The party John 11: 47- 57
I heard an interesting story last week. Apparently this pastor had just finished his message, said the closing prayer and went to the door to greet everyone and thank them for coming and of course to hear what they had to say about the message. And as one man was leaving he said, “Pastor, I think that was an amazing message, as a matter of fact I think you’re smarter than Albert Einstein” and with that, he walked out the door. And as everyone else went out the Pastor thought about that comment for a real long time. I mean, he knew his message was good but he also knew it wasn’t that good.
And so the next Sunday when he saw the man who made the comment he asked him what he meant. And he said, “They tell us Albert Einstein was so smart, that only ten people in the whole world really understood what he was saying, but I don’t think anybody understands you.” (And I’m sure we’ve all met those people at the door at one time or another.)
People always worry about how long the message will be but I’ll tell you the same thing Elizabeth Taylor told her eight husbands, “Don’t worry, I won’t keep you too long.”
Now, just before last week we spent two weeks looking at this miracle of Lazarus rising from the dead and we also looked at both the opposition of the Jews and the questions from His disciples and others that Jesus had to deal with before He performed this particular miracle.
For instance, we saw how the disciples didn’t want to go back to Jerusalem for fear of the very Jews who had opposed the Lord. After all, the last time Jesus had been there everybody was trying to kill Him. So, that was the last place they thought He should go.
And then we looked at the messenger who came to tell Jesus that Lazarus was sick and Jesus told him to tell those who sent him, which of course were Martha and Mary, that Lazarus’ sickness was for the glory or God; and we realized what an awkward place this put him in. I mean, Jesus gave him a message of hope and yet it really didn’t make any sense when he got back because he found out that they had already entombed Lazarus who he was supposed to tell them was about to be healed.
And then we looked at the two sister’s Martha and Mary who thought that Jesus would do something for Lazarus and then it seems like they had the idea that Jesus had not only ignored their brother’s condition but He also ignored their message as well.
And we get the impression from the reaction of each of these that almost every time He turned around there was someone who had a problem with how He handled things. I mean, there were some who didn’t believe Him and there were many who just didn’t trust Him. And listen, these were supposed to be the believers.
No wonder the Bible says that Jesus was tempted at every point as we are and yet without sin. I mean, if this was you or I and we were constantly being misunderstood and everyone was assuming that we didn’t know what we were doing, wouldn’t we feel like either we had to explain everything in great detail or at least we’d want to somehow justify ourselves and hopefully stop the constant whining?
And yet, it seems like every where Jesus went and everything He did, He was the subject of unjust criticism and here we find He was constantly questioned by those who supposedly loved Him. And then without explanation He walked to the grave, called Lazarus to come forth, Lazarus came out and everybody was happy again.
And you can almost hear the comments as people would say, “Hey, your great Jesus, I knew you’d come through.” You know how it is, people would get close to Him and say, “Everyone else might have had their doubts but I was with you all the way.”
And these people were happy in the sense that they felt that everything had worked out the way it should have. And yet, we have to wonder what Jesus thought as He watched them celebrating this great miracle, because He could see the one thing that they couldn’t. I mean, as great as it was to have Lazarus rise from the dead, Jesus knew that it was only temporary because Lazarus would die again. And as I told you, in Israel they’ll show you the two places where he was buried.
We could think back about a few of the other miracles we looked at and wonder about the outcome of them, as well. For instance, as He fed the multitudes on the hillsides, I’m sure they all had been whining about how hungry they were and how hopeless their situation was and then Jesus fed them and not only was everyone satisfied but it says they had twelve baskets full left over. So, first they were starving and then they had more than they could eat. Can you imagine being part of that miracle?
I’m sure they all laid back and said, “Man, this is living life to the full.” I mean, they heard some great teaching, they saw some unbelievable miracles and then they had a super meal which was miraculously provided by Jesus and then served and cleaned up by His disciples. And I’m sure there were a few of them who said, “It just doesn’t get any better than this.” And they were completely content; until the next day when the scripture says they were hungry again.
Listen, it was a miracle, but it was a short term solution to a long term problem because the very next day it says they came back looking for Jesus and not because they wanted to learn more or even see a few more miracles but because they were hungry again.
Or think about the crippled man that Jesus had healed by the pool of Bethesda. Now, I have no doubt that the first thing this guy did was to run all over town and tell everybody what happened to him. I mean wouldn’t you? But, at some point he would have to come to the realization that now, he was just as normal as everyone else and then he would also realize that he had to get himself a job. And remember, this was someone who hadn’t worked a day in his life and he was probably about forty years old, which was when the average man would retire and take it easy. So, what was he going to do?
