One Death for Many

We are continuing in our study of John will be concluding John 11. If you do not have a Bible or you need to use the Bible in front of you will be on page 898. This is our third Sunday of looking at this particular passage. This is a famous miracle. The last final recorded sign of Jesus Christ before he ascended to Jerusalem for the Passover. It's a significant change in the book. The first half has been looking at the first three years of his ministry, the last 10 chapters, the next 10 chapters are going to look at the last six days as Christ will be ascending to Jerusalem to be nailed to a cross, dying for sinners. Chapter 11 introduced to us that Lazarus was sick. Jesus delayed. He didn't rush. He delayed going. And he tells us why. So that the glory of God will be revealed in this miracle and that his disciples will be challenged to believe. As Martha comes out, he gives us a great, powerful proclamation. I am the resurrection and the life, he says. This is the hope of the Christian. We see Jesus weeping over his lost friend, knowing he's going to raise him up in just a few moments. He's weeping because death is not the way it's meant to be. Death is painful. His sister tells him we can't roll with a stone, it's been four days, he's been buried for four days, there's a stench. Jesus says, roll away the stone. Then he commands with a loud voice, come out. And Lazarus is given new life. This was the last and recorded sign, the last of many signs that John records to show us the power of Christ, to show us who he is. He's the son of God who came to die for sinners and to give new life. What we'll be looking at this morning is the people's response. The climactic end is the declaration come out and Lazarus comes to new life. But here we get to be challenged by the story as we think about how those who saw it and heard it and heard about it, how they responded. The challenge for you is how are you going to respond to the fact that Jesus Christ is the only one who can give new life? Those implications are powerful because it means we're dead. We're dead and Jesus gives new life. How will you respond this morning? Read with me, beginning in verse 45 of Chapter 11, page 898, if you're using a pew Bible. May the Jews, therefore, had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. But some, this is how John has written over and over again, some believe Some continue to reject. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 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. 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. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, He prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. 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. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 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? 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. We see first the response of those who were there. Some believed. Others went and told the authorities. Some believed. Some saw Jesus and heard Jesus say, Lazarus, come out. And they saw a dead man walk out with the linen strips still tied to his hands and his feet. Others went and told the Pharisees. Now, the most generous interpretation we could possibly give to these others is that they went to go tell the Pharisees so the Pharisees could also believe. That's the most generous we could possibly be. Based upon how John has been writing, that's probably a little too generous. The most likely interpretation is that they have gone up, they're concerned about Jesus, they're concerned about what he's done. They're just like John has said, the light has come into the world and the darkness could not stand it. They did not recognize the light. They did not like the light because the light actually revealed their darkness. They had to reject the light. What we see here is that miracles and signs don't produce faith. Miracles and signs do not produce faith. Jesus' own words in Luke chapter 16, verse 31, he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. If either you believe what God has said and you submit to what God has said and who he said he is. Or you continue in your rebellion to our hard hearts when they're when they love sin, when they're committed to sin, when they're enslaved to sin, they don't let us truly recognize the truth. Hard hearts reject God no matter what, no matter how clear or clever the presentation is of the miracle. The hard heart will not believe. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, says that the Jews, they declare signs, the Greeks wisdom, the Jews wanted miracles, the Gentiles, they wanted well articulated arguments. Paul says, I didn't come with any of that because that's not what saves anyone. It's the only thing that cures the hard heart is the clear gospel that Jesus Christ died for sinners, that he is the only way we can be forgiven, that we need forgiveness. And it's the foolishness that God would die for us. It's what sounds foolish, but it's the only thing that cures the heart. We're rebellious and Jesus Christ came to heal us. We're going to spend most of our time this morning looking at the response of the authorities. Look at verse 47, so the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council. Now, there's a number of things that are just extremely interesting about this particular council. This is most likely what we would call the Sanhedrin. It's 70 members of the upper class. You have the chief priests, the Pharisees, probably some landowners. People that were