No lack of material in John 11 to evoke wonder. Other than the cross itself, this, it seems to me, is the pinnacle of Jesus public ministry. A dead friend . . . grieving sisters . . . a tomb that’s been sealed for 4 days. It all comes together that Jesus might declare that He is “the resurrection and the life” . . . it all comes together that Jesus might ask, “Do you believe this?” A Shepherd weeping at death’s destruction . . . a Sovereign commanding that the stone before the tomb be taken away . . . a Savior crying out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” And out walks a dead man alive . . . and many dead souls are also made alive as many believe in Him who is the resurrection. Amazing! Awesome! But there’s something else in this chapter which amazed me this morning . . . the double speak of Caiaphas, the high priest.

I always find it strange that it is this incident, Jesus raising a dead man to life, which in effect seals His fate. This is the final straw for the hard-heart, stiff-necked band of Jews who have responsibility for the spiritual welfare of the people. He’s raised someone from the dead, they acknowledge . . . if we let Him keep going like this, soon everyone’s going to believe in Him . . . and what will that mean for us? . . . and what will the Romans do if we lose our seat of power? (John 11:47-48) We’ve got to kill this Giver of life, they say . . . and while we are at it, we need to take out this Lazarus guy, as well (John 12:9-11) . . . we need to kill the dead guy who was made alive and make him dead again so that we get rid of the evidence of the power of the One who made Him alive. Crazy, huh?

Specifically, it’s Caiaphas, the high priest, who puts “the hit” out on Jesus. While the others fret over the loss of their prestige if more and more people start believing in Jesus, it’s Caiaphas who declares what must be done . . . but it’s also God who is speaking through him . . . it’s double speak . . .

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He 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.    (John 11:49-52 ESV)

And I wonder at the Sovereignty of God that His ways are declared even through the mouth of a twisted, darkness-infested, sham of a religious leader. That while these puppet rulers of Israel think it’s their idea to put to death the Son of God for the sake of the nation, it has, in fact, always been the eternal purpose of The Ruler of Creation to offer His Son as a once-for-all sacrifice for the sin of His people and for all those who become children of God by faith. I’m amazed afresh at the reminder that God directs the events of earth in order to accomplish the purposes of heaven.

What man intended for evil, God, from before the foundations of the earth, had architected for good. Though they thought they were taking matters into their own hands, they were in fact exercising their warped will within the determined will of the Redeemer of men. The words Caiaphas thought he was speaking to protect his own self interest, was, in reality, the declaration of a God who so loved the world that He would give His only Son to reclaim His creation.

O’ what a Sovereign . . . O’ what a Savior!