Key Principle: Only those who choose to follow the Master get the true benefits of His power, presence and purpose.
There is an old adage that there are three kinds of people: The kind that MAKE things happen, the kind that WATCH things happen, and the kind that WONDER WHAT HAPPENED. I believe the passage today shows three kinds of people, and they are similar to these three I just mentioned.
TYPE #1: Wonder what is happening:
People who live in FEAR of any agenda, and can easily become manipulated by the second group.. In this case they are represented by the Pharisees that saw a THREAT. Pharisees said inaction would lead to loss of the nation. They felt the need to protect what was not theirs – the nation that was God’s own. When we take on the responsibilities we don’t have, we create a sense of panic and search for resolutions we are forcing on ourselves.
John 11:47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
The people who were led by FEAR made a series of bad assumptions:
#1: They thought together they could solve the problem. It is amazing to see how often people who are lost will band together when none of them have any idea how to get out of the situation. Standing wet in a vast pool of ignorance is somehow more comforting than standing alone in the deserted place. It is as though they were confronted with a CALCULUS problem and they were all DRAMA majors. No one was at all sure how to solve the problem, but the room was crowded with people who (most likely for some point of self interest) were pushing for an immediate solution.
Beware of those who make you feel panic so they can get you to decide on a solution that no one can be certain will help. Fear is an excellent motivator for poor decision processes. Remember, the difference between MOTIVATION and MANIPULATION is the motive in the leadership. If the motive of national leadership is preservation of power (as in these verses) and not primarily the benefit of the people they serve – the decision will not be a good one. They could SPIN that they were concerned for the people, but a broader history of these men demonstrates otherwise. The right answer can only be found when the right picture is presented to the decision makers, and they work on an honest plan that includes facing all the facts (including their own prejudices).
#2: They thought they were asking the right questions. “What are WE DOING?” wasn’t the only question they should have been asking. They should have desired to know what ACTUALLY HAPPENED at Bethany, where Lazarus was raised. The debate should have raged in that room as to HOW a man they called a demoniac (Jesus) was able to cause his friend to cross through the veil from death to life! No one was asking the right questions.
#3: They thought everything was related to what THEY could and would do. As men who governed a people, you would think they would have understood that they couldn’t simply move the people’s opinions around like parliamentary furniture. They seemed to believe they could change everything by THEIR actions. It is firmly within the nature of those who govern to get caught up on the wrong questions and forget the obvious ones. Instead of trying to look at what Jesus was doing, those in charge were busy trying to decide how they could keep control of the situation.
#4: They thought they had the power to stop HIM. Think about that assumption. He was able to bring a man back from the dead, but they could… do what… KILL HIM? That doesn’t seem like the best solution.
It reminds me of when I used to watch Batman back when I was a kid. I could never figure out why the bad guy would catch Batman and Robin and then hatch an elaborate plot to kill them in the slowest and least efficient way. Considering the number of times the “dynamic duo” got loose from such snares, it seemed stupid that the next guy did the same thing. Why didn’t they get it? Well, that was only television… Our story was from history, and they didn’t get it either. Remember, it is in the nature of the halls of power to fail to see the limitations of power. As such, they believed they could shut down a man who had the power over death by killing Him. In retrospect, none of them would argue for this position today.
#5: They thought they could shape what PEOPLE would believe. If we let Him go on, everyone will believe in Him, was their claim. A bit exaggerated when they weren’t exactly at the center of civilization to begin with. What is more, Jesus’ relative popularity was by no means assured when people really heard the message that He preached. He spoke often of commitment and assured the people that His follower’s journey was the road less traveled. Be that as it may be, they thought they could SPIN beliefs and shut down His growth by getting to Jesus with a silencer. History has a way of allowing the truth to eventually come out… there have been few who could be silenced that offered such a strong message.
#6: They thought they could stop what world powers would do to them. The classic miscalculation is the one that s
ays, if we don’t do anything wrong, this world dominating and merciless dictator won’t hurt us. Take the desire to control seriously in people that express world domination as their goal. When any group, be they ancient Roman or modern Near Eastern religions, says they intend to take control by force – don’t expect them to play fair or nice. I am still wondering why to world excuses world leaders who spew out hatred in the UN of the country that paid the light bill.
#7: They thought they HAD control over a nation, though clearly they knew it was, in some sense, out of control. On the one hand they were trying to protect what they had, and on the other hand they expressed no real confidence that they could control it internally or externally. At the end of the day, people in the seat of power often hold less power than they believe. When they realize that truth, they often try to leverage through fear more control.
When Hetty Green died on July 3, 1916, she passed into history as an American businesswoman, remarkable for her legendary frugality (read the word CHEAP) during the Gilded Age, as well as for being the first American woman to make a substantial impact on Wall Street. Green made much of her business at the offices of the Seaboard National Bank in New York, surrounded by trunks and suitcases full of her papers; she did not want to pay rent for an office. Her frugality extended to family life. Her son Ned broke his leg as a child, and Hetty tried to have him admitted in a hospital charity ward. When she was recognized, she stormed away vowing to treat the wounds herself. The leg contracted gangrene and had to be amputated—he ended up with a cork prosthesis. When her children left home, Green moved repeatedly among small apartments in Brooklyn Heights and Hoboken, New Jersey, mainly to avoid establishing a residence permanent enough to attract the attention of tax officials in any state. In her old age she refused an operation because it cost $150. She suffered many strokes and had to rely on a wheelchair. Hetty Green died at age 81 in New York City in an apartment that had heat she would not use because of the cost of utilities. She lived, by all accounts, an eccentric life. Many believed she lived in FEAR of LOSS. (excerpted from WIKIPEDIA).
Take a moment and look at the CONTRAST to the CONTROL of Jesus expressed in John 11:4. In Him you see no FEAR, nor CONFUSION.
