The
resurrection miracle that Jesus had performed there in Bethany, was
pretty awe-inspiring, and the effect of it has been pretty well
portrayed up to this point. But now, when we should be hearing from
Lazarus, the scriptures are silent! Just think of all we could have
learned from him, about life after death! About the light at the end
of the tunnel, that we hear about! Of how it felt to be tucked away
in the bosom of Abraham! Lazarus resurrected, only to have to face
the pains of life and of death, all over again! Well, God has His
purposes, and as I have said many times before, they're way beyond
our understanding. In any case, it didn't suit the purposes of God
for us to know the details of eternity; it simply goes to prove the
truth of Holy Spirit's account. Because if it had been simply John
the man recording this event, you can be sure that he would have told
us "the rest of the story".
Read
11.45...
Notice
how Holy Spirit focuses our attention on Jesus. That is, after all,
the intent of the word of God. All throughout this Gospel, we have
seen the growing hatred of the Jewish establishment toward the
Saviour, and although it would soon lead to His physical death, there
would still be those who would believe on, and receive Him. The
scripture says that..."many would believe on Him". Now
that's a function of grace and of faith you just can't analyze.
Read
vs. 46...
..."but
some..."; and aren't there always! The word "but" is a
pretty ominous word..."but Lord...but I...but you...but some."
These were probably some of the other Judases that the aristocracy
had hired to keep an eye on Jesus' comings and goings, and beings and
doings. The fires of Hell were already licking at their heels! Could
those ever be saved? As horrible as their deeds were, we can never
discount the grace of God; Jesus even died for them!
Read
vs. 47(a)...
Here
we have identified for us, the two most powerful factions in the
Jewish faith...the Sadducees, who according to Acts 5.12, were of the
priesthood, and did not believe in the resurrection of the body
(remember Lazarus?), and their arch rivals, the Pharisees. Really,
you could put them all into a bag, and shake them up; what one didn't
think of, the other did. And they were bitter rivals; but do you know
what? Their hatred for Jesus was the common denominator; they buried
the hatchet in order to hatch a plan to try and defeat the very
purposes of God! Oh, don't tell me that there are those, even today,
who would try and defeat the eternal purposes of God?! A pox on them,
I say! But do you know? even this was just another fulfillment of the
many prophecies of God. We read back in Psalm 2.2 that..."the
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord and His Christ". And that would
include Pilate and Herod, when their turn comes, as well.
You
know something else? the evidence in favour of Jesus' being the very
Son of God, was overwhelming. In fact, the council that met that day
to plan His murder, should have been planning His inauguration
ceremony! Instead, they beat themselves up for allowing Him to live
this long! Well, let's look into their deliberations. Holy Spirit
makes a point of spelling-out this conversation, because you can be
sure that John wasn't there in person.
Read
vss. 47-54...
Notice
something astounding in vs. 47? They accepted the fact of His
miracles! Just as the scripture has told us..."Though one rise
from the dead, still we wouldn't believe!" (Luke 16.31) How can
we not believe in the total depravity, that is, the total lostness of
man, before Jesus? Souls are not won, even by the greatest
demonstrations of power, but rather, by the demonstration of
weakness, powerlessness, humility and disability. You see, strength
is fleeting, power is fleeting, wealth is fleeting, this world is
fleeting...but our humble Jesus...we should melt in His presence,
stand in awe of His love for us, and worship Him because of His
all-embracing grace! We know that He is the Miracle-Maker, because we
are His miracles! Just like Lazarus, we have passed from death into
life. We don't have any need to argue the truth of scripture, because
He is Truth, and we are the evidence of it.
But
notice vs. 48. Here we have the revelation of the real concern of
this temple council...the Romans. We have come to a pretty hard
place, when we look for favour from Caesar, rather than peace from
God! Any sign of trouble in that tiny puppet state of Israel,
particularly as the crowds started to gather for Passover, could
result in BIG trouble. And yes, they had good reason to fear, but
even so, their fear wasn't so much for God's promised land, or the
Covenant People, as it was for their own position, influence and
power. In their minds, they owned the things that really belonged to
God... the wealth and the name and the ritual were all their being
and doing, in their own eyes!
Israel,
at that time, was under Roman authority, and it hasn't been the
nation God had intended it to be, since then, perhaps the treaty of
1948, excepted. In fact, over in chapter 18.36, Jesus will teach a
lesson that all of us should take a page from, when He said..."My
Kingdom is not of this world...". So regardless of what that
council, or even you, believe, please take into account, "the
whole counsel of God". His Kingdom in still "under
construction", of which Psalm 2 is a sober reminder...(read).
Back
to Jn. 11.49-53, we see how Holy Spirit can even use the enemies of
God to identify His purposes. Here we have the chief of the priests,
squashing their statement..."You know nothing at all". In
fact, he was the last on earth to prophesy the death of Jesus "for
that nation"; and not for "that nation" only, but for
all "the children of God, scattered abroad". What was meant
for evil, was to result in good. To the council, it was a brilliant
suggestion, but for the rest of the world, and for the rest of time,
it was to be the only solution for the wages of sin...the only way to
God.
You
know, this subject is very, very deep, and human beings have stumbled
over it in every age. But the scriptures are very clear...all things
are of God, and nowhere is that more clearly seen, than in the
treatment of our Lord Jesus..."at the hands of wicked men"
(see Acts 4.26-28). All these things had been decreed by God, before
the beginning of time. Just as Joseph's brothers had hoped to defeat
the eternal purposes of God by selling him into Egypt, it came to
pass, in Joseph's own words, that..."God meant it for good, to
bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive"! A
large portion of the human race die unsaved, just as though Jesus had
never died for them. But He died anyway, that those who would be
saved, would be saved! His precious spilled blood was, and is, enough
for all. He frees, and will free, every captive who wants freedom.
Zechariah 9.11 says..."As for thee, also, by the blood of thy
covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein
there is no water". And this is just a sampling from the word of
God! Jesus was not a victim, nor was He just another lamb to the
slaughter...He was a Reason, and a Ransom, paid for the eternal
redemption of sinners who would believe and receive! Remember, God
had an express purpose in sending Jesus to earth to die; and Jesus
died with that purpose in His heart and mind and will; and that
purpose was fulfilled, in that Israel should be redeemed, and
that..."the children of God scattered abroad should be brought
together in one family" (vs. 52). And so, as we read in vss.
53-54...(read). Every jot and every tittle of the word of God is
filled with meaning!
We
know, of course, that Jesus' "hour had not yet come". And
we don't know when our own "hour" will come. One thing is
certain however, that all of us who have met God by His grace, will
one day meet Him in all His glory! The temple elite had received
testimony of His resurrection power, but it had only served to add
fuel to their hatred and fear. And so, what is life and spiritual
health to us, was death and spiritual corruption for them, as it is
for all who reject Him.
What
a blessing it is to know that the very plans of Satan are overruled
by the very plans of God!
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