Better for One Man to Die

Use these materials to go deeper into this message on your own, or with your small group. 
Passage Breakdowns, SOAPS Format & Instructions (Weeks 1-12)
Passage Breakdowns, SOAPS Format & Instructions (Weeks 13-26)

If you’d like to follow along with us using the Gospel of John Scripture Journal, you’re welcome to purchase a copy here

8:40 Service | 10:00 Service | 11:20 Service | Sermon Audio

Good morning Chapel family. One of the great things about John’s Gospel is that he tells us exactly why he wrote it. Toward the end of the book, John 20, verses 30 and 31: 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. So John’s goal for people who read this book was that they’d be so overwhelmed by Jesus that they would have a Doubting Thomas moment. Remember what Thomas did when he saw Jesus with the scars in his hands and side? He fell to his knees and said, “My Lord and my God.” The doubt was gone. So John says, “I want the truth of this book to drive you to your knees in faith, just like Thomas.” Because here’s what John knew—look at that last phrase: it’s only by believing in Jesus that we get real life—life here on earth, and life into eternity.

So John’s goal is to lead people to belief in Christ. To accomplish that, he says, “Out of all the signs Jesus performed, I carefully selected a handful to write about.” So a “sign” is another word for a miracle. It’s like a signpost, pointing to Jesus. And so far, we’ve seen Jesus perform seven signs—do you remember what they are? What was the first one? Turning water into wine, then the healing of the royal official’s son, the healing of the paralyzed man by the pool, the feeding of the 5,000, walking on water, the healing of the blind man, and the raising of Lazarus.
After most of those—it’s so interesting—you see this polarizing effect: some people see the sign, and they open their hearts to Jesus and believe; other people see the same sign, and they harden their hearts. The ancient church father, Origen of Alexandria, said, “The same sun that melts wax hardens clay.” And that’s exactly what you see happening: some people see what Jesus does, and they say, “My Lord and my God!” Other people say, “He’s crazy.”

So last week we looked at the seventh sign—the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And just like always, people saw it; some believed; others were hardened. And today’s passage focuses on that second group. The people who were not convinced—whose hearts were closed toward Jesus. And here’s the question we’re going to explore: as a Christian, how do I process that? How do I react to people who reject Jesus?

Let me ask you: Do you have people in your life, whom you love, and their hearts are closed to Jesus? I do! I pray for them; I love on them and serve them; I talk to them about faith; I invite them to church; and their hearts remain closed. Anybody like that in your life? What do you do with that? How do you not get discouraged? Where is God in all that? Let’s talk about that.
John chapter 11, beginning in verse 45. Let’s hear God’s Word…

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him. This is the Word of the Lord.

Let’s talk first about A Hard Heart. Even though many of the people who saw the Lazarus miracle became believers, some responded very differently. They were skeptical and suspicious. Some of them probably thought, “He wasn’t really dead. This was a scam. It was a parlor trick designed to fool gullible people. I’m not buying it.” And some of those people took it a step further: they went to the religious establishment and reported what had happened. So the chief priests and Pharisees call an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin, which was the highest Jewish court that ruled on religious matters.

And here’s how they frame the dilemma—verse 47: “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” In other words, “This is a crisis. The popularity of Jesus was already a problem, but now that he supposedly raised a guy from the dead, this is getting out of control.” And here’s what they fear: this could draw unwanted attention from the Roman government. Because the Romans didn’t tolerate any rival kings to Caesar. So if there was an uprising of some messianic figure, they would act swiftly to squash it. So the people on this council are afraid the Romans will shut down their temple—which is so important to them, and they’re afraid the Romans will actually take away their right to exist as a nation. And therefore, they say, we have to do something about this.

During this conversation, one man has kept his mouth shut. His name is Caiphas; he’s the Jewish High Priest; he’s the leader of the Sanhedrin. So he listens to his fellow council members wringing their hands and sharing their fears about the doomsday scenarios that could happen. And finally he can’t keep quiet anymore—verse 49: “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” In other words: “Stop being so weak. There’s only one way to deal with somebody like Jesus: eliminate him. The only way to keep our nation from being destroyed is to destroy him.”
It’s a decisive and ruthless plan, and it’s embraced by the whole Sanhedrin. Because their hearts are hardened.

They had their reasons for rejecting Jesus: fear; probably jealousy; pride. And when people harden their hearts to Jesus today, they also have their reasons, don’t they? Some people can’t get past the hypocrisy they’ve seen in the church, or the hurt they’ve experienced from the church. Some people are bothered by the close ties they see between Christians and certain political movements or political leaders. Some people feel like the church has overly narrow views on sexuality or other personal issues. Some people realize that if they start following Jesus, there’s no way they can continue living like they’re living, and they’re not willing to give that up. People have their reasons. And when those people are close to us, it can be so frustrating. Because when you’re experiencing the beauty and the love of Christ, all you want is for other people to have what you have. And when they reject it, it hurts.