I’m sure there were times when he had forgotten about how sick he had been and said to himself, “It sure seemed to be a lot easier when people brought you free food everyday.” You see, even though he had experienced a touch of the miraculous he still had to survive.
Or what about the man whose daughter died and then Jesus came and raised her from the dead. I mean, the celebration and parties that would have taken place would have been phenomenal. Music, food entertainment, I’m sure there was no end to the festivities and no limit to the cost. After all, she was dead and now she was alive and no one cared how much they spent.
But, there’s one thing we have to keep in mind and that’s that the scripture says, she was only twelve years old. Now listen, all twelve year olds are sweet and kind and polite, but I wonder what she was like when she turned fifteen? Her dad might have come home one day and found her with her hair dyed green with black lipstick on. You see, just because these people experienced a miracle doesn’t mean they were converted and even if they were, they still had to deal with the flesh, just like the rest of us do.
So, just as Jesus saw everyone react to this fantastic miracle of Him giving life to the dead, He was the only one who realized that it was only a stop gap measure to the real problem, because as I pointed out a couple of weeks ago Lazarus would die again just like everyone else.
Now, I don’t know how long Lazarus lived but I was thinking about what his life was like after he was raised from the dead. I mean, everywhere he went people would come up to him and ask him what it was like to be dead and of course they’d all want to shake his hand. After all, how many people will you ever meet that have been dead for four days? And so, in a sense he would have been a local celebrity.
And so while his family and everyone else were all excited about the fact that Lazarus had been raised from the dead verse 47 tells us that there was another gathering taking place on the other side of town and they were all meeting about the same miracle but one thing we notice is that these people weren’t celebrating anything. If anything, they were in a very sour frame of mind.
I And so we see, what I call, the meeting of the mad.
A It says in verse 47, “Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, what do we? (Or, what do we do?) For this man doeth many miracles.”
Now, let’s just take a few minutes to see who’s here. It says it was the chief priests and the Pharisees. Now, I know you’ve probably heard about who these people are a thousand times, but please be patient because there are always some here who are new to the scripture and then there are a few who have been asleep for twenty years. And so to some we’ll say welcome and to others wake up.
The main thing I want to point out between these two groups is that there were not only theological but also philosophical differences between the two and I know that most of you would probably say, so what? But, if you don’t see how much these guys hated one another, then you won’t really understand how much more they despised the Lord.
And you have to understand that these two groups didn’t just disagree with what the Bible taught about certain doctrines like the Baptists and Presbyterians do but they actually couldn’t stand each other because of what they believed. And here’s the difference between the two.
The Pharisees and we may not like to hear this but they were the Baptists of their day and they said they believed not only the entire Bible but every jot and tittle which were like the dots over the letter ‘i’ or the cross line in the letter ‘t’ and stuff like that. They considered themselves to be the ultimate believers.
And just to show you how serious they were, the average Pharisee was said to have memorized 165 chapters of the scripture, and this means he could quote it word perfect at any time. Needless to say, everything they said and did was based on the scripture as far as they were concerned but at the same time Jesus condemned them because they often twisted the meaning of the scripture in order to escape their personal responsibilities.
For instance, do you remember that passage in Mark 7:11 that talks about Corban? Corban is also known as the law of sacred treasury. And that was an Old Testament law about things that were offered to God. Well, the Pharisees said that if you took all you had and offered it to God then you weren’t obligated to give it to anyone else because it actually belonged to God. And it was odd because they offered it but at the same time they still held on to it. And it was like it was in a sacred trust but they still had access to it.
So, if your mother was starving or couldn’t pay her rent then they were off the hook and didn’t have to help her because they could say that everything they owned that she needed was dedicated to God. So, they were always finding ways to ignore the intent of the law while acting like they kept the whole thing. They had this meticulous way of both looking like they were observing the law while at the same time ignoring any part of the law that happened to be an inconvience to them.
And the weird thing was they were said to have spent their days in individual and then group study of the scripture and when they weren’t doing that, they were involved in the work of the temple. So, in every way they appeared to be very dedicated to God.
And the Pharisees had no interest in politics whatsoever. They didn’t care if Rome or anyone else was in charge of the country as long as they still had the right to practice their religion. So, remember, they were very religious but they had left God out of their lives a long time ago.
