A new identity

Last week I traveled, with a laptop, without a charger. Which delayed this post.

As we reflected in our last reading, Jesus meets us in the busy times and the pauses. He showed up last week with new insight as I read about the Pharisees’ plot to kill Jesus in John chapter 11.

We have his promises he will sit with us when we sit with his Word.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26).

In his letter to believers in Philippi, Paul wrote much about living all for Jesus, no matter where we are on our faith walk. Later during my time away, I listened in on a conversation that reminded me what we do for Christ is what truly lasts.

“All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things [to live is Christ, to know him and his sufferings and the power of his resurrection].  And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained” (Philippians 3:15-16 [8, 10]).

Let’s return now to our reading in John’s gospel.

Read John 11:45-48.

• We still observe this today: some who see how Jesus changes lives then believe in him. Others go to the “Pharisees,” their current rulers. They tell what Christians have done—whether in Jesus’ name or not. In this way, they witness, telling what they have seen and heard. God can use anyone to accomplish his purposes.
• The chief priests and Pharisees responded by calling a meeting of their religious ruling body, the Sanhedrin, to discuss Jesus and his miracles.
• We discovered early in John’s account such miracles were performed by Jesus as proof of his divine mission.¹ John used the word only in this sense, declaring the truth all men are without excuse regarding who Jesus is.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

• Today people still call meetings to discuss claims made and actions done by Jesus followers.
• Jesus’ miracles led the religious leaders to believe they were failing—they had done “nothing” to stop this heretic. They had made no progress toward restoring and upholding their perceived proper religious order among the people.
• The Pharisees plainly stated the threat.
• Those who heard Jesus would believe in him (instead of the God the religious leaders portrayed). Imagine that.
• Perhaps even worse, the Romans would take the temple, representing religious order as they knew it. The Romans would overtake their nation, or identity.

*How does Jesus turn our ideas about religion upside down?

*How does Jesus reshape our identity?

*Why might we be reluctant to have Jesus take over our nation (identity)?

*What happens when we experience Jesus and turn away from idols we helped create?

Read John 11:49-52.

• The high priest, Caiaphas, had a different perspective.
• He proposed the one man, Jesus, die in place of the nation.
• Perhaps if they did away with Jesus, the insurgence would die down and Rome would no longer be incited against the Jews.
• He proposed a plan that suggested it would be advantageous for one to die for the benefit of many.²
• The high priest’s prophecy proclaimed Christ would die to atone for sin.³

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. … God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them… God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,…” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 19, 21).

• God used Caiaphas to see beyond what he actually knew.
• John interpreted Caiaphas’s prophecy as pointing to Jesus bringing all people to God.

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

• God would gather his people “into one family or church,”⁴ making “two into one flesh.”⁴

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross…” (Ephesians 2:14-16).

• His words also seem to point to Jesus’ role as the scapegoat, carrying the people’s sins out of the camp.

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

*What do you think about God’s idea that one man would die for all?

*Why did God allow Caiaphas, an unbeliever, to prophecy concerning Jesus and God’s master plan?

*How does Jesus serve as a scapegoat for us today?

Read John 11:53-57.

• The Jews began to consult together for evil, to plot how to kill Jesus, as God’s master plan unfolded.
• Jesus withdrew to a village near the wilderness, north of Jerusalem, away from the public.
• Ephraim was near Bethel (“house of God”), where Abraham built an altar to remember God’s covenant faithfulness.
• Jesus served as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s covenant promises.
• He intentionally paused before Holy Week.
• Even though the pause in our readings was unintentional, we might consider the upcoming fall season as a “holy” season. Holy means set apart for God. We set apart time to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Before these two holidays, we often intentionally set routines and put plans in place.
• Jews arrived in Jerusalem for their purification before the Passover. They offered prayers, abstained from foods such as leaven, bathed, and washed their clothes.
• They looked for Jesus, wondering where this “man of God” was, mere days before this major religious festival.
• Any who believed in Jesus and knew where he was kept silent, because the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders for Jesus’ arrest.

*What might be the significance of Jesus’ time in the wilderness before his final week?

*How and when might we intentionally pause during this season?

 

1. Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament (AMG Publishers, 1992), 1286.
2. Zodhiates, 1330.
3. Zodhiates, 224.
4. Zodhiates, 525, 1333.
5. Bible Hub. https://www.biblehub.com/q/what%27s_bethel%27s_role_in_the_bible.htm