So…where is God in all of that?

Point number two: A Sovereign God. So Caiaphas makes this bold pronouncement: “it’s better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” And then John says this mysterious thing: 51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied… He didn’t realize he was prophesying! As far as he knew, he was just saying what was on his mind. And he was saying what was on his mind: We should have Jesus killed. But at the same time, mysteriously, because of his role as the Jewish High Priest, God was speaking through him. God was using his words—which he intended to stop the mission of Jesus—to ironically accomplish the mission of Jesus.

Verses 51 and 52: 51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. See, Caiaphas thought the death of Jesus would end this movement; he had no idea that the death of Jesus was exactly the plan of God, to launch this movement. Now: if Caiaphas had been paying attention, he would have realized that dying was part of the plan all along.

In John chapter one, John the Baptist sees Jesus and says, “Look—the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Every Jewish person knew that the way a lamb takes away sins is by dying.

In John chapter two, Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” speaking about his death and resurrection.

In John chapter three, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,” speaking of his death on the cross.
In John 6, he says, “The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
In John 8, he says, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I am he.”
And in John 10, he says, “I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

That’s just in the first half of John, and that doesn’t count all the times Jesus said the same thing to his disciples in private. Jesus came to this world to die. Because sin ruins everything and sin separates people from their Creator. Somebody had to die for them! But God so loves the world—he so loves us—that he gave his one and only Son to die in our place. So Caiaphas thought he was stopping the mission of Jesus; ironically, he was helping to accomplish it.

As I studied this passage, my mind went immediately to Joseph in the book of Genesis. Remember the story? Joseph is the annoying younger brother, so his older brothers sell him to slave traders; he winds up in Egypt; and through a strange series of events, Joseph is placed in a position of power in the Egyptian government. Years later, he encounters his brothers again, and they’re terrified because they assume he’ll take his revenge. But instead he forgives them. And in his forgiveness, he expresses the sovereignty of God in a memorable way. Remember what he says? Genesis 50, verse 20: What you did, You intended for evil, but God intended it for good.” The thing that you did with bad motives—little did you know—God was using you to do something good. That’s the sovereignty of God.

I’m getting to know our new Executive Pastor, Josh. And one of the many interesting things about Pastor Josh is that he is a martial arts instructor. Now, I know a little about martial arts too. I took two years of karate when I was five and six years old. Oh yeah. So next Sunday, I have challenged Pastor Josh to a little martial arts contest right here on the stage, and we’ll see who prevails. (Just kidding—I’m not that dumb). But here’s my point: there are certain martial arts, like jujitsu and judo, where the key to winning is you take whatever force your opponent brings at you—punches, kicks, lunges—and you redirect their own force and use it against them. So the very thing your opponent is using to try to defeat you actually becomes part of your strategy to win.

And that’s the sovereignty of God. He used the evil actions of Joseph’s brothers to carry out his plan of saving his people back then. And he used the murderous words of Caiaphas to carry out his plan of saving people through Christ. Because listen: you cannot outsmart or outmaneuver God. Like it says in Romans 8:28, he works all things for good—even the hard hearts of people who resist him.

Molly Worthen is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She grew up in a Chicago suburb, in a secular home. There was a brief period when she was a little girl, when her mother tried to read her a few famous Bible stories, just so she would be aware of some of the well-known stories that shape our culture. And Molly said she resented it—she thought it was ridiculous. So from a young age, her heart was hard. She went to Yale and developed a passion for journalism. She loved interviewing people and finding out what made them tick. And in that process, she met several Christians, and she envied their confidence about the meaning of life, but she just couldn’t get there. She was firmly agnostic.

She started teaching at UNC, and she was doing some side work in journalism. So there was a church nearby that was drawing lots of people, and she decided to do a magazine article on the pastor of this church. The Pastor’s name was J.D. Greear; the church is called Summit Church. So she finally got on his calendar and sat down to interview him, and it was not what she thought it would be. He was super thoughtful; he took her questions seriously. At one point she asked him, “Is there room in your congregation for people who doubt?” He said, “Of course.” And he told her about some of the things he still struggles with. It was a great conversation; he gave her a long reading list, which she dove into. She was especially impressed with the depth of scholarship backing up the resurrection of Jesus. She started anonymously attending Summit Church on Sundays.

