Will Jesus Come to the Passover? An Exposition of John 11:55-58
The Sanhedrin had just met and had condemned Jesus to death. The trial a few weeks later was for show. They had already decided that Jesus must die. John tells us that it would be according to the prophecy of Caiaphas the High Priest but not in the way that Caiaphas intended. Jesus knew of the plot and withdrew himself to the edge of the wilderness to a village named Ephraim. Little is known about the village other than it was secluded. It might have been in Samaria which would provide good cover for Jesus as the Pharisees and Samaritans despised each other. As the Passover was coming soon which involved a time of purification as the text tells us. No Jew was likely to search for Jesus if this was Samaritan territory. This is speculation, so this is only one possibility for the location of Ephraim. Regardless, Jesus was able to conceal His identity and did so. It is not that Jesus feared death. But His death had to occur at the proper “hour.”
We know that Jesus spent a lot of the last winter in the region around Jericho. We do know when the call came to Him concerning the sickness of Lazarus. We do know that He came to Bethany to raise Him after Lazarus had died. It might have only been a few weeks before the Passover. Jesus’ withdrawal was only for a short season.
The Pharisees had spent spies out to find Jesus, but they were not able to find Him. They surmised that He was hiding. The question was whether He would dare return to Jerusalem for the Passover. The Jews were expected to attend the feast. An as a good Jew, Jesus would have been duty bound to obey what was commanded in the Law of Moses. He had always attended the mandatory feasts before, although in chapter 7, He did nit go with His family to the Feast of Tabernacles, but came privately later. In the Roman world, a person sentenced to death could go into exile instead. The Pharisees and Sadducees were not Romans, but may have been aware of the practice. If they could not get their hands on Jesus to kill Him, having Him disappear permanently was the next best thing. We see this in the next chapter when they interpreted Jesus’ statement “Where I go you will not find me” as meaning He would leave Israel to go to a Gentile land.
Jesus would indeed come to the Passover Feast, but on His terms and in His time. His very purpose for becoming flesh and living among us was to die for our sins and be raised on the third day. He would not miss it for the world. He went out with His disciples and joined the pilgrims who were coming to the feast on the Jericho Road. Jesus Christ was coming to town with those who came early to sanctify themselves before the feast. They would have to pick a lamb that Palm Sunday for the Passover. Little did the crowds realize that the true Passover Lamb was coming to town and sanctifying Himself for the feast. He would stop at Bethany with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus at the beginning of Palm Sunday as the Jewish day started at sunset. The meal would have had to have been served after sunset as the previous day was the Sabbath. Jesus would be sanctified for death by Mary’s anointing which also became the occasion for Judas’ betrayal. He was offended that the ointment wasn’t sold and given to the poor. As treasurer, Judas could abscond with the funds. He was so offended that he sold Jesus for ten cents on the dollar, for thirty pieces of silver. The Sanhedrin had found their man who could lead them to Jesus, so that Jesu might be arrested.
Jesus remained faithful to the Father all the way to the cross. As He came to Jerusalem, He was treated to a mock “Triumphal Entry.” I say that it was a mockery, not because the people necessarily were mocking Him like they would do a few days later on the cross. But this is the crowd who in John 6:15, after the feeding of the 5,000 tried to arrest Jesus and make Him King. They would soon reject Jesus who refused to play their assigned role and would shout for his crucifixion as enthusiastically as they had cried “Hosanna!” From there, He boldly came to the Temple and cleansed it right in front of the very people who wanted to kill Him. He then taught openly in the Temple, and no one seized Him because it wasn’t quite the proper time. The Sanhedrin showed themselves to be total cowards. They feared the crowd. They waited for the hour of darkness where they could secretly take Him. their plan would work perfectly. But in doing so, they actually fulfilled the purpose for which Jesus had come. Jesus had indeed come to town. It was a week that would change the history of the world.
I would like to reflect a little while on the disciples of Jesus who had followed Him into the temporary exile. In an earlier departure from Jerusalem to avoid stoning, when the message of Lazarus’ sickness came, Thomas responded to the news that they were returning towards Jerusalem by saying: “Let’s go die with Him. Jesus had told His disciples many times that they would have to deny themselves, take up their own cross, and follow Him. They understood that it was Roman practice to punish the chief followers along with the ringleader. When they followed Jesus unto the feast, by all rights, their life was equally in danger as His. When the Roman soldiers and the Temple guard came to arrest Jesus, the normal practice would have been to arrest the disciples also. But Jesus’ show of power when He identified Himself followed by His command to let His disciples go saved them for another day. Ironically, only Judas who had betrayed Him would die by his own hand. He would hang himself on an accursed tree the same day that Jesus was hung on another accursed tree. Perhaps before Jesus drew His last breath, Judas was dead. Judas died a curse unto himself, but Jesus died for the curse we deserved.
Jesus’ call to His disciples continues unto this day. If we would follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. The Lord may preserve us from death today as he did the disciples, But Peter and most if not all the disciples would have their hour in which they had to lay down their lives. Only John may have been the exception, But he would still suffer a difficult imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos. So whether the Lord preserves us all our life from the horrid death He suffered, we will all die anyway if the Lord tarries. For a time, the Lord might hide us for a season because He has another purpose for us later on. He might seclude us from harm until then or He may not. Many Christians over the centuries have suffered imprisonment, torture, and death for their witness of Christ. In many countries, this is the case today. More Christians have been martyred in the last 100 years than all the martyrs for the previous 1900 years. In America, we have bene preserved from this for the most part. But we do not know what tomorrow brings. There are many who want us dead simply because we believe in Jesus. But even if this happens, we must realize that God will turn this out for our good in his way and in His time. They killed Jesus, but this was not the end of the story. Peter and Paul were killed. But this was not the end of their story either. And it would not be the end of the story for us either. We are resurrection people.
So as we come to Holy Week, let us keep these things in mind. It is the week of the new creation. It is time to assess what it means to be a follower of Jesus, in good times and bad. We have received grace and great promises. We need to keep this in mind when the road becomes difficult. We are running the race that is set before us (The Greek word in Hebrews is “agony” rather than race). What we need to do is to look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For a day, we see Him hanging on a cross. We see Him die, and we see Him buried. But we also see Him rise from the dead, ascended and forever seated at God’s right hand. He found the joy on the other end of the cross. And if we finish the race, so shall we.
