prophecy

This morning, continuing through the book of John, I noticed something fascinating. It played out this way.

Here’s what happened immediately after Jesus brought Lazarus from the dead, as told in John 11:45-48: “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed 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.’”

That church council meeting captures the story of Jesus’ life in three simple sentences. The Jewish leaders were so focused on guarding the political right of the people to worship, so intent not to do anything to provoke the Roman occupiers, that they were willing to ignore all the miracles and messages that proclaimed Jesus as Messiah.

But here’s how the meeting went from there: “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.’”

That part I remembered, but if I’ve ever noticed what followed, I’ve forgotten in. Look at the hand of God, moving Caiaphas but yet keeping his unbelieving eyes blind. “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.”

God sent Caiaphas a prophecy, a glimpse into his plan, but Caiaphas, unable to see with spiritual eyes or hear with spiritual ears, misunderstood God to say, “Jesus the rabbi must be killed in order to save the nation from Rome.” Caiaphas, with a front-row seat to the greatest moment in human history, completely missed all of God’s glory in his anxiety about worldly things.

It’s a warning to me to be careful what shapes my desires. It’s easy to get too attached to this temporary life and stop watching for eternity.