Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
I find it surprising that only SOME would believe after Jesus raised someone from the dead. In the next verses, the Pharisees seem to have the same opinion:
So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 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.”
The Pharisees can see well enough that someone like Jesus will be able to attract many followers. But I think they're still missing the picture. What exactly is it they are worried the Romans will do, kill people? That doesn't seem so threatening when your leader can literally raise the dead. Also, their solution seems a bit questionable:
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 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.”
That's right, the correct way to deal with someone who has power over life and death is to kill them. Because that will totally work.
The irony that I noticed, however, is this. As a result of raising Lazarus from the dead, the priests decided to kill Jesus. It's almost as if Jesus has taken Lazarus' place in the grave. Fortunately, this is a burden that Jesus is more than capable of bearing. Not even death can defeat him. That's why we shouldn't hesitate either to cast our burdens on Jesus. He loves us, and he is able.
No comments:
Post a Comment