleasant circumstances." Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.' "And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong."
It turned out that Betsie was not wrong; the fleas were a nuisance, but a blessing after all. The women were able to have Bible studies in the barracks with a great deal of freedom, never bothered by supervisors coming in and harassing them. They finally discovered that it was the fleas that kept those supervisors out.
Through those fleas, God protected the women from abuse and harassment. Dozens of desperate women were free to hear the comforting, hope-giving Word of God. Through those fleas, God protected the women from much worse things and made sure they had their deepest, truest needs met.
