Capital Punishment & Scripture--John 11:47-53

Day 7

Ironically, the central event of my faith is an…execution.

(Christianity can be really distasteful and messy).

John describes the behind-the-curtain Machiavellian machinations of Jesus’ death in John 11:47-53.

What I didn’t realize was how complex and riveting all the arcane legal jostling and maneuvering that had to happen before Jesus was crucified.

(Netflix could easily make a 10 episode series on just these 7 verses alone–which would be quite a trick since all of the streaming services avoid Christian themes so assiduously you might think THAT is a conspiracy). 🙂

In the first 2 verses, John describes the ruckus Jesus causes when He arrives in Jerusalem during Passover:

John 11:47-48 47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we doing in regard to the fact that this Man is performing many signs? 48 If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our place and our nation.”

This little bit of chicanery and backwards logic is the kernel of every political movement and campaign ever.

No matter what your political persuasion is–the other guys are out to destroy your established, and preferred way of life! They must be vanquished!

Gardner Hanks elaborates in Capital Punishment and the Bible:

“The execution of Jesus was based on political decisions made by men influenced by their own self-interest and also thinking that Jesus’ death was necessary for the public good. The Jewish religious leaders accused Jesus of the capital crime of blasphemy, but He was executed by the Romans for sedition. This indicates the complexity of the political climate in which Jesus lived and died. Judea was a colony of Rome. As in all colonies, the colonizers depended on native collaborators to help them understand the local political situation and to keep it under control.”

I suppose Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in the preceding verses was evidence enough for the corrupt Sadducees (the aristocratic priestly elite) that a new sheriff was in town.

(Does that mean every Western-themed movie or book can be traced to John 11? Maybe…)

Dan Folden asks some good questions about the Sadducees motivations in Why We Don’t Trust God:

“The meeting of the Sanhedrin opens with what could have been a good question if they were really looking for the truth. What are we accomplishing? But, in good business style, they needed to measure their success against their goals and objectives. And, since their primary goal was, like so many politicians, to retain their position of power, they only asked questions presumed to preserve their power. And, the presence of Jesus was threatening their hold on power.”

I find this whole episode to be incredibly stupid and shortsighted.

It’s like Jesus finding the cure for cancer and the CEO’s of Pfizer, Merck & Co, and Eli Lilly coming together to put a stop to Him–because He might impact their market share.

(Say, I wonder if there really is a cure for cancer…no, not going there...that would make me a conspiracy nut, right?)

But then, in the next 4 verses, if you look hard enough, you can see that God is exerting ALL of the control still–even if it doesn’t seem like it.

John 11:49-52 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor are you taking into account that it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.” 51 Now he did not say this on his own, but as he was 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.

If there is any one man that is most responsible for Jesus’ execution it is probably Caiaphas–even beyond Pontius Pilate (who really didn’t want to execute Jesus).

But even as self-serving and evil as Caiaphas seems, he is given words by God that turn out to be prophecies for the world.

Behind and Above The Scenes notices that God is in control:

“Notice that even during this strategic meeting the LORD turned the plotter into a prophet who didn’t even realize the full impact of his words. Verses 51-52 tell us that Caiaphas did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. Even as they plotted, thinking they were in control, God was in control. Through these men this Jesus was delivered up according to God’s definite plan and foreknowledge to be crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus would be killed so the Romans wouldn’t take over Judea once and for all.

Caiaphas argued that it was better for Jesus to die for the people rather than the whole nation to perish.

Unknowingly I think that is a prophecy about the redemptive nature of Jesus’ execution–not just politically, but for all of God’s scattered children.

Which would mean me–some 2,000 years later.

That’s why I’m sitting here trying to figure out why the Sadducees had the temerity to execute Jesus.

In Jesus Gives You To The Father, John Piper writes:

“God preaches the Gospel to the council through the mouth of Caiaphas. Jesus will die so that the nation might live—that is, so that all Jews who believe might live.”

And so the conspiracy to kill Jesus is born from the minds of evil, politically motivated, Judean and Roman governmental agencies.

John 11:53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

It’s almost like our deep state, shadow government of the FBI, CIA, State and Justice Department trying to rid themselves of our current populist president with lawfare and assassination, huh? 🙂

Of course, there is no real comparison between our petty politics and the divine Gospels, except to say we haven’t advanced very far from Caiaphas’ motivations.

Not very far at all.

Lord, we pray for our hearts to trust in Your sovereignty, even when fear drives us to control or protect our own interests.

Lord, guard us from the temptation to suppress the truth for the sake of gain. Fill us with courage to embrace Your will as Jesus did, knowing that Your purpose prevails over our tawdry human plans.

Amen.