We wonder how is that possible? And did this warped view of religion pass away with them? I’m afraid not. Years ago before I was saved I lived in Toronto in a place called Yorkville and there used to be an old man who would hand out gospel tracts there every Friday night. And that was back when everyone was just hanging around doing drugs and looking to get into trouble. And there might be fifty or a hundred of us standing along the sidewalk just watching the traffic go by. And this old guy would walk down this large group of people and he’d hand everybody a tract. And he did this every Friday night.
One night, I was bored and decided to have some fun at his expense and so as he handed me a tract I asked him what are these things all about but he just kept on going and said, “Leave me alone I’m busy.” And, of course I thought, I can see you’re busy but what exactly are you doing? So, the Pharisees style of religion isn’t really all that dead.
And on the other hand we have the chief priests and for the most part these were all related and this group consisted of ex-high priests and wannabes and every one of them were members of what was known as the Sadducees and these guys claimed to only believe the first five books of Moses. So, according to their philosophy the rest of the Old Testament wasn’t worth reading.
And if we took the time to look at Matthew 22 we’d see how they argued with Jesus about the resurrection from the dead and then challenged Him with the story of the woman who had been married to seven husbands who had all died one after the other and then they asked Him who she’d be married to in the resurrection. And Jesus showed them that they didn’t even believe what was in the first five books because there it says that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And so, these guys were the extreme liberals of their day and as far as they were concerned the grave was the end. There was no heaven, no hell and no promise of reward or punishment. And that’s why they were ‘sad you see.’ (I’ll work on that one some more.)
I don’t know about you but I find these guys strange that they would even be considered a religious group because their beliefs only seemed to be connected to the money in the temple and besides, in this passage we see that not only were they not religious but they were just plain rude.
Look at Caiaphas response to the rest of the group in verse 49 where he says, “You know nothing at all.” How would you like to have a conversation with him? This guy starts off by telling you what an idiot you are. And the only way to describe the Sadducees is that they are a people with a sense of domineering arrogance.
And one thing that was always on the mind of the Sadducees was the fact that they had to do anything and everything to hold on to both their money and their power. And if they saw Jesus as the one who would be the cause of Rome taking away all they had, then as far as they were concerned, He had to die because all they cared about was taking care of themselves. And listen, it never occurred to them to ask if He was right or wrong because as far as they were concerned, it didn’t really matter because what really mattered most was that no one upset the social applecart.
History actually records that these people made bids on the position of chief priest to the Roman government and then the one who won the bid had the opportunity of making money from the temple treasury. And Caiaphas was supposed to have had the job for a year but he managed to keep it for eighteen.
So, there were major differences between the chief priests and Pharisees and because of where they stood on both the spiritual and social issues, they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. And people in these groups didn’t actually believe like we say ‘someone believed and it changed their life’ but they only believed enough to be willing to kill for their position.
So, basically these guys were, as we say, circling the wagons in order to survive. And just before the last election we saw a similar thing happen with our political parties in Canada. Both the Liberals and the NDP were so afraid of losing the election that they joined sides and together they painted the Conservatives as being a bunch of American rednecks who would be willing to sacrifice our envoirment by catering to the business crowd and they also claimed that before they were finished they would take away the rights and freedoms of all minorities. And they joined forces, not because they agreed on anything because they don’t but they joined with one another in order to stop the other group from getting in.
So, it says these two groups got together and we know it wasn’t to mend their theological differences but they joined forces to find a way to get rid of Jesus. And they did this because as far as they were concerned things had gotten out of hand. And it also says, they gathered a council and this would have been the full Sanhedrin which numbered about seventy men. And this would have been like the supreme court of Israel.
And I think they got the council together because they wanted to give everyone the impression that they were doing everything the proper way. And that way, no one could accuse them of vigilante justice. Remember, they had tried to kill Jesus back in chapter 10 but now that He was gathering a following they wanted official status on their plan.
And listen, during this meeting they gave the greatest testimony for the miracles of Jesus. I mean, here are all of His enemies and they’re first in line to give a clear testimony of what they saw when they said, ‘He did many miracles.” And it seems strange but the one miracle that brought them all together was the one that happened to Lazarus and yet, no one even mentioned it. And I think they didn’t even want to say anything about it because then they’d have to deal with the issue of, how can one raise the dead unless He was God Himself or He was sent by God.
