Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 12, 2014 - 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 it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish."
Today we are witnesses to the kind of thinking that led to Jesus' death! However, it is told from the perspective of years after the event. There is more than a little irony here because the one thing the Sanhedrin feared most was not prevented by putting Jesus to death. The resentment against the Romans would boil over in 66 AD and a revolt would break out. The Romans brutally crushed it, destroying Jerusalem and the temple. Nevertheless, during the feast of the Passover, the Romans were on high alert to put down any riots or public disorder. The Sanhedrin took advantage of this and portrayed Jesus as a political threat, thus, in effect, getting the Roman army to do the dirty work.
In all of this, the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as someone who is supremely in charge of his fate. He knows that his "hour" is near and that he would be betrayed by one of his close companions, the apostle Judas Iscariot! He would also be denied by another apostle, Peter! It is "high drama" and we are invited to be part of it beginning this weekend with Palm Sunday! I urge my Beloved Congregation to open the scriptures with me and join the company on stage! AMEN