If you are successful and popular, there is probably a group of people who will hate you. If you don't threaten the status quo, if you keep your head down and don't stand out from the crowd, you will more than likely survive longer than you might otherwise, in the normal course of events. But if you challenge the status quo, rock the boat, shake the tree, rattle the cage, upset the apple cart, make trouble, somebody somewhere will plan to take you down.
There are always vested interests that want to preserve the current way things are.
Let's take as evidence for the law of the jungle the behaviour of pre-schoolers in the playground. I used to observe the pecking order in the playground at Moore College. A child would play with the one slightly older in age, or slightly younger in age, but no child with play with one quite a bit younger or older. Such a play date would be beneath the older child. A new child coming into the playground would fit into that hierarchy, and learn the rules of engagement, the pre-school caste system that the law of the jungle had established.
There are pecking orders in every social group: at school, at work, at Bible college, at church, in the home, in the nursing home. Any human organisation ends up having some sort of hierarchy, including the church. Every human organisation has politics and power structures and key decision-makers. It is inevitable. And those at the top, generally speaking, like this arrangement exactly the way that it is—except, of course, if they can get higher up the tree. Once the dust has settled and the status quo is established, those in power will generally not tolerate any challenge to it.
As an aside, what makes applied Christianity different is how we treat those under us, those we are meant to care for, our rivals or opponents, or even our enemies. How we as Christians use and adapt to these realities we find of ‘ruler’ and ‘ruled’ will and must be different, under the guidance of the Spirit of God and inspired by the ministry of the Son of God (see John 13:1-17), but there will always be leaders and the led.
Jesus rattled the cage of the religious leaders of his time. As a result, they wanted to take him out. It was in part jealousy, but it was more than jealousy. They saw it as self-preservation.
Jesus has just restored Lazarus to life from death. That is remarkable. He waited two days before he went to him. By the time he arrived, the fourth day after Lazarus had died, Jesus' good friend was well and truly dead. Jesus let the death of his friend occur, though he could have prevented it, because he wanted to prove something very important to Mary, Martha, his disciples, Lazarus, Jerusalem, and indeed, to us today who read John's Gospel. John 11:25-26:
Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (NIV)
Jesus has the power of life and death, because he is the resurrection and the life. Death is no obstacle to Jesus giving life. And as a consequence, many believed once they saw the sign of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. And this is what the signs are designed to do: to point to who Jesus is and why he came.
But not only do many people believe in Jesus (v. 45), but also some who saw were dobbers (v. 46). Some of the mourners go off from Bethany and Lazarus' funeral to Jerusalem and dob Jesus into the religious hierarchy (v. 46). And the hierarchy takes counsel.
The high priests and the Pharisees are not natural allies, yet they put aside their many and substantial differences to call together the Sanhedrin to deal with their Jesus problem that they have. Jesus is upsetting the status quo. He is a trouble maker, agitating the people. John chapter 11 verses 47 to 48:
11:47So the high priests and the Pharisees called together the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we doing? This man is doing many signs. 11:48If we let him keep going in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place [that is, the temple] and our nation.”
The problem that the Jewish religious leaders have is threefold.
First, Jesus is doing signs. Jesus' signs are miracles with a point. While John reports in a number of places that Jesus did many signs, he only gave accounts of seven of Jesus' signs in his Gospel. They are: (1) Jesus turned water into wine, showing that he came to bring in a new way of relating with God, not by the ceremonial requirements of the law of Moses, but by the grace and abundance of Jesus Christ (John 2:1-12, cf. 1:17). (2) Jesus heals the royal official's son from a distance, showing that he is indeed the saviour of the world (John 4:43-54). (3) Jesus gave the crippled man the use of his legs without using the pool, nor, seemingly, requiring faith from him, showing that he is God who can work on the Sabbath (John 5:1-15). (4) Jesus fed the 5000 men in the desert, showing that he is the true bread coming down from heaven (John 6:1-15, 22-71). (5) Jesus walks on water showing himself the I am who treads the waves and brings the mariners safely home (John 6:16-21). (6) Jesus gave sight to the man born blind, showing that he is the light of the world (John 9:1-41). And (7) earlier in chapter 11, he raised Lazarus from the dead, showing that he is the resurrection and the life (John 11:1-44). And this list of signs does not include his seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree before Phillip called him (John 1:40-52), nor knowing about the Samaritan woman's five husbands and her current man not being her husband (John 4:1-42). If all we had was recourse was to the seven signs that John recounted, what Jesus actually did spoke for itself, and frequently Jesus gave specific teaching to explain what the work demonstrated. None of this was done in a corner. All of it was public. And all of it was undeniable, despite the efforts of the religious leaders.
The second problem is that the religious leaders are afraid that everyone is going to believe in Jesus because of the signs (v. 48). And that is a problem, because the Pharisees and chief priests don't believe in Jesus, no matter what signs he has done. And they don't have any signs of their own to draw the people back to themselves. They don't have signs because they aren't from God. So Jesus is competition. They are hired hands, but Jesus is the good shepherd. They stumble in darkness, but Jesus is the light of light. And they cannot tolerate him and the competition that he poses to their rule. They are therefore Jesus' most bitter rivals.
