John 11:45 ¶ Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and
had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. 46 But some of them went their ways to the
Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. 47 Then gathered the chief priests and the
Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men
will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and
nation. 49 And one of them, named
Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing
at all, 50 Nor consider that it is
expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole
nation perish not. 51 And this spake he
not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus
should die for that nation; 52 And not
for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the
children of God that were scattered abroad. 53
Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly
among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a
city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. 55 And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and
many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify
themselves. 56 Then sought they for
Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye,
that he will not come to the feast? 57
Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment,
that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take
him.
Some of the witnesses to this miracle believe but amazingly
some rush to tell the leadership about this dangerous threat to the status quo.
The Pharisees and the council are in a quandary. What are they going to do?
They acknowledge that Jesus has actually performed many miracles. Their great
fear is that the disruption Jesus causes will encourage the Romans to overrule
their authority.
Human government’s main preoccupation is with preserving its
authority. A politician in a Democracy has as his main impulse the drive to get
re-elected. Power is the end goal of power. Here we have an admission that
Christ is doing many miracles but rather than being drawn to Him, their
paranoia and fear of losing control over the people takes precedence.
The Messiah performing miracles, supernatural acts of
healing and raising people from the dead, cannot be tolerated. Eventually,
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, would understand this.
Mark 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye
that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 10 For he knew that the chief priests had
delivered him for envy.
Envy is a dangerous thing.
Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but
who is able to stand before envy?
The high priest, Caiphas, not knowing that he is working
toward God’s own goal of the cross and the empty tomb, states that Jesus must die
for the sake of the nation. However, there is no fear of God in Caiphas’ remark,
though. Later Gamaliel, the great teacher of Paul (Acts 22:3), will say about
some of the Apostles actions;
Acts 5:38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these
men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will
come to nought: 39 But if it be of God,
ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
Verse 51 states that this was an unintentional prophecy,
that Jesus would die for the Jews and not only those over which the Sanhedrin controlled
but also for those scattered abroad
meaning the Jews around the world. Here is the phrase used in another context
for the Jews not living in Israel.
James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
The phrase scattered
abroad is first used to refer to the descendants of Japheth, Ham, and Shem
from Genesis 9 who are dispersed around the world at the Tower of Babel event
in Genesis 11. After that it is predominantly used to refer to the Jews in Acts
8, 11, and in James. Notice the greeting in 1Peter 1:1 as well. In some
dispensational theories the Bible is written predominantly to the Jews, first
to the people of God under the Law and then to the Jewish followers of Christ.
By this theory the Bible is written in dispensational order so that only the
books that start with the name, Paul, are written directly and doctrinally to
Christians. Genesis, half of human history, is before the Law was presented
although God’s standards were understood in many instances as you can see by
pagan kings’ fear of God and Job’s understanding of right and wrong. Then,
there is the Hebrew or Jewish people under the Law through the Gospels and then
after the church age ends in a rebellious slave being sent home to his master in
Philemon. After that, the letters are written to Jewish believers, scattered
abroad. Matthew, Acts, and Hebrews are transitional books that show the
unfolding of the Gospel to the Jews, early church history, and the transition
from a predominantly Gentile church to again, a predominantly Jewish one at the
end of history. Every verse in the Bible has an application to Christians but
as far as our direct marching orders are concerned we must look to Paul’s
letters to the churches. Of course, that is just one theory of Biblical
interpretation among many.
Whatever theory of
interpretation you prescribe to just be careful about instructions given to the
Jews and do not confuse the Jews with the Church. We can look at the Bible for
what it says to the people it was originally written to and in what context,
look at its application all through history to Christians, and then see how it
applies directly to us individually. Notice what Christ said to the
Philadelphia church.
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of
Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make
them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
One type of Replacement Theology has the Christian church
claiming the physical promises to Ancient Israel and saying that God is done
with the Jews. I have said repeatedly that I think the Bible makes it clear
that God is NOT done with the Jews but that’s a discussion for another time.
From this day forward their purpose was to kill Jesus and
they put out word for informants to let them know where He was. The Passover
was coming and it was expected that He would show up there. After all, how
could He not, at this most important of times?
Jesus removed Himself and His disciples to the country
temporarily, to a town called Ephraim.
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