March 26 -- John 11:45-57
“You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” –John 11:50 (NIV)

Among the crowd who witnessed Jesus raise Lazarus were people who were sympathetic to the Pharisees. While some of these people believed in Jesus after witnessing the miracle, some went straight to the Pharisees, who joined with the chief priests to call a meeting of the Sanhedrin. They feared that Jesus’ miracles and His Messianic claims would cause people to begin openly acknowledging Him as the Messiah and to proclaim Him king. This would threaten Roman rule, and since the Messianic prophecies came from the Jews’ religion, Rome would send in armies to destroy the temple and rescind the rights and authority that had been granted the Sanhedrin. Ultimately, the chief priests and Pharisees were bothered most by the threat to their prestige and power.
When Caiaphas, the high priest, told the council, “You know nothing at all!” he was frustrated by their hesitation to put Jesus to death. There was some discussion about what to do, but Caiaphas could see only one alternative—that Jesus must die before the whole nation was put at risk because of Him. Ironically, Caiaphas’s words have a much deeper meaning than the one he intended. Scripture tells us he “did not say this on his own”; it was a God-given prophecy (v. 51). Jesus would “die for the people” so that they would not “perish” (v. 50), but He would die willingly to save them from their sins, not against His will to protect the status quo and maintain an already uneasy peace with Rome. (Notice that God can even use those who are opposed to His will.)
Because of Caiaphas’s words, the Sanhedrin began plotting to kill Jesus, and Jesus withdrew from the public eye because it was not quite yet His time.
Consider: Jesus’ enemies didn’t really have any power over Him. The Sanhedrin continued to have free will, but events were moving forward according to God’s will anyway. Even the high priest’s words, spoken of his own free will, were a prophecy of what would happen. Nothing can stop God and His love for you. Jesus was going to go to the cross at the right time in order to save you, and He went of His own free will. Do you think He cannot foresee what is happening in your own life and bring good from it?
Spend some time with God today, thanking Him for never giving up on loving you. Think about how His will has always been pursuing you, seeking to save and to forgive. Thank Him for times in your life when you could see that nothing was going to keep Him from reaching you, not even your enemies or life’s tragedies.
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