Caiaphas: Profile of a Pragmatist (Gospel of John Part 35)
Text: John 11:45-54
Well we’re back in John’s Gospel this morning, and just as a quick reminder, Jesus has just done probably His greatest miracle during His earthly ministry. He’s raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had been dead for 4 days. In other words, He has proven, once and for all, that He is God in the flesh. That He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised Seed of the woman, who would be the Savior of the world. And that’s why John has written all this down for us. He wants us to believe. He wants us to know that these things really happened, and that Jesus is God. And throughout this Gospel account John has been showing us, what true faith is. He’s talked repeatedly about people who believed certain things about Jesus, but didn’t believe unto salvation. They had ideas about who Jesus was, and what He had come to do, but then when they were confronted with the truth about Jesus, they turned and walked away. And then He’s shown us pictures of people who truly did believe, and how their faith matures, and grows, as they learn more and more truth, and begin to see Jesus more and more clearly. And it’s through John’s Gospel that we get one of the clearest and best pictures of what true saving faith is, and what false faith is. He shows us how true saving faith presses onward toward the mark, whereas false faith, digresses, into apathy, un-repentant sin, and an eventual rejection of Christ.
So let’s go ahead and get right into our text this morning and see what God’s Word is saying to us.
(READ John 11:45-54)
Right off the bat there we see two responses… we see one of faith, and one of unbelief. Verses 45 and 46 tells us that many of the Jews believed in Him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Now I don’t know about yawl but I read that and I think to myself, “What is this? Jr. High School?” They go to the Pharisees and tattle on Jesus. So rather than speak directly to Jesus, these people think they are appealing to a higher authority. And unfortunately; this is just something people tend to do. And I don’t know exactly why they do this… maybe they think Jesus has too much power… maybe they think He’s in the wrong somehow, but it’s in direct contradiction of what the New Testament says about how we should deal with issues like this. The New Testament says, if you have something against someone, go and speak to them about it. If you disagree with them, talk to them, reason with them, hear their side of the story, and tell them where you’re coming from.
Why didn’t these Jews do that here? Well… most likely it’s because they don’t even care what Jesus has to say, and they don’t want to hear what He has to say. They’ve already made up their minds that they’re not going to hear what He has to say, and they’re just out to get Him. They’ve closed their hearts to Jesus, and their minds to the truth. And the Bible actually tells us that’s a dangerous place to be. And the thing is… rather than try to correct Him, and debate with Him, and reason with Him… they are afraid that Jesus is right, and they don’t want Him to be right. They don’t want what He’s saying to be the truth, because that would mean a change for them, and a call to repentance for them. But men love darkness rather than light, and don’t want to come into the light. That’s what is happening here. They go tell the Pharisees… And this of course results in a meeting between the Pharisees and the chief priests. They all get together and start talking about what they should do with Jesus, because they’re all scared of losing their authority, their positions of power, and their prominence. And probably their pay checks as well. And we know that’s exactly what they’re afraid of because in verse 48 they says, “…The Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
Now please think about this with me for a second… think about the context that this is in. These are the Jewish people… these are people who have had a long history of seeing God work in miraculous ways. From the flood, to the exodus, to David killing giants with his slingshot. To the prophets doing miracles, and God working through them.
These are people who have been waiting thousands and thousands of years for the promised Messiah to come, and Scripture told them exactly what they were to look for… He was to be born in Bethlehem, he would flee to Egypt and then return to Israel. He would do specific signs and wonders. He would heal the sick, and cast out demons, and give sight to the blind, and raise the dead. And the One who did all of these things, would be the Messiah – the Savior. And all these things are what Jesus has done.
There should be NO DOUBT in their minds, Who Jesus is. They should know, they should believe. But they don’t. And so if you’re here with us this morning, and you’re not all in for Jesus. If you’re walking the fence, then John intends for you to hear this and take this as a warning. If you are in love with this world, and the things of this world, it will distract you from Christ, and it will eventually draw your love away from Him. The cares of this world will choke out the Word and make you unfruitful.
Now it’s super interesting what happens next… verses 49 – 52 (READ).
