A Study of John 11:45-57

“Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 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. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.”

John 11:45-57 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

After seeing Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, many of the Jews who had come from Jerusalem to mourn with Martha and Mary believed in Jesus, but others went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. After hearing of this the chief priests and Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

However, the high priest that year, Caiaphas, said, “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 said this not of his own accord, but rather, because he was high priest that year he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus would die for the entire nation, and also to gather the children of God who are scattered abroad into one. So, from that day forward they conspired and planned to put Jesus to death. Because of this Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but instead went to a region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and He stayed there with the disciples.

After staying there for a time, the time for Passover came, and many people went from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before it began. As the people gathered there they spoke to one another saying, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” At this time the chief priests had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was they should tell them so that they could arrest Him.

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

This final section of John chapter 11 takes place after Jesus miraculously raised Lazarus from the dead. For this reason verses 45-46 tell us of the two different responses of those who witnessed the resurrection. Some believed in Jesus, but others went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Again, we see here how Jesus always divided opinion; there has never been a truly neutral response to Him. The group who believed in Jesus are of course cast in a positive light, but the ones who went to tell the Pharisees what Jesus had done are cast in a negative light. One might assume those who went to the Pharisees merely wanted to share the good news of Lazarus’ resurrection with them, and that the Messiah had come, but from earlier passages we know it was well known in Jerusalem that the Pharisees wanted to arrest and kill Jesus despite the miraculous signs He had already performed (John 7:1, 11-13, 32; 10:31).

Interestingly, while it would be intriguing to learn more about what it was like for Lazarus to be dead and come back, and what the reactions of their family and friends were, John does not share this information. Instead he only shares the details of the miracle to keep all of the emphasis in this account on the miraculous sign. There is nothing wrong with asking these other questions and imagining what it would have been like, but the point of John’s gospel is to cause us to focus on the fact that for Jesus last reported miraculous sign before the crucifixion, He chose to demonstrate His power over death; and more specifically, to show that He truly is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26).

In response to hearing the news of what Jesus had done, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” This was a gathering of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders made up of the Sadducees and Pharisees, and even they admitted that Jesus performed many miraculous signs which confirmed His claims to be the Messiah and God in the flesh. At first they denied Jesus was the Messiah, but now, faced with undeniable evidence, they worked against Him precisely because His Messiahship could not credibly be denied, and they were afraid of losing their own earthly power and influence. They knew if they did not intervene, then Jesus would continue to display His glory and more would follow Him. However, what they did not know is that their opposition to Him, which would lead to His eventual arrest and crucifixion, would only serve to maximize His glory.

Next, in verses 49-50, the high priest Caiaphas, who was the leading member of the Sanhedrin, said, “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.” The text says Caiaphas was high priest that year, but this does not mean he was high priest only for that year. Joseph Caiaphas was appointed high priest in the year 18 AD by the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus. He was son in law to Annas, who held the office of high priest from 6-15 AD, and who also retained much influence after leaving the office. Caiaphas was the high priest until 36 AD when both he and Pontius Pilate were removed from office. So, when John says “that year”, he does not mean to say, as some have suggested, that Caiaphas was high priest for only that year. By use of the term “that year”, John is referring to the specifically remarkable year of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

As we read Caiaphas’ opening statement, “You know nothing at all.”, we can understand it in our current vernacular as, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”. The words are as barbed as they sound; we would be right in interpreting this statement as impolite to say the least. And when Caiaphas says, “it is better for you,” he is referring to the ruling class, meaning it would be better for the ruling class if Jesus is executed, or sacrificed as a scapegoat in order to save the nation state and its leaders. Here we see that in a mad scramble to hold onto power, they sought for political solutions, rather than spiritual ones, all while sacrificing justice itself. And sadly for them, even though their plot would be successful, they would end up losing both their “place” (meaning the temple) and the nation anyway a few decades later when, in response to a rebellion, the Romans would come to sack Jerusalem and destroy the temple just as Jesus prophesied they would.

In verses 51-52, we read that Caiaphas “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.” Here, John the gospel writer tells us how Caiaphas unknowingly prophesied. It is not that God puppeted these words from Caiaphas, but rather, Caiaphas spoke the coarse, calloused words he intended to speak. But while Caiaphas meant one thing by the words he chose, God also communicated His own meaning through them, thus making the words of Caiaphas a prophecy in which the prophet did not know the full meaning of what he said. As D.A. Carson puts it, “Caiaphas spoke as a prophet, partly by virtue of the fact that he was the high priest, partly by virtue of the fact that it was ‘that [fateful] year’ when Jesus was to die.”

