Friday 26th July
Read John 11:47-50
“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. 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 temple and our nation.’
49Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’ (NIVUK)
There is no longer any question that Jesus is performing miraculous signs. No longer any interrogation as to whether they really occurred such as the man born blind experienced. It is a simple fact. Jesus has just raised someone from the dead after all! What is immediately obvious is how unconcerned they are with what the signs point to and mean. They do not consider that question at all. They are wilfully blind to their significance.
What they are most concerned about is what it means for their hold on power and their relationship with the Romans. How will these signs upset the status quo? Like many leaders today they are more concerned with the spin than the substance. They are ‘accomplishing’ nothing if they are not turning these events to their own purpose, imposing their own will on this situation. Sadly, the response is entirely believable. If we question our own motives we often fail this way too.
