seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 11:45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
Check out verse 49. Caiaphas was high priest for eleven years... It was the same time period as the Procuratorship of Pontius Pilate. In other words, Caiaphas was Chief Priest during that year... when all this happened. So, verse 49 means Caiaphas was running the show.Now look at the rest of the verse. I never noticed the prophecy of Caiaphas before. I had to look it up.... and this was indeed in my commentary.
He prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation: Caiaphas gave an unconscious and involuntary prophecy. John was careful to give the credit to the office, not to the man (being high priest that year he prophesied).
i. “He is urging them to put Jesus to death: but the form of words he uses is unconsciously prophetic.” (Trench)
ii. “Wholesome sugar may be found in a poisoned cane, a precious stone in a toad’s head, a flaming torch in a blind man’s hand.” (Trapp)
This year [2023], Ramadan, Passover, and Easter are happening this weekend! I don't know if I have ever witnessed that. I'm old too... I'm 73. I've seen Israel get bombed before. I've seen trouble on the Temple Mount before. There are a lot of tourists in Jerusalem this year.... and there are a lot of rockets flying. [Oh, and I hope the Pope is healthy enough to get out of bed and do his job this year].
Jesus had just brought Lazarus back to life. Lazarus was in the rock tomb, all bundled up for an eternity of quiet death.... and Jesus made him get up and come back to life. A lot of people saw this. It was the talk of the Nation, no doubt. It was bigger than Elvis.... bigger than the Beatles.... bigger than Beyonce.
Now, Caiaphas was expecting the huge crowds associated with Passover. People would be coming from everywhere. If Jesus was the big deal, then the temple and the priests, would have to take a back seat. On top of that... what would the playlist look like? Would Jesus perform a mass healing of the blind or open all the tombs and bring out all the dead?
Caiaphas would have no part of those shenanigans. He said.... "It's better that one man should die". That was the easiest solution. Snuff Him out!
It wasn't Jesus' time yet. He has a couple more feats to complete before He goes to the Cross. He'll give up His life, but not at the whim of a priest who doesn't know how to deal with crowd control.
It's a matter of crowd control.
Snuff Him out!
