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God Accomplishes His Work
God Accomplishes His Work John 11:45-57 Key Verse: 11:51-52 “He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.” In the previous passage Jesus demonstrated what it meant that he is the resurrection and the life. Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days and with one simple command from Jesus Lazarus walked out of the tomb. Many of the people who were there to see what Jesus did believed in him, but a few brought this news to the Pharisees. When the Jewish leaders heard this news they reacted in a very bad way. Instead of accepting Jesus as the Messiah they rejected him completely and firmly decided to put him to death. Through the reaction of the religious leaders, we can see how the heart of sinful man makes one completely blind to the truth of God. However, this does not stop God from carrying out his purpose. God’s world salvation work cannot be stopped by men who refuse to accept him. God’s purpose will always prevail in the end. May God help to realize that in all situations his will be done. May God grant us that assurance of final victory through this study. First, reactions to Jesus, the resurrection and the life (45-46). Look at verse 45. When the people who had gone out to mourn with Martha and Mary saw what Jesus did when he raised Lazarus from the dead, there were two reactions. The Bible tells us that many of them saw this and believed in Jesus. However there were others that saw this and apparently did not put their faith in Jesus. Instead they went and reported this event to the Pharisees. The two different reactions are very interesting and it is important that we take a look at them. First of all we need to think about those who witnessed this event and “Believed in him.” What does it mean that they believed in Jesus. Once Jesus had asked his disciples, “Who do the people say that I am?” The disciples answered saying that people had many different opinions. They thought that Jesus was a prophet, possibly one risen from the dead, or maybe even the Prophet that Moses had prophesied about in Deuteronomy, but, according to the disciples none of them thought that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus then asked his disciples the same question and Peter boldly poke up, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Peter and the other disciples (with the exception of Judas Iscariot) had put their faith in Jesus. They believed that he was the Messiah and they had given up everything to follow him because of this belief. Even when all the massive crowds all left Jesus after he had fed them and told them that he was the true bread that came down from heaven, the disciples remained. Once again it was Peter that spoke up for them when Jesus asked, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe that you are the Holy One of God.” Peter and the disciples clearly believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but what had these Jews who “believed in him,” really come to believe about Jesus. The bible doesn’t say exactly, but if we look at the context and look at the reception that Jesus received when he made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem a few weeks later, we must conclude that they had finally come to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. News about Jesus quickly spread throughout Jerusalem and by the time Jesus came to the Passover feast a great crowd came out of Jerusalem to welcome him, not as a great man or a prophet, but as the blessed one who came in the name of the Lord and the blessed king of Israel. The many Jews who saw what Jesus did and believed in him clearly believed that he was the Messiah sent by God. They didn’t tell the religious leaders this, they told their friends and so when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey there was a great crowd their shouting “Hosanna” to their king. There were others in the crowd, though, who did not react this way. They were those who held onto their religious traditions. They thought that the religious leaders must be right in their conclusions about Jesus. They respected the religious leaders’ authority more than the great work of God they had just witnessed. Their reaction was quite different. Instead of putting their faith in Jesus they kept their faith in the Pharisees and went and reported this even to them. It is hard to understand how they could witness such an event and yet still not believe, but this is really the nature of sinful man. We all want to cling to something that is secure and sure and for these Jews it was their tradition and the order of their society. Their religious leaders told that Jesus was not the Messiah and therefore, even though they saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, they were determined not to believe that he was the Messiah. Instead, what they needed to do was to report this event to the religious leaders who would then tell them how they should react to Jesus. Our reaction to Jesus and the work of God in our life is a matter of life and death. We have all seen the work of God in our own lives and the lives of those around us, but what is important is our reaction to that work. We will see that work, like many of the Jews gathered at Martha and Mary’s house, as the work of God and accept Jesus as our personal Messiah, or will we be overcome by the pressures of popular society and let others make that decision for us. Jesus is the resurrection and the life and everything he has in my life and in the lives of those around that I have witnessed confirms this. Yet if I listen to popular culture or the leaders of human society I would be told that this is not necessarily true. I choose to accept Jesus as the Messiah who was sent here by God to give me life. Second, the Meeting of the Sanhedrin (47-53) Look at verse 47. When the chief priests and Pharisee heard about this they called an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin. These people had tried seize Jesus, they tried to have Jesus arrested, and they had even picked up stones to kill him for blasphemy, but all of their efforts had come to nothing. Jesus was still walking around a free man performing great miraculous signs. The chief priest, Pharisees and Sadducees were accomplishing nothing and they knew it. However, the real question that needs to be asked is, what were they trying to accomplish? Let’s look at verses 47b and 48. “’What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” The Sanhedrin members all acknowledged that Jesus was performing miraculous signs that were so spectacular that many people were beginning to believe in Jesus. Furthermore, they thought that if