It recently struck me just how sobering the passage about Caiaphas in John 11:47-53 is:
Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men 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 take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they planned together to kill Him. (NASB)
The Bible makes it clear that Caiaphas utters this prophecy because he is currently the high priest. But is it just a prophecy? Before that, the Pharisees on the council had expressed distress and fear at the possible repercussions of Jesus’ actions on the mindset of the Romans towards the Jewish nation.
At other times, Jesus had said, “Why do you seek to kill me?” (John 7:21), and the Jews had picked up stones to execute Him (John 8:59), so we know murder had been in their hearts previously.
But in this meeting? All that’s recorded to this point is fear and an acknowledgement that what they’ve been doing up to this point hasn’t been working. It’s Caiaphas who, through his prophecy, takes the lid off of Pandora’s box, who rings a bell that cannot be unrung, for “from that day on they planned together to kill him” (John 11:53).
Caiaphas, as high priest that year, not only prophecies. He instigates. Perhaps he was always going to instigate, but God tweaked his words to also make them prophetic—I don’t know. But this seems to be another Pharaoh moment: God giving an unrighteous man over to his unrighteousness.
How sobering to realise that there are no guarantees of godliness even when we’re in the midst of prophesying God’s words. How sobering to read Caiaphas’s words—so reminiscent of Pharaoh’s hundreds of years before: “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will . . . fight against us and depart from the land” (Exodus 1:9-10).
These men—Pharoah and Caiaphas—were both concerned with maintaining the status quo and retaining their own power. They felt threatened by people they labelled as “other” and acted to subjugate and destroy them.
How vital it is to recognise that power never truly belongs to us! How vital it is to embrace the heart of Jonathan, who recognised God’s plan for his friend, David, and literally disarmed himself, throwing his inherited mantle of authority on his friend (see 1 Sam. 18:1-4).
How important it is for us to embrace John the Baptist’s declaration for ourselves—“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:2)—and be crucified with Christ, emptying and humbling ourselves that we may be filled with the fullness of the glory of God to proclaim the hope of salvation and adoption as children of God to all who believe in His name.
A life of joy cannot be found in clutching after former treasures. It can only be achieved through gratitude now, and hope at our current and future inheritance in Christ. But we do not inherit at the expense of others—only at the expense of Christ. Dare we say that Christ’s suffering was not enough by causing others to suffer?
Originally published here; reprinted for Holy Week with permission.
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Valerie Limmer lives in Okinawa, Japan, where she’s served as a missionary with her husband since 2011, partnering with the local church to focus on outreach and discipleship. Their Japanese pastor calls them “bridge makers”—facilitating relationships with the community. Valerie is the author of Captive Set Free: How to Find Freedom Through Forgiving, and On the Potter’s Wheel. To learn more about her missionary work or to read more of her articles, visit peterandvalerie.com.
