One must Die for the Nations

Discipleship and Mission

Call to Ministry

Call to Remember

John 11:47-54 The Message

The Man Who Creates God-Signs

45-48 That was a turnaround for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. “What do we do now?” they asked. “This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have.”
49-52 Then one of them—it was Caiaphas, the designated Chief Priest that year—spoke up, “Don’t you know anything? Can’t you see that it’s to our advantage that one man dies for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed?” He didn’t say this of his own accord, but as Chief Priest that year he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus was about to die sacrificially for the nation, and not only for the nation but so that all God’s exile-scattered children might be gathered together into one people.
53-54 From that day on, they plotted to kill him. So Jesus no longer went out in public among the Jews. He withdrew into the country bordering the desert to a town called Ephraim and secluded himself there with his disciples.
11 “And here is how you are to eat it: Be fully dressed with your sandals on and your stick in your hand. Eat in a hurry; it’s the Passover to God.
12-13 “I will go through the land of Egypt on this night and strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, whether human or animal, and bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am God. The blood will serve as a sign on the houses where you live. When I see the blood I will pass over you—no disaster will touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14-16 “This will be a memorial day for you; you will celebrate it as a festival to God down through the generations, a fixed festival celebration to be observed always. You will eat unraised bread (matzoth) for seven days: On the first day get rid of all yeast from your houses—anyone who eats anything with yeast from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off from Israel. The first and the seventh days are set aside as holy; do no work on those days. Only what you have to do for meals; each person can do that.

For Reflection

Caiaphas was correct, but not for the reason he asserted.  Caiaphas referred to the existence of the relationship between the Roman occupation and the priesthood. He may have rationalized that he was protecting Israel from persecution.


Christ had to die at the insistence of those who represented the empirical domination of Israel and for whom violence was necessary to maintain peace and order. In his death, Christ has shown us the tragic loss that godless violence brings. Through choosing death over capitulation, Christ illustrates the extent to which he, and therefore we, should be committed to the promise of God. Through his resurrection, Christ ends the fear of death and elevates the demand to resist injustice and trust in God.

Pray

Pray so that you will trust in God.  Pray that you will have the courage to resist the temptation to violence in the face of injustices.  Pray so that you endure fear and act in confidence according to the will of God for peace that is not only the absence of war.

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