No Throw-Away Lines: Day 4
Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what He had done [the raising of Lazarus from the dead], believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Therefore, the chief priests and the other Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take our nation.”…So from that day on, they planned together to kill him.
John 11:45-48, 53 NASB
I have marked many Holy Week observances and celebrated many Easter mornings. I was sure I had all the pertinent information and insights about this most sacred time. But recently I saw something that I had never noticed. (Perhaps you, too, have experienced that “when did they put that there” feeling?)
Only in John 11 do we read about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. No official timeline is presented in Scripture, but traditionally it is believed to have been near or during Holy Week when Jesus’ popularity was at its peak with the people. This didn’t escape the notice of the unholy alliance of Jewish religious leaders and the Roman occupiers.
But then Jesus did something so dangerous, so audacious, He could no longer be merely observed. He raised Lazarus from the dead.
John 11:45 above, records an amazing truth: one experience, one group of people, two responses, two courses of action. All of the onlookers saw the same event and accepted its veracity. Only some rightly understood its implications.
Everybody saw Jesus do what only God could do: bring a certifiably dead man back to life. Some seeing that irrefutable miracle, “believed in Him.” Others saw the same miracle, but their conclusion was, “Boy, the Romans will be mad when they hear about this.” In retrospect, it is easy to see the monumental absurdity of that conclusion, but darkened minds make foolish, stunted choices.
In Matthew 10:34 Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” He wasn’t referring to a sword of war, but a sword that would lay bare ultimate allegiances. A sword that would divide believers and unbelievers.
In good times, we can consider many gods if that will keep the peace. But in a crisis, reality sets in and we must decide where ultimate truth lies. And what we decide, will determine everything that follows.
Nancy Shirah
