The Gospel of John - Outline Part 28 - Out of the Mouths of Pagans

TITLE

John 11:45-57 – Out of the Mouths of Pagans

EXPLANATION

The resurrection of Lazarus was divisive.  It could not be ignored.  It demanded a response from everyone who heard of it.  People had to decide what they believed about Jesus and take sides; either with Him or with the Jewish leaders.  Some did believe.  But, others did not.  These unregenerate ones went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.  The Sanhedrin met in order to determine what to do about Jesus.  And it was here, in the midst of this meeting, that one of the most amazing prophecies in Scripture was uttered.

Caiaphas, the high priest that year, told the council that Jesus must die for the good of the nation.  He said it would be better for one man to die than that the whole country be punished by the Romans.  The remarkable thing about this is that Caiaphas, although he did not know it, was not speaking of his own accord.  He was being used as God’s tool to utter a prophecy about the death of the Messiah.  This is akin to the prophecies of Balaam in Numbers. 

In response to Caiaphas’s prediction, the Jews began to seriously plot Jesus’s death and actively seek an opportunity to arrest Him.  Knowing this, the Lord remained hidden and stayed in the wilderness, until the appointed time for Him to die was at hand.

APPLICATION

God can work through a pagan Mesopotamian soothsayer such as Balaam.  He can accomplish His purposes through a hard-hearted religious ritualist like Caiaphas.  God can even work mighty acts through the Hitlers, Stalins, and Maos of the world.  Why then would we think that He is powerless in the face of whatever our current physical circumstances are?  Is the world on fire around us?  God is in control.  Is our culture increasingly morally bankrupt?  God is in control.  Are our jobs and our children and our marriages in jeopardy?  God is in control.  This is not a cliché.  It is not an empty salve that preachers carelessly slather onto the wounds of their parishioner’s lives.  It is an ironclad, rock solid, time tested, eternal principle of God’s sovereignty.  We would do well to embrace it wholeheartedly.