John 11:45-57 (ESV)

⁴⁵ Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶ but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸ 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.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰ 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.” 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, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. ⁵⁴ 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. ⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶ 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?” ⁵⁷ 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.

Jesus asked to see the tomb where the corpse of Lazarus lay, and then he went on to call Lazarus back from the dead to life. Many of the Jews who saw all of this believed in Jesus. Others went back and told the Pharisees about all that transpired. The religious leaders of Israel, the chief priests and the Pharisees, quickly gathered for an emergency meeting. They assembled together to try to figure out how to “stop the madness.” If they allowed Jesus to continue with these great signs and miracles, pretty soon all of Israel would believe in him. The high priest of Israel at the time was a man named Caiaphas. He was afraid of trouble with the Romans, so he declared that it “made more sense” to allow Jesus, one man, to die, than to allow the entire nation to be exterminated. Although Caiaphas didn’t know it, he was actually prophesying on behalf of the Lord. Jesus would die. And his death would be substitutionary for all of Israel who trusted in him. The religious leaders sought to stay safe. They rejected their own Messiah because they feared the potential problems that would arise with upsetting the Romans. In the end, their plan to appease the Romans and avoid problems didn’t work out anyway. A couple of decades later, the Romans decimated the temple and Jerusalem.

According to verse 48, the religious leaders agreed that if more and more began to trust in Jesus, “the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Even though the Jewish leaders were oppressed by Roman rule and actually hated it, they grew comfortable with their own personal power and prestige in the community. Though times were bad, they figured it could be worse, and they didn’t want Jesus “rocking the boat” politically. We live in a time when it is no longer popular to be a follower of Jesus. Our culture will tolerate us, but it certainly doesn’t want us preaching the gospel and communicating God’s command to all humanity to repent and believe. Let’s stop and ask God for new courage today. Though we may lose popularity, a few friends, and even some extra income, let’s never be like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day and compromise truth for so-called peace and safety.