The Gospel According to the Enemies of Jesus

by Dave Wilkinson

John 11:45-54, Luke 16:19-31

March 17, 2002

Sure, and here’s a fine story for this St. Patrick’s Day.

Sean Flannigan, an old Irish priest, was violently anti-British — so much so that the Bishop finally had to call him in and ask him never to mention the British again from his pulpit. Apparently the old priest understood for he said, "Sure, your Eminence, and I’d never do anything to embarrass you. I’ll never mention the dirty British again."

The Bishop responded to this acceptance of his admonition with a reconciling invitation to give the sermon at the next high mass in the Cathedral. The text was the Last Supper, and the old priest gave an extremely dramatic portrayal, climaxing with Jesus’ declaration that one of the disciples would betray Him. "The blessed St. Peter asked, "Is it I?" and Jesus said, "No, no me boy, it’s not you." And the blessed St. John asked, "Is it I, Lord?" And the Lord said, "No, it is not you." And He went on through the other disciples until he said, "And then the thieving, venom-lipped, black hearted Judas said, "I say, old chap, is it I?"

Judas has long been a focus for hatred. In many Catholic countries he is still burned in effigy on Good Friday. Even those who don’t go to that extreme see him as a supreme example of human depravity — the man who sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

But Jesus has other enemies. These are the ones who handed Judas the money. In John 11:45-54 we have the opportunity to listen in on a group of men who use the name of Jesus as a swear word.

John 11:45-54

Hatred makes strange bedfellows. John says that the "Chief Priests and the Pharisees convened a council." When you look at it, that’s a strange statement in itself.

The reason that it is a strange statement is that it is hard to get the Pharisees and the Chief Priests together on anything. The Chief Priests are members of the political group called the Sadducees. The Sadducees are theologically liberal while the Pharisees are very conservative. The Sadducees enjoy power and privilege under the Roman government. The Pharisees want a theocracy -- a nation ruled by God. They reject the rule of idol worshiping, Gentile Rome. The Sadducees are wealthy, aristocratic collaborationists. The Pharisees are, by and large, none of these things although there are some wealthy Pharisees like Joseph of Arimithea who later donates his tomb for Jesus’ burial. These two groups argue constantly. But they find common ground in Jesus. With a few individual exceptions, both groups hate Him.

Their hatred and concern is raised to a fever pitch when Jesus’ raises Lazarus from the dead. They say, "What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs."

Jesus’ raising of Lazarus causes a division among those who witness it. Some believe but others run to tell the enemies of Jesus about the new, awesome thing He has done.

Now you might think that such a marvelous act would have caused even the worst of Jesus’ enemies to reassess their position. But if people are determined to resist the truth, miracles will not win them to Christ. Jesus, Himself, said the same thing in a parable.

Earlier in the service we read Jesus’ parable a rich man and a poor man who is named Lazarus. It is significant that this is the only parable where Jesus gives a character a name. We’ll see that there is a reason for this.

The rich man had enjoyed every privilege and opportunity on earth but had lived only to satisfy his own desires. Jesus said that he died and went to hell. And in hell he begins to intercede for his five brothers. He cries out to Abraham, whom he can see in paradise, and says: "Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame."

When told that this is impossible he says: "Then please send Lazarus to my five brothers to warn them so they will not come to this place of torment." Abraham replies: "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. Let them read the Scriptures and act on what they read. That’s all they have to do." The rich man replies, "No, Father Abraham, but if one went to them from the dead, then they would repent!" But Abraham answers with crushing force: "If they will not hear Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if a man rises from the dead."

Jesus tells this parable and then He puts it into action by raising his friend Lazarus from the tomb. And the result was exactly as Jesus had declared it would be. His enemies do not believe even though a man has been raised from the dead. They accept that Jesus has done a miracle. But they believe and teach that Jesus performs miracles by the power of Satan. They tell people that Jesus is, in fact, demonic — that He heals the sick, cast out demons and even raises the dead in the power of the Devil. The only real alternative to this is that Jesus is telling the truth about who He is. But if they accept His words about who He is, they will also have to accept His word about who they are and that is unacceptable.

First, perhaps, the Pharisees speak up. "If we let Jesus go on doing what He’s doing, everyone is going to believe in Him. And we know He’s wrong because He doesn’t agree with us."

Then the Chief Priests chime in, "And more than that, He’s going to make the gullible people do something stupid and then the Romans will come and crush us. They will take away our place and our nation."

The fears of the Chief Priests are well-founded. Romans imperial policy is not to interfere with religious controversy or tamper with established religious practice. As long as riots and political unrest are avoided, the Romans keep a low profile. For example, there is no permanent military force kept in Jerusalem. The Roman forces stay at a cooler place near the coast and only come to Jerusalem for volatile seasons like the Passover when there are many strangers in the city and there is a high danger of unrest. Even then the Romans keep their military display at a minimum in order to avoid inflaming the anger of the Jewish people.

But the one thing Rome will not tolerate was political unrest. If riots start in Jerusalem, the Romans will come in with a very heavy hand. The Chief Priests who have positions of privilege and who benefit from the rich temple trade will be thrown out of office for failing to maintain order. If Jesus becomes so popular that He is the cause of civil disorder, Rome will descend in all her power and the Chief Priests would be out on their ears.

It never even occurs to them to ask whether Jesus was right or wrong. Their only question is "What impact will this have on our ease and comfort and authority?" They did not judge things in the light of truth, but in the light of their own careers.

The Christ, the Messiah, had arrived after years of waiting. But all the Chief Priests can do is look at their own selfish, short-sighted interests. To them, the truth is irrelevant. What is important is what can be totaled up on a balance sheet.

