LA UBF

46_Jn11b_2011M.doc

To Make Them One

John 11:45-57

Key verse 51-52

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.

In today’s passage, we gain insight into why Jesus had to die. We already know that Jesus died to save us from our sins. John 3:16 clearly tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. In this passage, we gain further insight into God’s purpose in sending his Son: it is to bring together the children of God scattered around the world and make them one.

The words “make them one” gives us a picture of what the kingdom of God looks like. If we understand these words and have this vision of unity in our hearts, it will be of great value to us as we live and work together in Christ. This is a message we need to hear and pay attention to because human beings are not naturally united; we are naturally and easily divided. The U.S. “Pledge of Allegiance” to the American flag contains the words, “one nation, under God,” but the fact is that our nation is full of division and godlessness. The kingdom of God is different. It is the one and only place where the words “one nation, under God” can and will be a reality.

In this passage, we see what happened after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Instead of acknowledging Jesus as someone sent by God, they saw Jesus as a threat and plotted against him. But God used even these evil people to fulfill His good plan. May God bless us as we look at this passage.

Look at verses 45-46:

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

As we saw in the previous passage, which we studied last week, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for four days. This was an undeniable miracle. What better proof could Jesus provide that he came from God. Indeed, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did put their faith in him. But there were others who went to the Pharisees and told hem what Jesus had done. Why did this second group of people report Jesus to the authorities as if he had committed a crime? We don’t know for sure. One possibility is that those who reported Jesus to the authorities desired the approval of people more than the approval of God. In my personal experience, many of the mistakes I have made happened because I wanted the approval of men.

How did the authorities respond to the news of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead? Did they reconsider their opinions about Jesus? Did they ask each other, “How can this man do such an amazing miracle unless he comes from God?” Nope. They didn’t do any of these things. Look at verses 47-48: “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 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 place and our nation.’”

The response of the rulers of the people can be broken down into four parts:

First, “What are we accomplishing?”

The religious leaders had been trying to find ways to discredit, disrupt, and nullify Jesus and his ministry for a while, but now it was clear that they had failed. They were accomplishing nothing. This was potentially a moment of insight. What could they hope to accomplish by opposing God as they were doing? In the end, all of their efforts would be in vain. Ultimately, the only think they could accomplish by opposing Jesus was their own destruction. Of course, they didn’t see things this way. From them, we see that once we start going down the wrong path, it’s very difficult to turn around. Once we start acting in opposition to God, our minds no longer work properly. At the very moment when we should humble ourselves and repent, we might become more stubbornly committed to living a sinful life.

Second, they said, “Here is this man performing miraculous signs.” When they said this, they meant that this was a bad thing; a problem. It is so strange that they acknowledged that Jesus was doing miraculous signs and thought it was terrible news. Shouldn’t they stop and think about how it is that Jesus was able to do those miracles and what that indicated about him?

Third, they said, “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him...” Again, they were upset that everyone would believe in Jesus if Jesus kept going on performing amazing miracles. Again, shouldn’t they stop and think about why everyone would believe in Jesus? Isn’t it because Jesus’ miracles prove that he comes from God? If so, maybe they should follow the lead of the people and believe in Jesus, too.

Fourth, they said, “and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Here we gain some insight into what was going through the minds and hearts of these leaders. Their top concern, it seems, was maintaining their “place” as leaders of the people. It was this concern that overshadowed all other considerations. It was this concern that made them blind and deaf to the truth of who Jesus was.

At that time, Rome ruled over the land of Israel, and the leaders of the Israelites had to be very careful that they did not make the Romans angry. If the Romans wanted to, they could remove the leaders from power. So, the leaders of the Israelites were similar to modern politicians, but instead of trying maintain power by pleasing the people, they tried hard to maintain their positions as leaders by pleasing the Roman authorities. They feared that if the people believed in Jesus and followed Jesus, Jesus would lead some sort of revolution against the Romans. This is what many people thought the Christ was going to do, and this is what the leaders feared. Why did they fear it? It’s because they had faith in the power of Rome. They feared Rome more than God. They believed that Rome could crush Jesus and them.

These days, many people are afraid of being crushed by economic troubles. It’s very hard to seek first God’s kingdom while worrying about how to pay the bills and have a secure financial future. This is a very real and legitimate concern. In Jesus’ day, Roman power was also a very real and legitimate concern. How can we live to please God in such circumstances? We must have faith in God who is greater than Rome and greater than the economy.

