scripture
John 11:39 "Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested, "Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible."
40 Jesus responded, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?" 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me." 43 Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him go!"
45 Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. 46 But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then 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. 48 If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation."
49 Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, "You don't know what you're talking about! 50 You 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."
51 He 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. 52 And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.
53 So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus' death. 54 As 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.
55 It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, "What do you think? He won't come for Passover, will he?" 57 Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.
observation
Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen
observation
Well who wouldn't believe! This guy was gone for four days when Jesus told him to get up out of that grave, everybody knew he was dead, but now he is stumbling around with these grave clothes on that he isn't gonna need any more. I think that everybody standing there must have been in shock and awe, they just stood there as Lazarus was trying to walk out of the tomb with his face covered and his whole body wrapped, and so finally Jesus had to tell them to do the obvious, "Unwrap him and let him go!"
If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him How anybody could not believe that Jesus is the Messiah after witnessing this event? What are we gonna do? If we allow this Jesus to continue then we are gonna be out of work.
There were such a great number of miracles and there was his teaching that was far beyond what an unlearned man from Nazareth could possibly know, signs that people will read and there is only one thing that they could conclude after taking in all this information. This guy has to be the Messiah!
It is really weird, the Pharisees have witnessed so many miraculous works and they can see that those works are pointing to the obvious fact that Jesus is the Messiah, they know that if Jesus continues that everyone will be convinced, but they still choose to ignore what they see.
You don't know what you're talking about!No Caiaphas, you are the one that doesn't know what you are saying, it was God's plan all along that "one man should die for the people." What an awesome gift that has become available to us through this one man:
Romans 5:15 But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
16 And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but God's free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
application
We need to show Jesus to people so that they will see the evidence and they too will believe, if we can draw people into the church for a peek at who Jesus is then they will believe. Our church needs to be a place where the unchurched can feel comfortable enough to come around and check out Jesus and come to believe in him.
prayer
Help us to do church in new ways that will allow the unchurched people to come around in a natural, comfortable situation so that they can check you out and decide for themselves who you are.
