45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
Jesus’ prayer is answered in part when many of the Jews believed in him. Then there is the big word, but. I find it interesting that Jesus’ prayer was only partially fulfilled. Wouldn’t you think that every prayer Jesus uttered would be answered in the way he requested? After all, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, God incarnate. How is it possible that his prayers would not be completely answered?
One answer is that Jesus was praying only in his human nature and that he didn’t have the omniscient knowledge to pray more specifically for those that would believe or that he believed everyone who saw Lazarus raised would believe. Neither of these thoughts are worthy of who Jesus is. Jesus has been preaching a long time that not everyone was going to hear his voice and follow him. He was preaching that only those whom the Father had given him would come to him. The only conclusion is that Jesus is letting us know that the miracles he performed are a sign to everyone in the world and that the miracles are sufficient for everyone to believe. His prayer is only for the called. The others can’t help but believe, however, what kind of belief do they have? What is their response to that belief?
Their response is shown in the divided action shown of the two groups. One group believes in him and the other runs to tattle to the Pharisees. The latter had to know that God would not raise Lazarus by a faker. Jesus had to be sent from the Father. So they believe, but their belief does not save them. They know the facts but don’t put their trust in Jesus.
This is a message to all of us that not everyone will be saved. Salvation is not universal. It tells us that when we spread the gospel, there will be believers who trust Jesus and there will be those who may understand the facts of the gospel but reject Jesus. Our duty is to proclaim the gospel so that all will hear and know the facts just as those who saw Lazarus raised would know about Jesus. The Holy Spirit will bring those facts from knowledge to a saving trust in Jesus for those whom God has called.
47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, "What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."
You can see from the response of the chief priests and the Pharisees that they believe also. They believe that these miracles are real. Jesus isn’t faking them. Just like many healers have faked miracles in the past, they may have believed Jesus had used healthy people to fake healings until Lazarus came out of the grave.
Rather than rejoicing that this miracle has occurred, they are in a panic. It is evident that they don’t want people to believe in him and it has nothing to do with the things of God. They are concerned only for their own skins. They believe that Jesus is really the Messiah otherwise they would not be concerned about losing their place and nation. They are simply not believing in God and his power to accomplish what he has said he would do. They believe the Messiah is supposed to be a King who would restore the kingdom of Israel to its former glory. How could they believe this and then be afraid that the Romans were mightier than God’s Messiah?
They may fear that the Romans will destroy the temple and Jerusalem and kill or disperse the people to other nations just as Babylonia did to Judah. That would certainly mean losing their position of power, their lives, and wealth. They have no faith in God and what he has said about the Messiah. What is even sadder is that this all happened less than forty years later. Millions of Jews were slaughtered when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.
There are many times in our own lives when we say we believe God and his promises but respond in fear because we don’t trust God. We read all the verses about trusting and not worrying yet we continue to worry and fret about things way out of our control.
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish." 51 Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.
Caiaphas was the appointed high priest at the time. He had been appointed by the Roman curator Valerius Gratus, Pontius Pilate’s predecessor. He was the son-in-law of Annas who was the previous high priest. He had been deposed somewhere around A.D. 15.
The high priests were essentially reluctant collaborators with the Roman government. Since the governors or puppet kings of Israel could depose or appoint the high priest at their whim, their position was tenuous. In addition to this, they had to appease the Jewish population.[1] The tension of this situation makes it easier to understand why they would want to get rid of anyone who would threaten the status quo.
Caiaphas was also a Sadducee.[2] The theology of the Sadducees also played into this decision by Caiaphas. While we commonly understand that they didn’t believe in a resurrection, it is not commonly known that they didn’t even believe there to be any life after death. “To this category of spirits, denied by them, belonged also the spirits of the departed; for they held the soul to be a refined matter, which perished with the body.”[3]With this mentality, it is easy to see that they would be even more threatened by Jesus since all they had was the here and now. They had no future after death.
When we don’t trust God and have no hope for a future after death, we will do things that are morally evil. While God restraints most people, purely logical people who are not saved would act in the same way as Caiaphas and kill anyone who would get in their way if they could get away with it. This is the attitude in each of us when we have quarrels and fights among us. “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” (James 4:1-2 ESV). When we pursue things that we ought not pursue, we are ignoring the fact that there is an eternity and that we will be held accountable. It all boils down to being committed to self instead of God.
It is ironic that Caiaphas didn’t understand what he was saying to be a prophecy. His conspiracy to condemn Jesus for the sake of the nation had nothing to do with Jesus’ death for our sins and to bring together Jews and Gentiles. But John clearly states that this is exactly what God meant through this ungodly man’s statement. It shows that God is always in control of history. He uses the utterances of ungodly people like Caiaphas, Nebuchadnezzar, and even a donkey to bring about his purposes. We are fortunate to have John’s explanation as well as the rest of the New Testament to help us understand exactly what God is doing and has done.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.
While Jesus had many encounters that were dangerous, he remained in control of the situation and was able to walk away. With Caiaphas’ plan to kill Jesus the stakes were increased. He didn’t become presumptuous. While Jesus knew the Father’s plan, we don’t have the insight he did, nor do we have Scripture that tells us precisely what God has planned for us. Therefore, if Jesus was cautious, we too, should be careful when we know that opposition is deadly.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 So they were seeking for Jesus, and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?" 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.
The stage is being set for Jesus’ last week on earth in his earthly body. People were seeking him but still didn’t understand who he is. Of course Jesus must come to the Passover because it was a requirement to fulfill the Law and Jesus was about to complete it all on our behalf. The people were still going about following the Law. They were coming to the Passover as commanded in the Law and purifying themselves according to the Law. Little did they know that these regulations were about to be phased out with Jesus’ death and resurrection. They didn’t know that their purification would be accomplished once for all with Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. The chief priests and Pharisees had set into motion all that was needed to complete Jesus’ mission.
[1]Richard A. Horsley, “High Priests and the Politics Of Roman Palestine: A Contextual Analysis of the Evidence in Josephus,” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period 17, no. 1 (1986): pp. 23-24, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24657973.
[2]Caiaphas.” Unger.
[3]“Sadducees.” Unger.
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