Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 31, 2012 - 5th Week of Lent - Sat
[Ezek 37:21-28 and John 11:45-56]"What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish." He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him.
The final "editor" of the Gospel of John has the advantage of knowing what really DID happen after the death of Jesus. The Romans did come and take away both the land and the nation in 70 A.D.. However, this was not because of something Jesus did! The Jews revolted in 66 A.D., and after some initial success, were thoroughly crushed. They tried again in 135 A.D. and the Romans came and leveled the temple and built one of their own! This latter event occurred after the Gospel of John was composed, but in this case, we, the readers, have the advantage of history and can see the strange irony in all of this. Those crushed revolts came after the people put their hopes in charismatic leaders, whom they thought were "messiahs." Jesus was seen as simply a kind of "rabble rouser" who might irritate the Romans by stirring things up. It would not have been the first time. Everybody would be edgy around the celebration of the Passover when so many people would be in Jerusalem. Getting rid of this one preacher was seen as a political necessity. What better way to do it than to get the Romans to take the blame!
The Gospel gives Caiaphas some ironic credit for his prophecy. But that prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper "that all may be one" is still an unrealized hope. [John 17:21] Unity is hard to come by, whether among Jews, Christians or any other religious tradition. We Catholics pride ourselves on our "unity" which is personified by the papacy, but we know that in practice we are fractured and torn. Yet, as history has taught us, it is not possible to "get rid" of Jesus. He continues to beckon all the world to put aside political and social enmities and agendas and to embrace God's saving love. Perhaps the events of Holy Week, coming up, will once more remind us of what still needs to be done. AMEN