So, they didn’t know how but they were sure that Jesus did these miracles. And unbelief has a unique way of investigating the miraculous. It starts out with a suggestion and then comes to a conclusion while ignoring all the facts.
And the problem as they saw it is in verse 48, “If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” They said the longer He goes on, the bigger the crowds are getting and the more influence He has.
And although this was true, what they couldn’t see was that many of the people who were following Jesus were doing it for all the wrong reasons. They came to see the miracles or to get a healing and I’m sure there were some who just came for the free food. And there might even be those who would come to hear the teaching and not because they believed it but just because it was something to do.
Did you realize there are people who attend churches today because they’ve always gone with their parents and now that their parents have died, it gives them a sense of comfort just knowing that they’re doing what their parents would want them to do. And I’ve met a few people like that over the years. People do all the right things for all the wrong reasons.
I remember when I was at the Dumont Hospital taking Dialysis there was a man who always came with his wife. And one day I noticed he was reading a Christian book about the end times and I asked him about it. He said, “I really enjoy this guys writing style.” And the strange thing was; he had no interest whatsoever in the message.
So, we have to be careful in just assuming that everyone in this church or any church has a relationship with the Lord and that everyone comes here for the same reason.
So, we have all these religious people who were opposed to Jesus and they were meeting to try and figure out how they can get rid of Him. And we don’t know how we know what went on but someone who probably got converted later on might have given John a report of what had happened. It might have been Nicodemas or even the apostle Paul who was either on this council or had close friends that were.
It’s interesting that they said they were afraid of the Romans coming and taking away their temple and the right to worship because that was exactly what happened but the reason it happened wasn’t because of Jesus preaching but a lot of historians believed that it was because of His crucifixion. And in 70 A.D. the city was overwhelmed by the Romans, the temple was destroyed, the Jews were slaughtered and many were led away into captivity and the nation ceased to exist.
So, the chief priests and Pharisees had this meeting and the first one to talk was Caiaphas and as I said the only way to describe him would be to say he was arrogant and contemptuous. He could hardly stand talking to his friends let alone the Pharisees. Josephus, the Jewish historian describes his type when he says, “The manners of the Sadducees are far rougher than the Pharisees, both to each other and to their equals, whom they treat as strangers.” One person commenting on this passage says, “Caiaphas is very much like the Mafia type and he says, wipe him out, waste him, quit wasting my time with such nobodies.”
And yet, what he says shows us how the power of God can even work through the unsaved. We see this in verses 49-52 where basically Caiaphas said, “If you had any sense, you would come to the conclusion that it is far better that one man perish for the nation than that the whole nation perish.” And in verses 51 and 52 it says, “And this spake he not of himself: but being the high priest that year, he prophesied that 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.”
Now, we have to realize that it was common for God to speak through the high priest in the Old Testament. As Moses chose Joshua he told him when he wanted to know God’s will on a certain matter he was to go to the high priest who happened to be Eleazar at the time and he was to ask for counsel on behalf of the nation. It says in Numbers 27, “At his word the people should go out and the people should come in.”
And so, as wicked as Caiaphas was, he did speak for God. And yet, we can also see that he spoke for himself at the same time because they viewed Israel as their nation rather than God’s.
We can also see that Caiaphas was impatient with the others because they weren’t as willing as he was to do whatever had to be done and when he said that Jesus’ death would be for the people what he meant was that it would be for themselves and yet, in spite of their plans God overruled them and used their actions for His glory. And the conclusion of their meeting was, “And from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death.” And so, the result of this formal meeting was a judgment on Jesus’ life.
Listen, Caiaphas was a wicked and ungodly man but in spite of that God still used him. We see a little more of him over in Matthew 26:63 where Caiaphas said to Jesus at His first trial before the Sanhedrin, “Tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God?” Jesus answered him by saying, “Thou hast said, nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” And this was exactly what Caiaphas had hoped Jesus would say, so then he’d be able to accuse Him of blasphemy and they could justify themselves by having Him killed.
And then we also see his hypocritical reaction in verse 65 where it says, “Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy.” And in Jewish culture people tore their clothes as an expression of sorrow or as a reaction to blasphemy. We’re actually told that some people had a special lightly sown seam in their clothes so it would rip at the same place every time. You see, that way you could sew it and tear it again but it wouldn’t actually ruin their clothes.
So, when Caiaphas tore his clothes he was acting like he was shocked and hurt by Jesus words when in fact he was happy because now he had the chance to do what he wanted.
