Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent -- April 16, 2011
John 11:45 – 56
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 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 signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?”
How do you bring people together? How do you make separated people one? Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest in Jesus’ day, thought that putting Jesus to death would unify the people: The death of one man would bring all the people to unity.
In John’s editorial statement a line later, he asserted that Caiaphas believed that killing Jesus would bring the scattered nation together, that it would “bring the people together and make them one” (v. 52).
It’s a gruesome way to bring about unity, but it does seem to be the human way. I remember a high school sociology teacher talking about “herd mentality,” that is, the tendency of people to do in a group what they will not do on their own. It’s pretty easy to gather a group of people together if you appeal to their hatreds and common dislikes. Once you’ve rallied them around hatred and fear, it’s not so difficult to take even the most heinous action.
Governments are good at this.
Politicians are skilled at demonizing other politicians and developing a fear-based following.
Religious groups have a long history of gaining a following by aligning themselves against certain groups of people, ideological causes or social issues.
There are many folks who get much more energy from what they oppose rather than what they support.
In reality, it’s a pseudo-unity. Eliminating the presenting problem never gets rid of the hatred and fear beneath the problem. It simply removes the person or thing that triggers the hatred or fear. It’s a huge illusion to think that the way to deal with the outer problem is to eliminate it from sight.
It’s something like feeling miserable in Houston and thinking that if I just moved to Denver everything would be fine.
Eliminating Jesus did not make life easier for Caiaphas and the religious leaders. It simply took out of the picture the one who triggered their inner angst.
It’s always easier, though, to eliminate the outer problem rather than deal with the inner angst.
If you are a politician (Caiaphas) or a person interested in eliminating the outer problem rather than dealing with the inner realities, it is expedient that one man die for the many.
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 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 signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?”
How do you bring people together? How do you make separated people one? Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest in Jesus’ day, thought that putting Jesus to death would unify the people: The death of one man would bring all the people to unity.
In John’s editorial statement a line later, he asserted that Caiaphas believed that killing Jesus would bring the scattered nation together, that it would “bring the people together and make them one” (v. 52).
It’s a gruesome way to bring about unity, but it does seem to be the human way. I remember a high school sociology teacher talking about “herd mentality,” that is, the tendency of people to do in a group what they will not do on their own. It’s pretty easy to gather a group of people together if you appeal to their hatreds and common dislikes. Once you’ve rallied them around hatred and fear, it’s not so difficult to take even the most heinous action.
Governments are good at this.
Politicians are skilled at demonizing other politicians and developing a fear-based following.
Religious groups have a long history of gaining a following by aligning themselves against certain groups of people, ideological causes or social issues.
There are many folks who get much more energy from what they oppose rather than what they support.
In reality, it’s a pseudo-unity. Eliminating the presenting problem never gets rid of the hatred and fear beneath the problem. It simply removes the person or thing that triggers the hatred or fear. It’s a huge illusion to think that the way to deal with the outer problem is to eliminate it from sight.
It’s something like feeling miserable in Houston and thinking that if I just moved to Denver everything would be fine.
Eliminating Jesus did not make life easier for Caiaphas and the religious leaders. It simply took out of the picture the one who triggered their inner angst.
It’s always easier, though, to eliminate the outer problem rather than deal with the inner angst.
If you are a politician (Caiaphas) or a person interested in eliminating the outer problem rather than dealing with the inner realities, it is expedient that one man die for the many.
Great post, Jerry. You've hit the nail on the head.
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