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Jesus’ Death Foretold
After Lazarus has been raised from the dead, many people begin to believe that Jesus may actually be the Messiah. But this does not sit well with the Jerusalem authorities who begin to fear how the Romans might respond to all this. So Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, argued that it would actually be better that one man should die for the people, rather than that the whole nation should perish. On this episode, the hosts will discuss the significance of this statement and its implications on both the dating of the fourth Gospel and the nature of prophecy itself.
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.56 They were looking for Jesus and 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 should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
1Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (John 11:45 – 12:11)
Show Quote:
“As people become more materially prosperous and wealthy, they long for having “your best life now.” I don’t know if you’ve talked to people from other countries who are poor. They say, “You guys in America hardly ever talk about heaven.” That is, material self-sufficiency often convinces us of spiritual self-sufficiency, which is the problem that the Sadducees had. They were extremely opulent and wealthy, and they also didn’t believe in heaven and the afterlife. Part of the curse of the fall, the thorns and thistles and poverty, helps us to long for the renewal of all things.” – Shane Rosenthal
Term to Learn:
“Prophet”
In the biblical sense of the word, a prophet is a person who speaks for God. The popular sense of the word “prophet,” in accordance with which it designates a man who predicts the future, does not do justice to the biblical sense. A prophet in the biblical sense of the word, may predict the future, but he may also speak of the present and of the past, and he may be just as truly a prophet when he issues commands as he is when he gives information. He is a prophet if he speaks as one who has been made, in a supernatural fashion, the mouthpiece of God, so that he can say when he comes forward, “Thus saith the Lord.” (Adapted from J. Gresham Machen, “What is a Prophet?”, The Presbyterian Guardian 7 no. 9 [May 10, 1940]: 131.)
(This podcast is by White Horse Inn. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central, and audio is streamed directly from their servers.)
