Lesson 34: John 11:45-57 - I AM the Resurrection and the Life (part 3)
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,
46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.
50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?”
57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
The consequence for Jesus’ raising of Lazarus turned into what appeared to be, in human terms at least, an even greater problem. The religious leaders were now more determined than ever to kill Jesus. What should have been, in our eyes, the winning blow to the leaders’ schemes, became the exact opposite. Yet, all of this was just as God had planned it. Remember, in Chapter 10, God had stopped the people from killing Jesus. Now God would not stop them. The right time – God’s perfect time – had come for His plan to be worked out in full.
As we have seen with Jesus’ previous “I AM” statements, He took advantage of a situation to teach the crowd who He truly is, and then He demonstrated His identity in action. The rest of the book of John becomes the demonstration of His statement - I AM the Resurrection and the Life.
*In what experience has God surprised you by doing something the opposite way or time you thought He would/should? How has the outcome of this situation helped grow your faith to trust Him in your present circumstances?
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,
46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.
50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?”
57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
The consequence for Jesus’ raising of Lazarus turned into what appeared to be, in human terms at least, an even greater problem. The religious leaders were now more determined than ever to kill Jesus. What should have been, in our eyes, the winning blow to the leaders’ schemes, became the exact opposite. Yet, all of this was just as God had planned it. Remember, in Chapter 10, God had stopped the people from killing Jesus. Now God would not stop them. The right time – God’s perfect time – had come for His plan to be worked out in full.
As we have seen with Jesus’ previous “I AM” statements, He took advantage of a situation to teach the crowd who He truly is, and then He demonstrated His identity in action. The rest of the book of John becomes the demonstration of His statement - I AM the Resurrection and the Life.
*In what experience has God surprised you by doing something the opposite way or time you thought He would/should? How has the outcome of this situation helped grow your faith to trust Him in your present circumstances?