Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 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.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 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.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
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.
Comment: The raising to life of the dead Lazarus caused people to think deeply. That is not true of everyone, because some people have such closed minds that they shrug and at this moment would have thought something like ‘This is planned trickery; the body wasn’t a dead body, but had been drugged or the guy had accepted a bribe to play act in order to get people’s attention and to fool them.’ But the story tells us of two opposing reactions. Some, we are told, believed in Jesus. Believed what about Him? In the context of the gospels it meant that they believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah – a God sent deliverer. Some would have seen Him only as a deliverer from the Roman Overlords, others would have seen Him as the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy and the King who would sit on the throne of David forever. Others thought that the matter was to be notified to the hierarchy of the Jews. The Sadducees (who were non believers in life after death) and the Pharisees (who were very legalistic and bound to the letter of the Law), in spite of their different stances decided that Jesus had to go! They planned murder, probably because they loved their own positions and power. Jesus claimed to be God and they saw that as blasphemy! The portion in italics in the reading from John states further some of their reasoning. Caiaphas’ statement was their reason to kill Him (Jesus) but it was prophetic in that by Jesus’ death God would provide the Way of Salvation!
Prayer: Thank You, thank You, Jesus, for dying as our substitute to make forgiveness and restoration into a healthy relationship with God the Father possible.
As I read it! 