God uses this man Caiaphas – the High Priest in Israel, to speak prophetically about the death of Jesus, even though Caiaphas himself wasn’t a believer. And he basically says, “It’s better that one man dies, than all of us.” And that’s exactly what the death of Jesus does for us… it is an atonement for our sin. Jesus dies so that we don’t have to die spiritually. Jesus takes the punishment for our sin, and endures the wrath of God for our sin, so that we don’t have to do that. Now of course; Caiaphas wasn’t thinking that way… he’s thinking, that if something isn’t done about Jesus, the Romans will come in, and crush them, and take away their privileges, and lots of people will die because that’s what the Roman Empire tended to do, when there was any kind of uprising in the Empire. And what’s interesting is that their rejection of Jesus doesn’t keep them from judgment. It comes upon them anyway. The city is sacked, and the temple is destroyed, and the priesthood is dissolved in 70 AD, when the Roman General Titus comes in like gang-busters. So again; this is a warning to unbelievers here. Just because you reject Jesus, and just because you say, you don’t believe in Him, that doesn’t excuse you from the coming judgment. It’s coming. It’s going to happen to all men. And a person’s disbelief does not change that fact. Jude 14 & 15 says, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
The question is where will you be standing when that happens, with Christ, or apart from Him? Caiaphas and the High Priests, and the Pharisees, thought that they could avoid judgment by rejecting Christ. They thought that they could keep their comfortable lives, and privileges by rejecting Christ. They thought that if they rejected the truth, that the troubles wouldn’t come upon them… they could just go on living life, like they always had.
Now let me give you just a little bit more background on Caiaphas, because I think it will be helpful as you think on this passage. Caiaphas was the High Priest… he was appointed High Priest by a Roman Consul named Vlerius Gratis. Vlerius Graitis was the Consul before Pilate. And this guy, Caiaphas was about as corrupt as they come. When Titus sacked Jerusalem, his soldiers found that Caiaphas had a hidden stash of what would be the modern day equivalent of about $3 million dollars in gold… He and his entire family were corrupt and crooked, and wicked men. They were defrauding people in the Name of God and under the disguise of religion.
And the reason I wanted you all to see this and know more about these Pharisees and Priests, and Caiaphas is because it shows us what I said earlier in this sermon. And that is – TRUE FAITH presses on with Christ. It seeks to know Him more and more, and better and better. It presses towards the mark of the prize. But false faith digresses into apathy, and then into un-repentant sin, and it seeks to hide the truth, and avoid the truth, and not hear the truth, and eventually it leads to a rejection of Jesus, and full blown apostasy.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can be lukewarm about Jesus, and it’s not going to lead you anywhere. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can ignore truth, and ignore the demands of faith, and that by doing so, you’re going to continue to progress in sanctification, and continue to mature in your faith. You’re either going forward with Christ, or you’re turning away from Him and going a different direction. And what’s really kind of scary about this is that these Pharisees, and these priests; most of them probably thought they were doing the right things by this. Most of them probably thought they were right with God… now maybe not Caiaphas himself. I mean; the guy had to know he was defrauding the people, and corrupt. But chances are; he justified it in some way. And the reality is; that’s often what we all do when we sin. We find some kind of justification for our sin, and for our thoughts, and for our behaviors. We tell ourselves that it’s ok. So when we look at someone like Caiaphas, we often say to ourselves, “Man this guy is wicked. He’s a bad guy. There’s no doubt that this guy is a sinner.” But the Bible teaches that we all… each and every one of us, has a tendency to be just like him. To hide from truth so that we can stay comfortable. To not act on what we say are our convictions so that we can maintain our status quo.
But if you’re here this morning, and by the grace of God, you have come to realize your need for a savior, let me just tell you – that’s the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. If you’re here this morning, and you’re convicted by the unbelief you’ve had in the past, and you know you want to put that aside and follow Jesus, again, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit, drawing you to Christ. If that’s you this morning, I’d love to talk to you about some of the next steps you can take. And we’d love to give you the opportunity to make a public profession of that faith that God has wrought in you.
And if you’re here this morning, and you’re saying, “Pastor Ken, I believe. I’ve believe in Jesus, and He has saved me, and redeemed me, but I haven’t followed Him the way I should.” I’d love to visit with you, and help you find out what’s hindering your walk with Him.
If you need prayer, I invite you to come. If you need to be baptized, I invite you to come. If you’re looking for a church home, we’d love to have you join us.
As Joel leads us in singing, if the Lord is leading, please come. The act of coming forward does not save you, but we do that so that we can get a sense of where you are and how we can best minister to you. Ultimately; it’s about trusting in Christ, and then following Him to the end, I pray that He will call you to that life of faith this morning.
CLOSING