The Pharisees and the chief priests know that with the raising of Lazarus, matters have come to a head. They are confused. Their question, "What are we doing?" is not a call for a plan of action. Instead, it is an admission of impotence — of inability to respond to all of the miracles Jesus is doing and the popular support He is gaining. They know that something must be done but they are not able to say what.

Then the High Priest Caiaphas wades in. He is a key player in the death of Jesus so let’s take a look at who he is.

Caiaphas is the son-in-law of a former High Priest name Annas (Ann-us). After Annas was deposed as High Priest and three other priests were removed from office after holding office for no more than a year each, Caiaphas became the high priest. His political skill is shown by the fact that Caiaphas holds on to this position for eighteen years -- from 18 to 36 A.D.

When John comments in verse 49 that Caiaphas was "High Priest in that year" he does not mean that Caiaphas was serving a one-year term. He means that Caiaphas was High Priest during the pivotal year in the life of the nation of Israel. Caiaphas held on to office for a long time because Caiaphas was good at what he did. And what Caiaphas did was to "look out for old number one." If Jesus is rocking Caiaphas’ boat then Jesus will have to be eliminated.

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus says of the Sadducees that they were very rude — both in the discussions with each other and in their contacts with strangers. Well, Caiaphas starts out true to form. He cuts in on the meandering discussion with the flat statement, "You don’t know anything." That’s a good way to stifle discussion. Just start out saying, "You don’t know what you’re talking about."

But Caiaphas is sure that he knows. However much the others may hesitate, Caiaphas is a man who knows his own mind.

Now Caiaphas is the High Priest of the nation. He is a descendant of Aaron and the embodiment of centuries of illustrious tradition. It is his role to tend the sacred flame of the Messianic hope. It is his office to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people with clean hands and a pure heart. Caiaphas, as High Priest, is the one man above all others who should have protected the innocent and had ears attuned to even the faintest whisper of the voice of God.

But Caiaphas throws all of this away with the words, "you have not calculated that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish."

Caiaphas has his own motives but he is careful to make his words sufficiently lofty and religious sounding to win over the Pharisees who, more than the Sadducees, are deeply religious. The Sadducees think in political terms while the Pharisees think in religious terms. And, Caiaphas is careful to express himself in both.

Earl Palmer, in his commentary on John, draws a warning for us from this passage. Palmer writes: "This event carries with it important warnings to all devout people. There is a tendency within movements to create a body of approved language and phrases which, as they are quoted and used skillfully, may become an effective screen to hide darker motives. It is assumed that the message is sound and true as long as the approved vocabulary is used. In fact, the words may mask totally corrupt purposes. It may be that Caiaphas is saying just the words he needs to say in order to sway sincere, frightened Pharisees." He knows the buttons he needs to push and he pushes them.

It is noteworthy that from this point on the Pharisees are rarely mentioned, and the opposition to Jesus is firmly in the hands of the Chief Priests. In all four gospels the Pharisees are Jesus’ principal opponents throughout His ministry. But also in all four Gospels, they are rarely mentioned in events associated with His death. It is at this conference, and with the words of Caiaphas, that the Chief Priests take control. The Pharisees set Jesus up but the chief priests do the dirty work.

Caiaphas couches his proposal in religious sounding words but the meaning is clear. There is no doubt in Caiaphas’ mind as to the right thing to do. He has the advantage of a single-mindedness of purpose. "The one point of view to take is that of our own interests. Let’s have that clearly understood. The question we need to ask is ‘What is expedient for us to do?" Expedience is such an easy way to work. It does not concern itself with right or wrong. It only asks, "What’s in it for me?"

There is a story about a Sunday School teacher who had been telling her class about sharing. She felt that Brett would be a good person to show the other children that one ought to share his best with others.

"Brett," she said, "If you had a large, good apple and a small wormy one and were told to share with your brother, which would you give him?"

There was no hesitancy on the part of Brett as he answered, "Do you mean my big brother or my little brother?"

That is what is meant by expedience.

Caiaphas has long ago ceased to think about right or wrong. But he knows what is handiest at the time — to put Jesus to death.

Caiaphas has failed to perform even the rudimentary duties of the High Priest. But John comments that God still used him to speak His word — because, in fact, Jesus will die for all the people so that the entire nation wouldn’t perish. Caiaphas thinks that he is giving advice of a political nature, but the Spirit of God is overruling and controlling him beyond his own thought. John says that Caiaphas did not speak on his own initiative but as the High Priest. One way of another, God was going to use and evil, time-serving politician to utter a tremendous truth. Although Caiaphas didn’t know it, the Spirit of God was speaking through his unclean lips. What Caiaphas offered as a bit of cynical political realism, God meant to be understood in a much deeper way — not political salvation for a few rich people but eternal salvation for persons of all races and nations and classes.

The result of Caiaphas’ words is that from that time on the people at the conference plan together to kill Jesus. What had been a smoldering hostility toward Jesus which had occasionally burst into a flame of open violence toward Him had now become a fixed and deliberate policy. And Jesus left the vicinity of Jerusalem to wait until the Passover when the unwitting prophecy of Caiaphas would be fulfilled.

We are familiar with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But there is another Gospel which also has much to teach us. This is the "Gospel According to the Enemies of Jesus." It is men who hated Jesus who called Him the "friend of sinners." But that name meant in insult is very comforting to me because that’s who I am. I am a sinner and I really need a friend.

The words of Caiaphas are another part of the Gospel According to the Enemies of Jesus — that one man would die for all of the people. And yet, by the power of God, that’s the Gospel.