gathered there by the Romans to keep things in order. They've gathered. Now, this may not be an official Sanhedrin, but this sounds like an official council gathered like the Sanhedrin, at least. Some interesting things here. One, the Pharisees and the chief priests, they gathered together. Now, that may not really sound that interesting to you, but if you're a Jew or a Gentile in this day, you would realize this is odd. Those two groups don't like each other. This would be like the Democrats and Republicans coming together to make decisions about someone. These two groups did not work together. They did not like each other. They were opposed to one another and vying for authority and power and privilege. It's interesting how a common enemy will unite anyone. They've come together because they both see Jesus as a problem. They're coming together against something, not for something. And let me just put something right here in our mind's church. We have to constantly be committed to gathering for the gospel. It's really easy for a church to be against a lot of stuff. The church is for the gospel. We're for this word. We're for the glory of God. We're for the gospel. That has to be what unites us. So first, these two people shouldn't have been getting along together, but they both hate the light. So they both get together to destroy the light. Secondly, listen, the council recognizes what the signs should lead the people to do. Did you hear that? What are we to do? He performs so many signs. If it goes on like this, everyone's going to believe. They're recognizing what he's doing lines up with what he said, and it verifies everything about him. If we keep him alive, if we let him continue doing all these things, there's just no other logical conclusion that he's the son of God who came down, took on flesh, and he's going to die for sinners, and he's going to rise again, and everyone's going to believe in him. It's amazing. They're concerned that if he keeps it up, everyone's going to believe, because that's what they should do. There's a couple of ways we can actually interpret the, what are we to do? We'll be just a straightforward response, the straightforward interpretation, how we'll respond to this. The other one is, what are we doing? The rhetorical question there is, what are we doing? We're doing nothing. He's out there doing all these signs. We're losing our authority. The third thing we see about this council, they act with urgency. Not with divine reverence. They act with an urgency, not with a fear and a love of God. Notice when Jesus heard Lazarus was sick, he didn't rush. He prayed, he knew God's will, he desired for God's glory to be made known. These men, they act with urgency. They do not pray, they do not stop and seek God, they don't look to Scripture. These are the religious leaders, the priests and the Pharisees. We don't see any stopping to seek God and what he has said. They make fast decisions and they're ruled by more, they're ruled by a wrong reverence. Fourth and finally, the council reveals their true reverence, and that is Rome. Greece conquered Israel in 250 B.C. Rome then conquered Jerusalem and ruled over Israel starting in 63 B.C. Pontius Pilate is the prefect as we will see in this a few chapters. That's actually a few months for us. The Romans placed their own citizens over Israel. And then they recruited Israelites to be their instruments, to keep the locals in check. This is why the taxpayers are so hated. This is why in Scripture, taxpayers are hated. They're Jews who have given in to the Roman authorities and have decided they're going to betray their people and work for Rome. Notice this council of Pharisees and chief priests. They're not concerned with any eternal or ultimate purpose. They've left behind the chief end of man, which is to glorify God. They revere Rome more than God. They're concerned about how Rome is going to respond to this. They're not stopping and asking, what does God say about this man? What does God think about this man? A bit closer reveals they're concerned about their own position and privilege. If this man continues, he's going to cause a stir and then Rome will come and they're going to remove us because we haven't kept the locals in check. Our own position and privileges, they're saying, are in danger. A couple idols are already revealed here for us. They're bowing down to the power and authority of Rome instead of God. They have a fear of man and what man can do to them rather than a fear of God. They're recognizing the authority of Rome more than Yahweh, the God who has actually given that nation identity. Secondly, they have made an idol out of their power and prestige. Their position matters more to them than what God is doing. It gets more intense. It gets more focused. One man speaks up. Caiaphas. Look at verse 49. