
Quote for the Day
“…many of the Jews…put their faith in Him.”
Today's Prayer
Father, we thank you for your Son and the salvation you brought to us through Him. We ask for your will to be done today in our lives.
John 11:45-57
John 11:45-57 (NIV)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. 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 miraculous 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 place 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 Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, 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 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.
Message
At the beginning of this chapter we discussed the issue of this being a point in time where all must make a decision on the claims of Jesus. We have a choice: believe or NOT believe. As we read the final verses of this chapter we see the choices that people make. Each one of them (and us) is confronted with the exact same exposure, though we see vastly different responses. In verse 45 many of the Jews respond in a positive manner to the works of Christ. They have seen the relationship of the Son to the Father and responded to the fulfillment of the Scriptures they knew so well. Later we see the Gentiles without the advantage of the Scriptural teaching and history of the promised Messiah respond to Jesus in the same positive way and accept His salvation.We also see at the conclusion of this chapter the plot to crucify Jesus become top priority for the ruling Jewish leaders of the day. And why is this their response? The same reason most others fail to accept the truth of Jesus and His relationship with the Father: because they cannot let go of what they have in this world. Verse 48 quotes the Jewish rulers saying, “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 egos of man were not able to submit to the will of God Almighty, the Creator of all. This is just as true today. Ego is the dividing line of acceptance or rejection of Jesus.