The third problem is that the religious leaders are worried about the Romans. At this point of Israel's history, Jerusalem, Judea, and Galilee were occupied by the foreign power of Rome. Jerusalem was ruled directly by the Romans through Pontius Pilate as governor, while Galilee was ruled by Herod, who was a vassal king, a client of Rome and dependent on Rome for his rule. The ruling Jewish elite had carved out a way of more or less governing the nation and maintaining their temple worship under the pagan Roman authorities through obtaining Roman toleration for Jewish religious sensibilities. That was the achievement of the last century and a half.
Nevertheless, there was a real risk of the Jews losing whatever semblance of political power that they still had, the religious autonomy that they had achieved, and their 'place' (being the temple in Jerusalem, the defilement and destruction of which in recent Jewish history had left scars on the national psyche). They still had something they could call their 'nation', of which the destruction of the Northern Kingdom and its decline into syncretistic Samaritan religion was now for the Jews an ever-present reminder of the dangers. And indeed, their fears were shown to be valid by the events of AD 70, when the Romans did take away the nation, the temple, and the Jewish hierarchy in Jerusalem, a disaster from which the Jews have never recovered even until this day.
Now the high priest that year, Caiaphas, is the worldly-wise sage of the gathering. He realises that what is needed is realpolitik, it is kill or be killed, and he unapologetically states the stark choice that the Sanhedrin faces. After sharply rebuking their ignorance and unwillingness to do what needs to be done, he states the rationale for their conspiracy against Jesus of Nazareth. Verse 50:
11:50Don’t you think that it is best for you that one man die for the people and the whole nation not perish?
The high priest thought that by killing Jesus Christ, he would rid Jerusalem of the Messianic sentiment that Jesus' words and works have aroused. Jesus is a problem, because people think he is the Christ. (He obviously isn't, according to Caiaphas, because, well, Jesus is not approved of by them! He breaks the Sabbath. They know where he is from. Nothing good comes from Galilee.)
But it seems that some, perhaps many, of the Jewish populace think that he is the Christ. This will cause political instability and Jewish nationalism that will threaten the existing and uneasy pax Romana, the status quo on which their power under Roman rule was based. And the Romans will not tolerate any challenge, any hint of a challenge, and the danger is that the current hegemony will be overthrown in the Roman over-reaction. That, it seems to me, is Caiaphas' reasoning.
Little did Caiaphas realise that Jesus was in reality the Christ who came not to destroy the nation by political instability and revolution against the Romans, but to save it by dying for it as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Caiaphas, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin thought like men. They did not think like God. God sent his own Son into the world because of his love. Jesus Christ came to die for the nation, and for the scattered children of God: for the sheep from other sheep pens and not just that of the Jews.
But as it turned out, as a matter of fact Jesus' death would not in the end preserve the status quo, nor save the elites in their social position, nor safeguard the continuing existence of the temple, nor rescue the nation from military desolation. For around 35 years after this, the temple and the nation would be destroyed by the Romans, just as the elites feared. Getting rid of Jesus didn't stop this. Indeed, Jesus says that it speeded it up. The rejection of Jesus by Jerusalem sealed Jerusalem's fate, and all who pinned their hopes on the earthly city (Mark 13, Luke 13:31-35, 19:41-44).
The high priest was deadly serious, but he speaks more than he knows. His words are an example of irony, which John frequently uses. Just as Jesus being 'lifted up' has a double reference to both his ignominious crucifixion, and his glorification thereby, so Jesus will indeed die for the people, but not in the way that the high priest thinks.
He is after all the saviour of the world, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, including those who are not from his pen. He is the true temple, whom the Jewish leadership will destroy, but who will be raised in three days. For all their concern about 'their place', they fail to see the one whom the stone temple pointed to. He is the bread of life, who will give his flesh for the life of the world. He is the Son of Man, who must be lifted up, just like Moses lifted up the snake on a pole in the desert, so that whoever looks to the lifted up snake lives.
John makes it clear that Caiaphas' prophecy is not made merely in his personal capacity. It is an official prophecy, bearing the full weight of his office of high priest that year. Verses 51 and 52 is John's indirect speech report of the prophecy. He prophesied that:
11:51And he did not say this in his personal capacity, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die on behalf of the nation, 11:52and not only on behalf of the nation, but also so that the scattered children of God might be gathered together as one.
Jesus did indeed die for the people, and indeed for the scattered children of God. The irony of the prophecy is found in the different mechanism by which his death was 'on behalf of' the people and the end result of Jesus' death for the people.