This passage also shows that it is very hard for a person to open his or her heart to the gospel while pursing worldly success. Jesus said that the it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God because they love their wealth so much, and I think the same principle applies to those whose greatest desire is to gain positions of honor and authority. Of course, there are many successful people who believe in Jesus and live their lives as servants of God. More generally, whenever a person’s top concern is something other than knowing and pleasing God, it will be very difficult for that person to open their heart to the good news of Jesus Christ—even if they see a miracle.

Look at verses 47-50:

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “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.”

Here we see the wisdom of the high priest, Caiaphas. He rebuked the other leaders for whining and talking as if they were defeated. What was their problem? It was that they were not willing to do what was necessary. Caiaphas 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.” In Caiaphas’ mind, the solution to the problem was obvious: they had to kill Jesus. Wouldn’t that be murder? Wouldn’t that be a sin? How could the high priest suggest such a thing? In his mind, however, killing Jesus was justified because it was necessary to save the nation. To him, Jesus was a threat to the existence of the nation.

The interesting thing is that even though Caiapahs had everything backward in his intention, his words were both true and prophetic. Look at verses 51-52:

Thise words are the commentary of the Apostle John. John notes that Caiaphas did not say these things on his own. God was speaking through him. God used Caiaphas as the high priest even though Caiaphas did not care about God and was plotting against God’s son. Whereas Caiapahs said these things with the intention of killing Jesus out of fear of Rome, God delivered a very different message with the same words. It was true that Jesus would die for the nation, but it was not to save the people from Rome; it was to save them from their sins. Moreover, Jesus was going to die not just to save the Jewish nation, but to save “the scattered children of God” around the world, including you and I. Through Jesus’ death, we can be saved from our sins and come together and become one family of God.

Interestingly, while Caiaphas was concerned about protecting his nation, God was concerned about saving people in all nations. And whereas Caiaphas wanted to kill Jesus to protect his own interests, God sacrificed his own son for the sake of sinners. God could have wiped out this assembly of leaders who were plotting against his son, but instead God used them to fulifll his purpose.

Notice that the apostle John uses the expression, “and make them one.” This tells us that the unity of all children of God into one flock is a primary reason Jesus died. Why is it so important for God’s children to become “one”? I don’t know. But one thing is clear: Jesus didn’t die so that his children could fight and compete amongst each other. Even in working to fulfill God’s world mission command, we must be careful to remember that a primary objective of bringing the gospel to all nations is that we would be made one. As much as we think, “What can I do to bring people into the kingdom of God,” we should also think, “what can I do to have unity with my fellow believers?”

** Jesus died for all people on earth:

In Lagos, Nigeria, there is a missionary family named Andrew and Rebekah Yoon. They have three kids (one son and two daughters). They have tried to make a living out of producing and selling food items, but their business for the last fifteen years has been shaky. Now they have begun to sell electronics. This requires a lot of time and energy, so they were unable to spend time with their kids. As of now, the parents rely on 'home schooling' materials to get the kids educated. They bought DVD's for each grade. Given that English is not her native language, Rebekah finds it really difficult to help them out for several reasons:

First, the curriculum is hard for her to understand, especially essays, current events, science, and projects. She finds it particularly challenging to help her children who are in ninth and tenth grade. Second, working on their business and the ministry leaves little time to devote to the children’s education.

** Jesus died to make us one

Galatians 3:26-28

26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29

Colossians 3:9-14

9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Look at verse 54:

54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

A practical result of the plot against Jesus was that he no longer moved about publicly. He had to keep a low profile. It wasn’t because Jesus was trying to avoid God’s purpose for him, but it was because the right time had not yet come.

Look at verses 55-57:

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 area they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the Feast at all?” 57 But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.

The Jewish Passover was a big public event, and everyone was talking about Jesus. People were at the temple hoping to hear Jesus speak and maybe see him perform miracles; the religious leaders were watching so that they could arrest him. All of this was setting the stage for the final days of Jesus’ life before he would die for God’s scattered children.

In conclusions, from this passage we see that it is possible to reject Jesus even when there is undeniable evidence of who he is. The love of man’s praise, the fear of man, and the desire for success can all make us blind to the truth of God’s love. Nevertheless, the truth of God’s love remains true: God gave his one and only Son so that all of the scattered children of God around the world would no longer be lost and alone, but instead be brought into the household of God as one family. We thank God for his mercy and grace. May God help us to bring this good news to all people on earth and make every effort to live as one family in Christ.

One word: Jesus came to make us one