AN UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIP
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Opening Prayer
Father in Heaven, help me to see what you have for me in your Word today. Show me things to build my faith in ways that enable me to live my life confident and unafraid.
Read JOHN 11:45–57
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 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.”
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What has been the most important meeting you’ve ever been involved in?There are, no doubt, countless important meetings: the first time a man meets his future wife; an interview for a dream job; an emergency board meeting to discuss closing the company, to name a few. Some meetings are more consequential than others. Today we read of an important gathering between the Pharisees and the chief priests that changes the course of history. These two groups have deeply different outlooks on how Jewish life should be lived out. However, a mutual dislike of Jesus leads these two parties to become unlikely partners. The raising of Lazarus—a very public act of extraordinary supernatural power—proves a catalyst for their partnership: ‘So from that day on they plotted to take his life’ (v. 53).
What causes these two groups to work together? Surely jealousy of Jesus’ popularity plays a part as they could see the crowds flocking to Jesus. Jealousy, but also fear. They are deeply afraid of their future and their security: ‘the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation’ (v. 48). Following Jesus should lead us not to fear our future, but rather to have deep satisfaction in where we are heading—ultimately and also in this life. A life lived close to Jesus, listening to his voice and following his commands, is the best way to live.
Apply
Which might cause you more anxiety—your present or your future?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, you never doubted the future of Lazarus. Help me to live a life of peace and contentment, knowing that you hold my present and future in your hands.
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