No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Part 2- John 11

When we looked at John 9 about Jesus healing a man who had been blind since birth, we saw that the religious leaders sought to make problems for Jesus in No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.

Last week we looked at Jesus Showed He Has Power Over Death as we reflected on Jesus calling Lazarus back from the dead after Lazarus had been dead for four days. Today we will look at the reaction of the religious leaders to the greatest miracle of Jesus up to that point.

One would think that after such a miracle that people would come to faith in Jesus and follow him. While that was true for some:

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

it was not true for all

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Instead of coming to faith in Jesus and believing Jesus is the Messiah, the Pharisees, religious leaders, had a meeting about what to do.

 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was a mix of groups that did not belong together. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection from the dead in the end times and the Sadducees did not. But they were in cahoots in their desire to try to stop Jesus.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

The next part is a bit scary to think about. A man who had no faith prophesied because he was in the office of High Priest. This is a reminder that even though someone has a ministry and outwardly seems to be living for God, they might actually not be.

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all!  You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

Caiaphas prophesied of the death of Jesus being for all the nation but the crucifixion of Jesus was not only for the Jews. It was for all people.

 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,  and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 

What was the response of the Sanhedrin, religious leaders? They wanted Jesus dead.

So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

Think about it. Jesus had healed people, taught about God, and brought Lazarus back from the dead. Jesus committed no crime. He is the only person to ever live that committed no sin. The reason the religious leaders were seeking to kill Jesus was due to him being a threat to their control over the people.

Who do we want to follow? Jesus or leaders with ulterior motives who are against God?

Contemplate this thought- Jesus knew what was happening and he went into Jerusalem anyway because of his love for us.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.