Caiaphas, it seemed, hoped that the nation's ultimate rejection of Jesus' Messianic claims, as evidenced by his execution for blasphemy, might unite the Jews in something like the following way. The ruling elites would remain in their position. Their place, the temple would remain untouched by the Romans. Their nation, such as it was under the Romans, would thereby not further decline in power, influence, and independence, but at least hold its own. The diaspora Jews, perhaps as a consequence of this more solid Pax Romana, would conceivably return to Jerusalem, their ancestral homeland, and likewise submit themselves to Sanhedrin rule, further establishing the Jewish ruling elite's power. And so the nation, such as it was, would steadily and incrementally grow in independence. That was, it would seem, Caiaphas' reasoning.
But God's mechanism was completely different. The saving power of Jesus' death was to be found in its being a substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of the whole world: nothing less can account for Jesus being "the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29, 35). The people would look to the lifted up Son of Man on the cross, and by faith in him as the Messiah, not in rejection of him as a pretender, they would live (John 3:14-16). For Jesus was the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep (John 10:11-18).
And the end result of Jesus' death was not merely a solidification of the current status quo and the establishing of the existing power of the elites. It was not even a national resurgence, a 'making Judea great again' through the bolstering of the Jewish population and thus power by the return of the diaspora Jews. It was nothing less than the salvation of the world. For "the children of God" are not just the Jews. For John and Jesus, "the children of God" are now a different category of human, those humans who have faith in Christ. John has signalled this from the very beginning of his Gospel. It is not enough to be of Jesus' nation and biological people the Jews to be the child of God. John chapter 1 verses 11 to 13.
1:11He came to his own country, and even his own people did not receive him. 1:12But as many as received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave them the authority to become children of God. 1:13They were not begotten from the blood of humans, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of man, but were begotten from God.
The children of God is not some way of talking about the Jews. The children of God are those born again by the Spirit of God (John 3:1-12) to recognise Jesus Christ as Son of God and believe in his name. And this spiritual rebirth, and only this spiritual rebirth which issues in faith in the Messiah Jesus, makes people children of God (John 1:12-13).
Jesus has already signalled that he came for the whole world, not just the Jews. He did so in his sign of healing the royal official's son (John 4:43-54). This boy and his father were almost certainly not Jewish. This already has underlined God's love for the 'world' in sending Christ, (John 3:16). So too has the Samaritan town's confession that Jesus is "the saviour of the world" (John 4:42). And Jesus himself has likewise intimated his global interests in speaking of the sheep who are not of this sheep pen (John 10:16).
And I have other sheep which are not from this sheep pen. And I must also bring these in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock under one shepherd.
The sheep not from this pen are not merely the diaspora Jews. For Jesus came for the world, and everything that means for John. So the sheep are the gentiles, the Greeks, the world. Jesus is pointing to the gentile mission that is recorded for us in the Acts of the Apostles. For Jesus, too, is concerned for the unity of the flock--the whole flock. The world must be brought under the loving pastoral care of the good shepherd whose it is, and who will die for its life.
The gathering of the Sanhedrin on that day, and their conspiracy to kill Jesus at the behest of the high priest, meant that Jesus could no longer travel openly among the Jews. His time was coming near, but it was not yet here. So he had to make a strategic withdrawal, so he went away and stayed in the nearby desert region with his disciples.
There is a place for such strategic retreat in the face of concerted persecution, for both Jesus and for us. There is a time to keep your head down. There is also a time to march proudly into battle. Since Jesus' time had not yet come, and there was still much good he could do with his disciples who would continue his mission after his departure. Since daytime is the time for work, and Jesus has the work of training and teaching his disciples continually before him, he withdraws and spends the time in a town called Ephraim in the desert regions. The time was not wasted, we can be sure.
Likewise for us, there is a time for us to keep our heads down. Maybe it is wise to withdraw from the people harassing you and Christianity for a time. Maybe a strategic withdrawal for preparation for the future challenges and battles is what you need.
But in the end, you, I, and everyone who names Christ will have to stand firm in the face of whatever conspiracy we find arranged against us by our enemies. The retreat is only a temporary and strategic one. Jesus in the end would have to give up his life for the sake of the scattered children of God.
Let's pray.
My Translation
11:45For this reason, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him, 11:46 but some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus did.
11:47So the high priests and the Pharisees called together the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we doing? This man is doing many signs. 11:48If we let him keep going in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place[1] and our nation.
11:49But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing! 11:50Don’t you think that it is best for you that one man die for the people and the whole nation not perish? 11:51And he did not say this in his personal capacity, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die on behalf of the nation, 11:52and not only on behalf of the nation, but also so that the scattered children of God might be gathered together as one.
11:53So from that day on they planned to kill him. 11:54For this reason, Jesus no longer travelled openly among the Jews, but he went away into the nearby desert region, into Ephraim called a city, and there he stayed with his disciples.
11:55Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover so that they might sanctify themselves. 11:56So they were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another while standing in the temple, “What do you think? For surely he won’t come to the feast, will he?” 11:57Now the high priests and the Pharisees had given a command that anyone who knows where he is should report it, so that they can arrest him.