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was a high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all. Let's just stop here. We need to know something about Caiaphas because there's a lot of bold statements. First, Caiaphas is the high priest. High priests were all Sadducees. That's important given the context. The main thing that made a Sadducee, that differed between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, the Sadducees deny the resurrection. Given the context, that's a very significant fact. You have a report, Jesus is raising the dead. The Sadducee's entire claim to authority is to deny the resurrection. So the high priest, the Sadducee, he denies the resurrection. This will actually lead them to want to kill Lazarus later. Because he's walking at proof that they're wrong. And he's walking proof of who Jesus is. Secondly, God appointed a high priest to serve their entire lives. When Rome conquered, they started using the high priest for their own end. Rome started appointing a high priest. Caiaphas was a high priest from eighteen A.D. 236. This is one of the longest tenures of any high priest. That means he was a very shrewd politician. He appeased Rome. He knew how to work with the Romans. He did his job for Rome, not for God. The other thing we know about Caiaphas, he's the son-in-law of Annas. Amos was a very powerful high priest himself at one point. He gave his order over to Caiaphas, and oftentimes it looks like Caiaphas is actually doing his bidding. He still has a great amount of power. Next, Caiaphas is one of the chief plotters in Christ's death. We'll see this in John 18. We just heard about Caiaphas, or we'll hear of Caiaphas in Acts 4, how he also is a persecutor of the church. In short, this is a very powerful man. The council gathered to the problem to to figure out the problem of Jesus. And notice how Caiaphas first responds, he responds like a sinner, a sinner responds, he responds sinfully. Listen how harsh he is. You know nothing. Again, there's an urgency, there's a quickness, there's a harshness here. You know nothing. He's speaking to the council. Well, there's irony all throughout this story. And one of the great ironies is Caiaphas begins his great declaration, his prophecy, by declaring to everyone else they know nothing. But as John tells us later, Caiaphas does not even know what he's saying. God's making, he's mocking him, just like we read in Psalm 2. There's a bit of mockery here. Caiaphas declares you know nothing, but he's going to declare something bold and powerful, but does not even realize what he's saying, as we'll see later. Notice what he says. 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. It is better for one man to die for the people. Now, the first thing we need to see is that there's clear selfish intent. It's better for you. Right, your position is secure if this man dies. It's better for you. We just finished John 10. Jesus comes and says, I am the good shepherd. The backdrop of that is Ezekiel 34, where God judges the priests and the kings and everyone he's appointed to be in charge of Israel. And he accuses them of being bad shepherds. He accuses those priests of abusing the people of God and using them for their own glory and for fattening themselves rather than glorifying God. Jesus comes and declares, I'm the good shepherd, a bold declaration that he's the king who will care for his people. It's also a great accusation. The priests who are now in charge of their bad shepherds here, you see, Caiaphas is a bad shepherd. He's abusive. He's selfish. He's not using his position of authority and using it for God's glory and God's intent is using it for his own selfishness. Now, the sad irony of the story. He declares one man should die for the people. This is the high priest. This is the man who oversees all the sacrifices in the temple all year long. This is the high priest. He's in charge of the holy things of God. This is the high priest. When the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, he should have been rejoicing. Because he knows the things of God. He should have stopped and looked at God's word and thought about Genesis 22 when Abraham was going to kill Isaac. And God said, no, do not touch that boy. I will provide a substitute. And there was a ram there. He should be thinking about Exodus when God said, slaughter the lamb and put it over the doorpost. I will provide the substitute that covers your sin. Every year a lamb was presented to take away the sins of the world. This high priest should have been ready to praise God when he saw Jesus Christ. He should have been grieved because he realizes his wickedness is why God had to come down, live the perfect life that Jesus lived and die later as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But instead, Wickedness rules his heart and he plots the death of God He plots the ruin of Jesus Christ on the cross It's amazing. He should have seen Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the wrath of God Instead he sees him as a scapegoat To remove the danger of Rome Did you see that? He should have been praising the Lamb of God, but instead he looks at Jesus and says, this one can die for us as a scapegoat. What he says is so profound and clear. We see it, we saw it in Isaiah 53 at the baptismal service. One man must die for the people because all the people are sinners and all the people have sinned against God and God is righteous and just and he will punish every sin. Unless someone takes that sin upon themselves for them. In Jesus Christ, God is both just and the justifier. He's just because he punishes every sin of every believer in Jesus. He's the justifier because all everyone who believes in him is forgiven. The high priest not only fails to see that this is the lamb, the holy one of God, This is the high priest and he fails to see this Jesus is the great high priest. The high priest's office was actually a pointer, a foreshadowing of who Jesus would be. He had a temporary position to serve as mediator between God and the people. Pointing us at Christ, who serves forever as a great high priest and mediator, who's constantly standing before God, making intercession for us. He says such a powerful declaration of the gospel. The clearer words of the