Jesus was allowed to continue his work everyone would believe in him. They could clearly see the works that Jesus was doing and the impact it was having on the people. They should have been rejoicing at this because the promised Messiah that they had all been waiting for was now standing in their midst. They weren’t rejoicing though, because they were more concerned with “their” temple and “their” nation. To them, this wasn’t about God or the work that he was doing, it was all about their own selfish ambition. They didn’t care that people were being healed, that the word of God was being planted in people’ hearts and that people’s lives were being change. No, to them, it was all about what they were losing. It seems odd that these religious leaders would see god working right in their presence and yet absolutely reject that work, but this is the nature of sinful man. Sinful man would rather hold onto the things of this world rather than let them go so that they can experience the work of God. When I take a close look at myself, I see this principle always at work. Like the Pharisees I have seen and I acknowledge great works of God that have taken place in my life and those around me, but also like the Pharisees, I often forget about these things so that I can hold onto my own sinful ways. I often feel like Paul who cried out “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” I want to serve others and love others like Jesus loved me, but when the times comes to do this I ignore the love that Jesus has shown me and only focus on what will make me happy or comfortable. We must be better than these Pharisees. We must not only acknowledge God’s work, we must put God’s work ahead of our own desires. We must remember that life is not about us – what we want or what have – life is about living for the glory of God. At that time the High Priest, Caiaphas, spoke up and said, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” Verse 51 tells us that Caiaphas “Did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.” Caiaphas was probably a very intelligent man with great political skills because he had attained the rank of high priest, so he probably thought that he had reasoned this all out in his own head. He had thought of all the political problems with the Romans that could have happened if all the Jews followed Jesus around calling him their Messiah. He had also undoubtedly thought about the loss of power and influence he and his fellow Sanhedrin members would have in society if Jesus were accepted as the Messiah. After considering all of this he concluded that it would be best to kill Jesus, so he made a public declaration that it would be better for the Jewish nation if Jesus were to die for them. What Caiaphas didn’t understand was that God is always at work and God always accomplishes his work. In this case God’s work fell right into line with Caiaphas’ thinking. It would be better for the Jewish nation and all of God’s scattered children for Jesus to die for them. Actually, God had foretold all of this long ago through his prophets. Caiaphas had read these prophesies time and time again. Even though he may not have been aware of it Caiaphas was just repeating what God had said through his prophets. God’s word had gone out from his mouth and the Bible tells us that God’s word always accomplishes its task. Caiaphas, probably thinking that he was speaking on his own, was actually proclaiming God’s plan to the people. Look at verse 53. “… so from that day on the plotted to take his life.” Caiaphas was trying to stamp out the work of God, but in reality God was using Caiaphas to accomplish his work. God’s absolute sovereignty should be a great comfort to all of us. No matter what situation we may find our self in or how many evil people there are around us working against us, we can always be certain that God’s work will be done. God can use anyone or any situation for his own glory and to accomplish his will. There are several examples of this in the Bible. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he could multiply his miraculous signs and make his name known throughout the world. God also used the Pharisee and Sadducees to begin his world mission salvation work. After Stephen boldly stood up to them and gave them a history lesson culminating in Jesus victory over sin and death, they stoned him and began to severely persecute the young church. This persecution forced them to flee into Gentile territories where the Gospel was accepted by some and thus it started its spread around the world. The point is that we must always remember that God will accomplish his purpose no matter whom or what seems to be standing in his way. We must also remember that God is always working for the good of those who love him, so no matter what situation we find ourselves in we can take comfort in knowing that God is working out his great plan. Third, Jesus withdraws to a solitary place (54-47) Jesus knew everything that was going on. He knew that the Jewish leaders had no firmly decided to put him to death. Jesus knew that his earthly life was coming to an end and he knew how it was going to happen. He could have panicked and run away or done something to stop it, but he did not. Instead, Jesus quietly withdrew with his disciples to remote place in the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim. We don’t know exactly how long he stayed there, but the Bible says he stayed with his disciples. We can only imagine what he taught them there and I’m sure he did teach them many things. Jesus showed no fear concerning what was awaiting him in Jerusalem. As I said, he knew what was going to happen, but Jesus also knew that this was God’s will and that it was for the good of all mankind. Unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees Jesus always had God’s purpose and not his own on his mind. Jesus knew that even though things didn’t look good from a human perspective they were looking perfect from God’s perspective. Jesus was also very certain of his father’s love for him, so he knew that he had absolutely nothing to fear. In the end it would all work out for the glory of God. We need Jesus’ perspective on life. It doesn’t matter if people are trying to harm us or even kill us. If we give our lives to Jesus, if we love Jesus, he promises to be with us to the very end of the age. In this passage we learned that God always accomplishes his work so we can be assured that Jesus will use us to accomplish the work he has given us. We must not live in fear regardless of the situations we face in life. We must live knowing that God is working out his wonderful plan and he is using us to do it. |
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