CHAPTER 11 of St. John’s Gospel has a melancholy ending as it reveals the sad state of the Jewish nation, and their refusal to accept Jesus, their Messiah. Each paragraph of these verses have something to teach us.

In verses 45 to 47 we learn the mixed reception the gospel receives. There could not have been a more notable miracle performed by Jesus than the raising of Lazarus from death. It was the most powerful testimony to his Messiahship yet given, yet only some believed and many did not. This is always the case. When the true word of God is proclaimed some will believe, but many more will remain in unbelief, and in many there will be open opposition as we see here, for many went to the Pharisees and sided with them. We must not be discouraged at this. If such results came with the perfect ministry of Jesus, then we must not be surprised or despondent when our lesser ministry receives the same result. What we know is that some will believe, and we must rejoice in this and praise God for his grace.

In verses 47b to 48 we behold the worldliness of the Jewish leaders. They were only concerned for their position in this earthly life. They were afraid that if people followed Jesus, they would lose their authority and privileges, and that perhaps the Romans might react and upset their peaceful life. The point was that all they were concerned about was worldly advantage and happiness. It was this sad fact that had turned their expectancy of their Messiah into someone who would set them up in their earthly glory and increase their earthly privileges. There is a warning here to us all that the love of this world can make shipwreck of our souls.

Verses 49 to 50 show us what awful lengths people will go to in order to gain treasure on earth. Caiaphas was willing to commit murder to maintain the status quo at that time, because it would preserve him and the other Jewish leaders in their position of privilege. We see how this worldly desire made it possible for Caiaphas to justify his advice. He was really arguing that the life and teaching of the Pharisees was the truth of God, and that maintaining this was worth the sacrifice of one man. The Jews were spiritually blind, and did not know it. There is always a danger for the visible church of God to become like this, and so God’s believing people need to be vigilant and not be afraid to accept the same rejection from religious leaders as Jesus experienced, if similar worldliness creeps into the church. However there must be no arrogance in seeking to stand for the truth, but instead the same spirit as Jesus showed who yearned in love for the Jews who rejected him.

Verses 51 to 53 are specially encouraging. In spite of the fact Caiaphas was advising and acting as he did, yet without knowing it or desiring it, he was promoting the saving work of God. It was God’s purpose that Jesus should die for the Jewish nation, and indeed the whole world, but not in the way Caiaphas meant. God gave Jesus to bear the sin of the world, so that through faith in Jesus sinners may experience the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of eternal life. Caiaphas meant evil, but his evil was used by God to promote the greatest good of all, which was the providing of salvation for all who would believe. God is working his purposes out, and even though wicked people seek to do wicked actions which are against God, yet in spite of their wickedness God turns that wickedness to the fulfilling of his purposes. Peter in his sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2 proclaimed this truth - "This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. (Acts 2:23).

Verse 54 shows us how evil seems to triumph. We are told here that Jesus no longer could move freely in public because the Jews were looking for ways to take his life. Because of this the preaching and healing ministry of Jesus seemed to be hindered. If this is all we see then we are not beholding the true picture. The time of Jesus giving his life a ransom for the sins of the world was established before time by God, so this curtailing of Jesus’ movement was not hindering the purpose of God. When the time came Jesus went up to Jerusalem and gave himself into the hands of the Jews, so that he might die in our place on the cross. There will be seeming set backs in the work of God, but this is only temporary, and it does not signal any upset in the saving plan of God.

Lastly in verses 55 to 57 we catch a glimpse of the spiritual poverty of the Jews. Two things in these verses illustrate this. There is the fact that they seemed to be governed by a sort of voyeurism. It excited them as to what was going to be the fate of Jesus. They did not care very much for Jesus, but they were interested in whether he would come and face the obvious enmity of the Jewish authorities, and whether he would win or lose. How superficial human beings can be, and how uncaring. Then there is the spiritual deadness of their lives seen in their actions. They came up to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover feast. They were careful to observe all the outward rules and regulations of their faith, but that was all it was. It was all outward, and their hearts were not touched. They were not concerned with inner purity and obedience to God. As long as they had fulfilled the outward duties of religion they felt they were pleasing to God. They had forgotten that God desires truth in the inward parts, and people that truly loved God with all their hearts. It is a melancholic fact that sinful human nature deceives itself into believing that outward rules and regulations is all that is required, when instead God looks on the heart to see if the heart is right with him.

We need to take all this seriously and see that our hearts are meek and lowly and we are following Jesus with a true heart.