But back in verse 50 he said, “Either Jesus dies or we all die.” And we know that this was an illogical statement because they weren’t threatened by Rome and yet, everyone else agreed. You see, no one raised any objections and no one suggested any alternatives because I think they were simply intimidated by who he was.
So, Caiaphas prophesied but that didn’t mean anything in terms of his spirituality. He was on the same level as Baalam’s donkey and I don’t think he was rewarded for telling the truth either.
And yet, here we have the worst thing that man can do and yet it accomplished the greatest blessing on the behalf of others.
Meanwhile, as they were having their meeting Jesus had other plans. Verses 53 and 54 tell us that Jesus knew everything that was going on with this crowd and He was prepared for it. We know this because it says, “Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews: but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim and there continued with His disciples.” We don’t know whether He knew this because the Holy Spirit told Him or maybe because as I said before someone had been in the meeting and shared it with Him but He knew.
And from here on in, He’d minister to his own and prepare them for His end and the ministry they would have after His resurrection. I want you to notice that even though He was more than willing to lay down His life, He had no intention of throwing it away before God’s time came.
And so while Lazarus and his family and friends were rejoicing and the chief priests and Pharisees were plotting verse 55 tells us it was the Passover time and everyone was doing what they always did. They were all busy purifying themselves for the religious celebration.
We are told in the Mosiac law that everyone who was unclean had to spend a week purifying themselves before taking part in the feast and so everyone would have to go to Jerusalem to get ready. I mean, there was no sense in getting all cleaned up when you’re at home if the trip there was going to make you dirty. So, they’d all go to Jerusalem and get cleaned up when they got there. And just think, even the chief priests and Pharisees would be doing this to make themselves clean enough so they could appear before God while at the same time they were also getting ready to murder His Son.
Verse 56 tells us that all the people at the feast were looking for Jesus which tells us He had become a kind of folk hero among the Jews and this doesn’t mean that they believed in Him but because of His reputation they all wanted to hear Him, maybe see a few miracles and hopefully have Him stir up either some social or religious problems but they doubted He’d show up because they had heard that the religious crowd had tried to stone Him and so they assumed He wouldn’t be there.
And then in verse 57 we have the word going out from the chief priests and Pharisees that if any one saw Jesus they should let them know so they could have Him arrested.
Conclusion
And so, in this chapter we have one group that wants to worship the Lord and they’re convinced that He’s God because He did what only God could do. He raised the dead! And on the other side we have the religious crowd who are afraid of losing their power and influence and they’ll do anything they can to stop Him, including killing Him.
But listen, in the middle are all these other people who are simply sitting back and enjoying the show. You see; these are the ones who know who He claimed to be and that all of His claims were proven by the things He did that no one else could do but in spite of all they heard and saw they were never really committed.
They just sat on the fence and waited to see what would happen next. And do you know the strangest part? These people were all here for the Passover. They were supposedly here to hear the word of God so they’d be right with Him. They could only be described as the religious spectators.
I remember when I was first saved I had a friend who had been in a catholic seminary studying to be a priest and then he came to the conclusion that the priesthood wasn’t for him. So, he dropped out and got married. He was at my apartment for supper on New Year’s eve and he asked what I was going to do that night. I said nothing and he invited me to go to the New Years eve service which was held at the local catholic church. Now, I want to tell you that I wasn’t really all that bothered by their theology or even the style of worship because I was a new believer and really didn’t know that much about going to church at the time.
What really got my attention when we got to the church was the number of people who were drunk and I mean really drunk. There was people who had either just come from or were going to parties and they had a hard time standing up but there they were, in church, singing the hymns and saying the prayers.
And I couldn’t help but ask my friend why they were there. And he said they were just religious spectators. In other words, they were just like this crowd who were watching but they weren’t really involved.
And as we see the different crowds that are described in the Bible we have to ask ourselves, where would I fit in? I mean, where am I with Jesus Christ? Are you rejoicing like Lazarus and his friends who seen the reality of the resurrected life or are you like the religious crowd who are put off with Jesus because He’s cramping your style or are you just sitting on the fence and you don’t really care what happens. Because I think this third crowd are in the most dangerous of position of all because it says in the book of Revelation. They’re neither hot nor cold but lukewarm and Jesus says about this crowd, I wish you were either one or the other, either on fire for God or as cold as ice because if you’re lukewarm, well, you make me sick. And that’s what God says. So, let me ask you, to ask yourself, where are you at as far as the Lord is concerned?
