In the Word: John 11:49-53

Have you ever misheard something someone said? Have you misunderstood someone’s intention?

I don’t know that I’ve registered this verse before, but as I came across it the other day it was fascinating to ponder.

After the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, we find this moment when many Jews go to see Mary and see Lazarus alive and well. They're suddenly overwhelmed and realise that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah. They go to tell the devout Pharisses the good news, that yes, it's Him! But if this, Jesus truly was the promised Messiah then everything the chief priests and leaders had been working for and preaching was wrong. The high priest for that year, Caiaphas speaks up.

“You know nothing at all! You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” (John 11:49b-50, CSB).

If you were to stop reading here it's very easy to conclude that Caiaphas is suggesting that Jesus be killed for the good of the Jewish nation. Yet, if you read on we have an explanation of why he said what he did.

He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God. (John 11:51-52, CSB).

He was given a prophecy. I'd say he knew very well that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. I'd hazard a guess that being the chief priest meant he knew the Scriptures and well at that. Which mean he knew that what the prophet Isaiah had said long ago of the Messiah, being rejected and killed for the sins of many, but also having 'no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him' (Isaiah 53:2b), was about Jesus. What Caiaphas said here was well intentioned, was prophecy, was truth. It was hard to hear, but it would come to pass and it was the plan of salvation. How blinded by their stubbornness and hatred these men must have been, that 'from that day on they plotted to kill him' (John 11:53).

I wonder if you've ever misheard or misinterpreted something? Did it have severe ramifications? Have you ever been in a situation where your emotions completely overpowered your thinking? So much so that you took misdirected steps of action for the wrong cause?

There is a warning to be heeded here. A warning to listen well, to ask questions and clarify what someone means. A warning to not act out of anger. Although Jesus' death on the cross was the plan and necessary to pay the price for our sin, these people of God played a big part in it. A part they didn't have to, had they opened their hearts, listened and allowed God to speak to them.

Discussion Questions:

- Think on a time when you allowed your emotions to overpower your thoughts. Did you react to situations in irrational ways? What would a normal, calm reaction from you look like?

- What can you do to remind yourself to simmer down and think through things before reacting, when you're in the heat of the moment?

- Read through John chapter 11. What are some other interesting moments you observe in reading this passage?

- What does this passage reveal about God/Jesus' character?

- What does this passage show about humans?

N.