NLT Study Bible - Gospel of John - Flipbook - Page 34
John 11:56
1795
11:41
Matt 11:25
11:42
John 12:30
11:43
Luke 7:14
11:47
Matt 26:3-5
11:49
Matt 26:3
11:50
John 18:13-14
11:51
Exod 28:30
Num 27:21
11:52
Isa 49:6
Luke 2:32
John 10:16
1 Jn 2:2
11:53
Matt 26:4
11:55
Exod 12:13
2 Chr 30:17-19
Matt 26:1-2
Mark 14:1
40Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that
you would see God’s glor y if you believe?”
41So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus
looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank
you for hearing me. 42You always hear me,
but I said it out loud for the sake of all these
people standing here, so that they will be
lieve you sent me.” 43Then Jesus shouted,
“Lazarus, come out!” 44And the dead man
came out, his hands and feet bound in
graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let
him go!”
49Caiaphas, who was high priest at that
time, said, “You don’t know what you’re
talking about! 50You don’t realize that it’s
better for you that one man should die for
the people than for the whole nation to be
destroyed.”
51He did not say this on his own; as high
priest at that time he was led to prophesy
that Jesus would die for the entire nation.
52And not only for that nat ion, but to bring
together and unite all the children of God
scattered around the world.
53So from that time on, the Jewish lead
ers began to plot Jesus’ death. 54As a result,
Jesus stopped his public ministry among
the people and left Jerusalem. He went to
a place near the wilderness, to the village
of Ephraim, and stayed there with his
disciples.
55It was now almost time for the Jewish
Passover celebration, and many people
from all over the country arrived in Jeru
salem several days early so they could go
through the purification ceremony be
fore Passover began. 56They kept looking
for Jesus, but as they stood around in the
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45Many of the people who were with Mary
believed in Jesus when they saw this hap
pen. 46But some went to the Pharisees and
told them what Jesus had done. 47Then the
leading priests and Pharisees called the
high council together. “What are we going
to do?” they asked each other. “This man
certainly performs many miraculous signs.
48If we allow him to go on like this, soon
everyone will believe in him. Then the Ro
man army will come and destroy both our
Temple and our nation.”
Jesus’ Ministry in
Judea (11:1–12:19).
Judea was a Roman
prefecture under
Pontius Pilate (see
profile, p. 1691).
John records much
of Jesus’ ministry in
JERUSALEM (2:13–3:21;
5:1-47; 7:10–10:42;
12:12-50) and JUDEA
(3:22; 11:1-44;
12:1-11). When the
time came for Jesus’
death, Jesus embarked on his final
trip from Galilee to
Jerusalem (see map,
p. 1747). The events
of 11:1–20:31 took
place during Jesus’
final period in and
around Jerusalem.
11:45-46 As news of the miracle spread
rapidly into the city of Jerusalem (12:9,
17), public opinion was again divided
(6:66-69; 7:43; 9:16; 10:19; 11:37).
Jesus’ reputation as a healer and as one
who could raise the dead was known
in Galilee (see Matt 9:24-26; 10:8; 11:5).
Now he had brought this power to
Judea.
11:47 the high council: Greek the
Sanhedrin.
11:48 The council’s deliberations unveiled their fears that everyone would
believe in him. If people believed that
the Messiah had come, the political
implications would be threatening. The
Romans viewed Jewish messiahs with
suspicion, and the movement surrounding Jesus might inspire them to invade
and destroy Jerusalem and its Temple.
our Temple: Or our position; Greek
reads our place.
11:49 Caiaphas was the ruler of the
high council from AD 18–36. He worked
for ten years alongside Pontius Pilate,
governor of Judea (AD 26–36; see 18:29),
keeping the peace with Rome. at that
time: Literally that year; also in 11:51.
11:50-51 it’s better . . . that one man
should die: Caiaphas’s words were
ironic. He meant that it was better for
a revolutionary to die than to have the
Romans crush the entire Jewish nation.
But Caiaphas was correct in a way that
he could not perceive. The salvation
that Judaism needed had little to do
with Rome; it would come through
the cross of Christ. John notes that
Caiaphas’s inspiration was not his own,
but came from God.
11:52 Christ’s death was not for Israel
only, but for all, including people of
other cultures scattered around the
world (10:16; 12:32).
11:53-54 When the Jewish leaders
began to plot Jesus’ death, Jesus made
a judicious political move in response
(11:54). Ephraim was a village about
twelve miles north of Jerusalem, where
Jesus was safe from the Sanhedrin but
close enough to walk to the upcoming
Passover festival (11:55).
11:55-57 As crowds arrived in Jerusalem on pilgrimage for Passover (see
2:13), the city was buzzing with talk
about Jesus and his miracle of raising
Lazarus from the dead. People wondered if Jesus would be obedient to the
law and come to the city to celebrate
or play it safe in the countryside. The
priests and Pharisees knew that Jesus
was faithful to the law and would attend the festival, so they tried to make
the city a trap for him.