gospel have hardly been said in the scripture. What he says in the words are true, but his intent is sinful. But what God, what man intends for evil, God uses for good. It's helpful. John pulls the curtain back for us in verse 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. So John first records, this is what Caiaphas said, this is what sinful man has declared. But then he lets us know this is what God's doing. This is God's plan. This is how this is fulfilling and what God has said. We need to see God's sovereign hand here. Caiaphas says what is true, but he intends evil. God uses his words and he intends it for good. He did not say this on his own accord. God is sovereign even over his own words. Caiaphas is making a harsh declaration. God is making a prophecy. God ordained these words to be said, as I believe I've already said. It's making a mockery of Caiaphas. The nations rage. The rulers are angry at God. God laughs. God mocks them. Because they have no power that he has not given to them. He has put him in such a place at such a time to make the gospel clear. If we turn to Acts 4, Peter and John, they've just been released from prison for preaching the gospel. Who released them? Caiaphas. After they're released and told no longer to preach the gospel, Peter and John respond in prayer. When they heard it, they lifted their voice together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of your father, David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, the words of Psalm 2, why did the Gentiles rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. End quote. They continue to pray, "...for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." After quoting Psalm 2, we see Even the most evil intent of these men who were seeking to crucify his son. God is sovereign over this. This is the power of God. He's using the evil intent of Caiaphas to save sinners like Caiaphas. We could go to Acts 2. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. We see here the perfect holding of tension, the sovereignty of God, the responsibility of sinful man. But God's plan always is accomplished. Acts 3, And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by His mouth of all the prophets, that this Christ would suffer, He thus fulfilled. We can meditate upon this sovereignty of God. And somebody's praising Him. His ways will always be accomplished. What He says He will do, He always does. No evil can keep him from doing his plan. He uses our evil intent even to accomplish his plan. He is not the author of evil, but he is sovereign over it. We can praise him that he's powerful. This is important as Christians, because we know nothing can separate us from the love of God. Our salvation is secure because God has made it secure. We never earned it. We were never righteous enough and never depended upon how good we were and never depended upon how sincere our faith was. It all depended upon what Christ did in our faith and repentance in him. Jesus came to die over against our sin. Last week, we meditated upon how Jesus' death was a miracle. Man couldn't kill God. God let man kill him. He also thought about the scope. One man died for many people. Jesus died for the sins of everyone who believes in Him. If you're not a Christian this morning, this message is for you. The first thing you need to see is that God is holy and righteous. He is perfect in every way. And our lives are lived against Him. If it's indifference or if it's hatred, you're living against Him. He is a just God. He will punish every sin. And our sins will be punished in us when we die. Or if we believe in Jesus, he was punished for us. He suffered the righteous wrath of God and satisfied the wrath of God. So whoever believes in him is no longer guilty, is no longer under sin, is no longer under wrath. He is the only hope for new life. Believing in Him and what He did on the cross and His resurrection is the only chance, the only hope you have. For Christians, this message is for you. Your identity must always be grounded in that you're a sinner in absolute dependence upon God. It is by grace alone that you are saved. You're not better than the non-Christian sitting next to you. It's by grace that you've been saved. It's by grace that you're able to acknowledge the glory of the cross. Our identity and position must always be in what he has done and who he has made us. Never in what we think we have done. You see, Church, this is important for us. It talks about being one body. He's gathering all of Israel to be one. The way a church is divided is by people looking around and thinking everyone's either superior to them or inferior to them. We're all sinners. We're all saved by grace. That is what we are for. That is the one thing that must unite us and define us individually and corporately. In order to appreciate this word of salvation that Caiaphas has declared, We have to identify with Caiaphas first. Now, this is just a simple lesson on how to read narrative. One rule is you're never Jesus. Right? When you're reading the narrative, you don't look and say, how can I be? The first question isn't, how am I like Jesus? Because you're not like Jesus. We have to actually first look, how am I like the sinner in the story? This means we have to identify with the sins of Caiaphas. Now, this part's usually pretty easy. I'm an expert, and I assume we're all experts in looking at sin in other people and identifying it fairly easily, right? We probably all have master's degrees or PhDs in the ability to identify other people's sin. That's