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Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples. (John 11:45-54)
Commentary
He didn’t know what he was saying! “It is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” Ironically, the words that articulated and set into motion the final liberating act of Jesus came from the lips of the leader of the opposition, Caiaphas.
High priest in that crucial year, Caiaphas spoke out of political expediency. He was under strong pressure to subdue Jesus. Fearing the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, he failed to perceive that he himself was contributing to its collapse. He was unable to make the leap of faith that would have allowed him to see Jesus as the new temple (John 2:19). Unfortunately, there were those among his followers who joined him in rejecting Jesus.
Unaware of the profound ramifications of his words, Caiaphas paradoxically effected the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission. The early Christian community remembered the episode of this preliminary trial of Jesus as the unconscious prophecy of the high priest, Caiaphas.
In less than six months, Jesus had given the people two major signs of God’s love. He gave sight to the man born blind (John 9); and he raised Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44).
Some believed; some did not believe. Because some believed, Jesus had to die. The enthusiasm Jesus aroused threatened those in authority and was the catalytic force that led to his death. The ultimate irony was that the death of Jesus gave birth to the very thing the Pharisees sought to eliminate—the creation of a new community!
Jesus died “not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” God’s love, made visible in Jesus’ dying for all of humankind, enfolded gentile as well as Jew into the new Israel, the church. Caiaphas truly said more than he knew!
Suggested Approach to Prayer: Response to Jesus
Daily Prayer Pattern:
I quiet myself and relax in the presence of God.
I declare my dependence on God.
Grace:
I ask to know and love Jesus more intimately so that I may follow him in faith and with courage.
Method: Contemplation
As I recall the signs of Jesus’ power, I imagine again the people whose lives were transformed through his compassionate love: the man born blind who was given sight, the woman cured of the hemorrhage, Lazarus raised from the dead… .
I place myself in the crowd of onlookers who witnessed these signs of power. I look at the people present to see if they are angry, doubtful, threatened, excited, joyous… . I especially consider how the witnesses respond to the person of Jesus. I note that some believe and others do not. I am aware of my own heart’s response to Jesus.
I imagine myself present at the impromptu gathering of the chief priests and Pharisees. I listen attentively to the charges leveled at Jesus. I hear the elders express their intention to execute Jesus. I become acutely aware of my own feeling responses to the Pharisees’ accusations and their plot to kill Jesus.
I consider prayerfully that I am among the people for whom Jesus died.
Closing:
I ask Mary to intercede for me that I would receive the gift of total dependence on God. I ask that I would be so detached from all things that I would put all my talents, possessions, and achievements at the service of Christ. I pray to follow in the pattern of Christ’s life—even to the end. Providing it would not be sinful on anyone’s part, I pray that if it is God’s wish for me, I would have, like Christ, the courage and strength to endure poverty and/or personal humiliation.
I pray the Hail Mary.
In the company of Mary, I approach Jesus and offer the same prayer, that he would obtain these graces for me from my Creator. I say the prayer Soul of Christ, on p. 164.
In the presence of Jesus and Mary, and offered by them, I approach God, my Creator. Again I make the same request.
I pray the Our Father.
Review of Prayer:
I write in my journal what has surfaced in my prayer, attending especially to the feelings I experienced.