Now, Caiaphas prophesied two things. First, that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation. The Greek phrase “hyper tou ethnous” is translated as “for the nation,” and this is sacrificial language often used to speak of a ransom. In this we see John and Caiaphas viewed Jesus’ death as substitutionary (think: “substitutionary atonement”); either Jesus must die or the nation must perish. It must be the life of Jesus or that of the entire nation. However, the difference is Caiaphas was thinking only of the political sphere, while John was thinking along the lines of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 34).

Second, Caiaphas also prophesied that Jesus would not only die for the nation, but also to gather together the children of God scattered abroad. From a solely Jewish point of view, this could be taken to mean the Jews scattered abroad being brought back to the promised land to form and share in the kingdom of God. But from a Christian perspective this refers to all people around the world who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are thus made children of God and heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17). This speaks more broadly of the many Gentile sheep who are of a different fold, but who will be brought together as one flock by the Good Shepherd, Jesus (John 10:16).

In response to these words from Caiaphas, verse 53 tells us, “So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.” Up to this point, the plots to arrest or kill Jesus had been fomented by lesser officials, but now the highest Jewish authorities had determined to put Him to death. Rather than merely being a plot, this plan became an official resolution. The Scottish theologian Alexander Maclaren expressed the opinion of this council in the following words, “Never mind about His miracles, or His teaching, or the beauty of His character. His life is a perpetual danger to our prerogatives. I vote for death!”.

Continuing on, we find out that because of this Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went to a town called Ephraim which was located in a region near the wilderness, and He stayed there with His disciples. Ephraim (probably the village of Et-Taiyibeh today) was located north of Jerusalem near Samaria, but Jesus did not go there out of fear. He knew what raising Lazarus would cause; He went there because, still, “His hour had not yet come” (John 7:30). We might also wonder how Jesus and the disciples heard about this council decision. The Sanhedrin was made up of about 71 members, so it is not hard to believe that word got out. Also, Jesus’ decision to remove Himself out of their reach and ability to find demonstrated further that the Divine prerogative lay with Him. The Sanhedrin would not be allowed by God to arrest and kill Jesus until the time which He had appointed.

The place Jesus went to was far enough away to be out of reach of the Sanhedrin, but close enough for Him to return to Jerusalem for the Passover, and so verse 55 tells us, “Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.”. This is the third Passover John writes of in this gospel account. The first took place in John 2:13, during the ministry of John the Baptist, and the second one happened in John 6:4 while Jesus was ministering in Galilee. Jesus went to Jerusalem for the first of these, but not the second one. This count of Passovers helps to establish the timeline for Jesus’ earthly ministry to be a little less than or approximately three years.

This verse also says many people went “up from the country” to say they came from the areas all around to Jerusalem, the capital. And it also says they came to purify themselves, because the Old Testament laws of purification were still in effect. Anyone who had become ritually unclean, for example, by touching a corpse or having a bodily discharge of some kind, would follow specific ritual purification procedures to “cleanse” themselves. These laws applied to both men and women in the case of different bodily discharges. Some of the purification rituals took only one day, and others could take up to a week.

As the crowds of people flooded into Jerusalem they were looking for Jesus and asking each other, “What do you think, that He will not come to the feast at all?”. People knew the Sanhedrin wanted to arrest and kill Jesus, and they understandably wondered if He would hide or show Himself. Their discussions are similar to the ones which took place during the feast of Tabernacles (John 7:11), the difference however is that by this time the hostility had risen a great deal.

This chapter finishes by saying that the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, they should tell them so they could arrest Him. The priests in Israel were primarily Sadducees, and they did not usually get along well with the Pharisees, but they were united in their hatred of Jesus. Because of this order, even all the pilgrims streaming into the city knew of the judicial decision to arrest Jesus.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage should cause us to think of the different reactions people had to Jesus, as we consider our own. We all have to call a sort of unofficial council meeting when we are confronted with the gospel and stories of  Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. But what will our response be? Jesus was unjustly tried and convicted by people who wanted to hold onto their temporary, earthly situation. But Jesus offers us something more. Firstly, He is the Messiah, and God incarnate, and He offers us a way to be restored to relationship with Him. And secondly, He offers us eternal life and a place in His kingdom which will endure forever. But we must submit to His rule and lordship over our lives. We must be willing to let go of our earthly riches (however scant or abundant they might be), which are passing away, and trust that He and what He offers are infinitely better.

Self Reflection:

1. Is there anything I’m unwilling to let go of for Jesus’ sake? Is there anything I have been valuing above Him?
2. What did Jesus leave behind for me? (the splendor of Heaven to die on a cross)
3. How do the eternal gifts Jesus offers compare to the temporary things o f this world?