That One Should Die For The Nation

That One Should Die for the Nation: An Exposition of John 11:45-54

Jesus had just done a great miracle by raising Lazarus from the dead. You would think all of Israel would rejoice that Mary and Martha’s beloved brother had been restored to them from the dead. And some did rejoice. Others believed on Him. Someone who could raise a man dead four days was no mere mortal. Yet the text says that some went to the Pharisees and told them about it. The context tells us that they were not believers because they are mentioned separately from them. The Pharisees were opposed to Jesus as they had been opposed to John the Baptist before him. they considered Jesus the worst of blasphemers by Jesus referring to Himself as the “Son of God,” this making himself equal to the Father. Worse yet, Jesus said that they were of their father, the devil. Their hatred of Jesus for exposing them for who they were really were made it impossible to at least be glad that Lazarus was raised. Instead, the text later said they wanted to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus.

The Pharisees hated the Sadducees. But their common hatred of Jesus brought them together. The Sadducees feared the populist preacher from Galilee. They held the common people in contempt. They were the wealthiest of the Jews and loved Greek culture. They did not care so much for Judaism as a whole. But the economy of Jerusalem depended heavily upon pilgrims from all over the world coming to the appointed feasts. As priests, they made a lot of money from religion. It also gave them special status. Even though the Jews lost home rule under Archelaus because he could not control a populist tax revolt led by a man named Judas the Galilean (not Iscariot), they still had considerable freedom to control the religious and social life of the Jews.

The Jews ruling council, the Sanhedrin was called to deal with Jesus. They admitted to the many miracles done by Jesus. They also knew he had a considerable group of followers and were afraid they would start an insurrection against Rome when they came to Jerusalem the coming Passover. This presented a danger to the Sanhedrin. Caiaphas, who was the High Priest and head of the council, knew that he owed his appointment to the Roman state. He was the High Priest “that year.” This was quite contrary to the Scripture which had a prescribed order of succession of the High Priests. They were also to be appointed for life and not just “that year.” As a matter of fact, his father-in-law, Annas, had been High Priest before him and was still alive. Many in Israel thought that the High Priest was not legitimately appointed. Many despised the priests as well as they were unspiritual men who were more interested in making money than representing the people of Israel. Their fears were not unfounded. When the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus on Palm Sunday arrived a few weeks later, the people waved palm branches. The palm branch was a symbol of the last time the Jews were free under the Maccabees before Rome took them over. The palm branch was also the symbol of the Zealots who wanted to overthrow Rome,

Rome did not take kindly to insurrections. When the tax revolt happened, the perpetrators were crucified on the Jerusalem-Jericho road and their bodies left to rot. If the leaders of the Jews were not able to keep the peace, they would at the very minimum be fired from their positions and likely worse. This is the context in which the Sanhedrin met. They were afraid that the Romans would take away “their” place and nation. The pronoun “their” is significant. They thought the nation belonged to them. Their concept of nation only included them and not the people they ruled over.

Caiaphas interrupted the discussion by saying: “YOU know nothing at all!” The emphatic pronoun renders the idea of “You idiots!” Then Caiaphas asks them whether it was more profitable for one man (Jesus) to die rather than “their” nation perish. John tells thus that this was a prophecy that Jesus would die for the nation. He adds that he made the prophecy only because he was the High Priest that year. We can remember that God used a wicked man before to prophecy when he used Balaam in the book of Numbers. Saul who was disobedient to the LORD and rejected, also prophesied. So God used Caiaphas in spite of his evil. We must note that Caiaphas had a completely different understanding of what He said than what God said through him. He wanted to destroy Jesus and save their deep state. But John tells us that the purpose of Jesus’ death save the actual nation, that is the Jews who would believe on Him. He then adds that He would gather people from all over the world into this nation. This would include Jews of the diaspora but also Gentiles as well.