John’s gospel provides for us one of the most ironic prophecies of the bible. In John 11:45-53 Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead. Some Jews saw that miracle and began to believe in Jesus. Other Jews saw it and took the miraculous news to the Pharisees and religious leaders. This instilled in the hearts of those leaders two terrible fears. First they feared that if Jesus were allowed to continue performing miracles that the Jewish population would turn to him. Secondly, they feared that the Roman government who ruled them would feel threatened by the surge in his influence and would then remove them from their sociopolitical station among the people, with their nation ultimately dissolving in the midst of a sure-to-follow Roman cultural transformation (John 11:48). In an attempt to quell those fears, the high priest that year, Caiaphas, rebuked his fellow religious leaders by arguing that it was better for one man to die than that they lose their nation. The bible then makes clear that Caiaphas spoke that rebuke from a prophecy he received which said Jesus would die for the nation and gather all of God's children together who had been scattered abroad (John 11:51-52). From that moment on, the mistaken Caiaphas and his misguided religious leaders plotted to kill Jesus.
Caiaphas was correct in his prophecy, but grossly wrong in his understanding of it. He thought the removal of Jesus would save the nation and bring the various political and geographic divisions of his people under one tent. He didn’t think of the death of Jesus as a willing, personal sacrifice that would cleanse the Jewish people from their sins. He did not see Jesus as divine and so had no clue that this willing, loving sacrifice would unite the people who actually loved God under the banner of God’s sacrificial love. In fact, Caiaphas and his fellow leaders were so blinded by their arrogant and selfish fear that they set out to kill the resurrected Lazarus as well, since so many people were drawn to Jesus due to the miracle he had performed on him (John 12:9-11). Their fears were not totally unfounded. The next day as Jesus entered the city on a donkey, his popularity was overwhelmingly evident as the people welcomed him as a king by waving palm fronds and shouting Hosanna! - an exclamation of praise and adoration (John 12:13). At that moment, the religious leaders knew that killing Lazarus would only make matters worse and that they would gain nothing. Speaking among themselves they knew that the world did not recognize their authority and had gone after Jesus (John 12:19). It must have been profoundly disheartening. But even in that revelation, they were not completely correct. The world had not really gone after him. They had gone after something else. In the midst of the crowd that welcomed him with palm fronds and shouts of Hosanna! were true believers who had a hint of who he really was – the Messianic King and the son of God. And even some of them loved the glory of men more than the glory that comes from God (John 12:42-43). Still, there were others who only saw him as a political king and miracle worker. Their adoration was tied to his miracles and his practical utility. A few days later many in that crowd would no longer be shouting Hosanna!, but instead would be shouting for him to be crucified (Matthew 27:20-23).
The prophecy of Caiaphas proved true, just not in the way he thought it would. The nation he knew disappeared for a time, but those who received Christ became the children of God (John 1:11-13).
Comments