TYPE #2: People that make things happen:
Not everyone is moved by FEAR. Some people are always looking at every situation by the angles of how it will help them. These people live to MANIPULATE every agenda…The High Priest saw an OPPORTUNITY. The High Priest said corruption would lead to solution. He felt the right to take what was not his – the Son that was God’s own. When we aren’t tied to the moral truths of God’s Word, we track into wrong territory.
John 11: 49 “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
There are two critical assumptions that manipulators make:
#1: They think their temporary title makes them smarter than everyone else (11:49). Caiaphas was the High Priest on that particular year. He was of the household of Hannan, one of three important households that were vying for the power over the Jerusalem Temple and its lucrative markets. He thought he was smart, but he is not remembered well in history. It is clear that in the NT he comes off badly. Yet, the same is true in Jewish literature. In the Mishnah, Parah 3:5 it refers to him as Ha-Koph (the monkey), a play on his name for opposing a movement among the Hasidim of his day. One day on top of the world, the next day they are calling you “monkey boy” at your back. Just remember when you get an important title. You are either a LORD or a SERVANT. I can so easily get caught up being important – can’t you? How many so called “public servants” are found guilty in crimes that are… well, really STUPID. Do they really think that picking up a prostitute is going to go unnoticed by the paparazzi? I wonder about people…Yet they think the rules don’t apply to them and that they truly are smarter than others.
• It reminds me of the cartoon I saw of a king standing in front of his throne with a long face. In the first frame he is looking forlorn at the floor. He said: “Some of my subjects are saying that I am power hungry…” Frame two: He looks up and says to his adviser, “Have them executed.”
• My other cartoon favorite on power is the one that showed a dad talking to his child: “Surely you can grow up to be the President. But for REAL POWER consider becoming a LOBBYIST!”
#2: They think their might makes them right about moral judgments that affect everyone else (11:50). Right is determined by what God says. It is not cultural nor subjective – in spite of the fact that both are being screamed at us every day.
- Lon Grammer claimed some impressive credentials when he transferred to Yale from Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo, Calif., two years ago, including a 3.9 grade point average. He did well at Yale, too, playing rugby while earning a B average. But a bare month before he was to graduate with a degree in political science, Yale expelled the 25-year-old and charged him with taking $61,475 under false pretenses. School officials say he lied about his GPA and forged recommendations from nonexistent teachers. He was arraigned on larceny charges. In a TV interview, he pleaded that his actions were no worse than what happens every day when people lie on resumes. U.S. News & World Report, April 24, 1995, p. 20
- “A pastor I know, Stephey Belynskyj, starts [Bible] class with a jar full of beans. He asks his students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and on a big pad of paper writes down their estimates. Then, next to those estimates, he helps them make another list: their favorite songs. When the lists are complete, he reveals the actual number of beans in the jar. The whole class looks over their guesses, to see which estimate was closest to being right. Belynskyj then turns to the list of favorite songs. “And which one of these is closest to being right?” he asks. The students protest that there is no “right answer”; a person’s favorite song is purely a matter of taste. Belynskyj, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy asks, “When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is that more like guessing the number of beans, or more like choosing your favorite song?” Always, Belynskyj says, from old as well as young, he gets the same answer: Choosing one’s faith is more like choosing a favorite song. When Belynskyj told me this, it took my breath away. “After they say that, what do you do?” I asked him. “Well,” smiled Belynskyj, “I try to show [them the error. Sadly, many don’t believe their can be one!] “(Adapted from Tim Stafford / brackets mine, Christianity Today, September 14, 1992, p. 36.
TYPE #3: Those who follow the leader:
People who live for HIS agenda…John as the narrator saw God’s PLAN. The narrator said that Jesus’ death covered both Israel and others afar off.
John 11:51 “Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”
Look at John’s three assumptions as a follower:
#1: God was at work: The High Priest may have spoken the words, but God was doing something bigger than that man ever perceived.
#2: Jesus wasn’t just killed BY them, but FOR them: They may have been plotting, but God’s plan was what was in play!
#3: The Agenda of God wasn’t just BIG, it was HUGE: God was going to use this work to change the world!
2 Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.“
MAYBE you should consider the RESULTS before you answer:
• Manipulators end up on THEIR agenda, with great plans and God withdrawn – and as a result they lost His blessing! They lost the blessings that would have come from continued time with Jesus. Note in John 11:53 “So from that day on they planned together to kill Him. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews,”
• Followers commit to HIS agenda, and as a result they got His presence and continued direction! John 11:44b: “but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.”
• Wonderers continue to walk in confusion… John 11:55 “Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 So they were seeking for Jesus, and were 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 was to report it, so that they might seize Him.”
I heard a Pastor share recently a story about a father who was trying to watch television and catch an engaging football game. His little daughter kept bothering him because she wanted to be taken to the corner store for some candy (a Saturday ritual of theirs). Frustrated, he grabbed a Christian Magazine over and found a picture of the world. Taking a pair of his child’s scissors, he cut the picture out, then cut it into a pile of much small pieces. He gave the pile to his daughter and told her that he would take her “when she put the world back together correctly.” The girl got out the tape and began to go to work. The man thought he would have time to watch the whole game. Within a few minutes the child brought back the world in perfect order. He couldn’t believe it! He was visibly shocked and said, “HOW? –hOW COULD YOU PUT THE WORLD TOGETHER SO QUICKLY?” She smiled, and answered: “See daddy, I noticed on the back of the picture when you were cutting it up there was a picture of Jesus being put onto the cross . So when I put Him in the right place, the world all came back together.”
She knew the lesson. Only those who choose to follow the Master – to put His work at the CENTER of it all- get the true benefits of His power, presence and purpose. Life won’t make sense any other way.
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