the easy part. The hard part is identifying our own sin. This is where Christians have too often failed miserably at this second step. If we're really going to respond to the gospel stories, we have to first realize we are sinners in these stories. Their sin is our sin, and Christ died for that sin. If you're not able to sing that song, Depth of Mercy, with a contrite and repentant heart, but realizing the wrath of God, that we're objects of wrath. Friend, I fear you're in a dangerous place. Go home and read Psalm 51. Do you recognize God's holiness and righteousness and your own sin and your need of a savior? Meditate today on Psalm 51 and the song Depth of Mercy. And pray for God to reveal his holiness and your sin so that you can truly believe and repent. Well, here's some of the idols of Caiaphas that I assume I must identify with best because they're the ones that stood up to me. First, Caiaphas trusted earthly powers more than God. That was pretty easy to see. He's had a greater reverence for Rome than he does for God. There's a real fear of man here. We look around and we look at what the most immediate temporal consequences are going to be rather than stopping and praying for God and his wisdom and his guidance. I think one of the ways we can identify if we have an unhelpful fear of man How quickly do we move? How much urgency do we feel to make decisions? Do we stop, seek God, seek Him in prayer, and seek for His direction? Are we willing to wait upon God? Secondly, Caiaphas loves his privileged position from Rome more than his position from God. God's using him as a high priest. He's going to prophesy for God regardless of his intent. But Caiaphas, he loves his privileged position from Rome more than the position of standing before God and representing all of Israel. He used his place for his own purposes, not for the purposes of God. He was consumed and controlled by his own glory rather than seeking to glorify God. We see this in how he treats others. We think about this the way he talks about Jesus. Okay, we don't really have anything against him. We'll make something stick, but let him die. That way, our position is protected. Jesus is just a scapegoat. He's just a pawn in the plan. We can think about and identify what we think of God and his people and his plan by the way we treat each other. How we treat others reflects how we really worship God. Think about your different positions in relation to other people. Employer, employee, professor, student, spouse, parent, church member. These are all relationships that require a certain amount of responsibility to someone else. As we look at these relationships, ask yourself, Am I easily frustrated at others when they interfere with my plan for my happiness? Think about how easily you're frustrated. As a parent, this one cuts straight to the heart. How easily I'm frustrated when my exact perfect day doesn't work out because my glory was interrupted. How much do people frustrate you because they don't do exactly what you expect? This is being a bad shepherd. This is looking at them for your glory rather than stopping and saying, God, how can I care for them and love them for your glory? How can I encourage them to be more part of your glory? Our frustration represents a sinful intent. Secondly, do you proactively seek others good? I pointed them to Christ in his glory. Do you talk about yourself? Do you talk about Christ? Do you keep it in your interest or do you consider their interest is more important than your own? For the most important thing we can do for anyone is help them understand and love Christ more. Here's the big idol, here's the big Caiaphas identity. He killed Jesus. Caiaphas killed Jesus. We have to identify with this particular sin. He committed murder. Now I look around and I see what I consider good people. I don't see anyone here that would make a judgment as a judge to say, you're innocent, but I think you should be murdered. I don't see murderers in that way here. But I do see sinners just like myself. God says, if you hate someone, you're guilty of murder. We've all hated God. We've all rejected God. We've all resisted God. We are all guilty of the murder of God because we have set ourselves against him or even worse, we're just indifferent. We're guilty of the sin of Caiaphas. It is our sin that sent Christ to the cross. It is for us that he had to die. As we've identified the sins, let's now identify the solution. Look to the cross. He died for us. Christ is for us. He died to forgive us for seeking his own death. He died to forgive us for hating him. He died to forgive us for rejecting him. He died to forgive us for all the intentional and unintentional sins we've ever committed. He suffered as a sinner so that we no longer have to suffer. There's freedom. There's rejoicing in the cross. We must look to Christ exalted. We must look to the fact that he is the glorious one whom we now live for and we now point others toward. Will you pray with me? Father, the intents of our heart are always tainted with sin. Our desires are corrupt. Please forgive us. We praise you for forgiving us on the cross of Jesus Christ. Help us to see the great love that you have shown to us in Jesus Christ. So that our hearts are purified, that sin is removed, that our love for sin is removed and a greater love for Christ is put there and built up and matured. Father, we thank you. that we can know you love us and we will never be separated from us because you have sent your son to die for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.