During that process, someone told her that ultimately, faith is a friendship—it’s a relationship with a person. And just like a relationship with anyone, you can find out things about them by Googling them, looking at their social media page, etc. But you really can’t know what they’re like until you take the risk and enter the relationship. So she never had a lighting bolt experience, but she said, “I went from praying, ‘God, please show yourself to me,’ to ‘Jesus, okay, I accept you as Lord and Savior.’” She was baptized at Summit Church; she’s growing in her faith; and she speaks around the country about how God took the very things that made her opposed to faith—her intelligence, her education, her skeptical mind—and used those things to draw her to himself.

Because God is sovereign. He’s in control. He grants us free will, but when we use our free will to oppose him, he does judo moves on our resistance, and uses it to accomplish his plan.
I love the way Paul phrases it. In Ephesians 1:11 he says In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. Think about that: God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will—even our hard-heartedness. Even our resistance and rebellion. He’s not surprised by it; he’s not rattled by it; and he’s using it to accomplish something good.

So I began this message with a question: how do you handle it when Jesus is so important to you, but someone you love is anti-Jesus, or just not interested? Let’s finish with that—final point:
A New Perspective. When we deeply believe in the sovereignty of God, it changes the way we look at everything in life…including the way we look at our friends and family who don’t believe. Let me give you four ways our perspective is changed.

First, we become Calm. Which is the opposite of being anxious and panicky and frantic. Right after the Sanhedrin makes this decision to have Jesus killed, it’s pretty clear that Jesus becomes aware of that plot. Because it says in verse 54: 54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. See, Jesus knew that God was controlling the timetable, and his time had not yet come. He knew that he would come into Jerusalem during the Passover, and that’s when he would lay down his life. And it wasn’t quite time for that. So he just quietly goes to the village outside of Jerusalem to spend time with his disciples. No panic. No anxiety. Just calmly trusting in his Father.

So even when our loved ones are hard-hearted, we remain calm, because we know God is in control. So as we pray for them, and we live out our faith in front of them, and we share the hope that we have in Christ, even if they’re not receptive, we don’t panic. We realize it’s not our job to save them; that’s God’s job. Let me say that one more time, because someone needs to hear this: it’s not our job to save them; it’s God’s job. Remember, Jesus said, “No one comes to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws them.” Only God can save people; our job is to speak the truth in love, and let God do the rest. It takes the pressure off us, and puts it on God, where it belongs.

If you’ve been beating yourself up for your loved one’s lack of faith, would you do this with me? Take a deep breath. And say, “God, I’m sorry for trying to play God. I’m taking that pressure off myself and giving it to you.”

Second: when we believe God is sovereign, we become Patient. Here’s why: because God is playing the long game. We want everything to happen now, on our timetable, and God doesn’t play by those rules. Proverbs 16:32 says Better a patient person than a warrior. I love that. So again—don’t stop living out your faith; don’t stop talking about your faith; don’t stop praying for people—but when they don’t respond immediately, be patient. Give God time to work. God is working on them, and he has a way of using the experiences of that person’s life, and the pain and disappointment of that person’s life, to draw them in.

I love the story of C.S. Lewis, because he didn’t become a Christian until much later in life. God put Christians around him, like J.R.R. Tolkien—the author of Lord of the Rings, who was a devout believer; also his good friend Owen Butterfield, a philosopher and believer in Christ. And it was over years of spending time with his friends, and studying, that God was working on C.S. Lewis’s heart. But it wasn’t that C.S. Lewis was searching for God; he came to realize that God was searching for him. He wrote this: "Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about 'man's search for God.' To me…they might as well have talked about the mouse's search for the cat." So C.S. Lewis realized God was after him, and he finally allowed himself to be caught.

And by the way, I’m addressing this sermon to Christians who are wrestling with the resistance of their unbelieving family and friends. But you might actually be that unbelieving family member or friend. And for some reason, God has put Christian believers in your life, and for some reason you’re listening to this message. So I’m just warning you: God is coming after you. Because he loves you.

So…be patient and give God time to work.

Third, if we believe in a sovereign God, we’ll be Hopeful. Don’t write people off. If you knew the Apostle Paul when he was arresting and imprisoning Christians, it would have been tempting to write him off…but that would have been a mistake. Because we have a God who works all things for the good of those who love him. In fact, instead of writing people off, try to imagine how God could do that judo move, and use that person’s resistance to ironically accomplish his purposes. Does that make sense? Like, Lee Strobel was a devoutly atheistic legal journalist for the Chicago Tribune. He was an expert at interviewing witnesses and collecting data and seeking truth, and he used those skills to justify his atheism. Until God started working on him—in his case, it was through his wife, who shockingly became a Christian. And that sent him on a path of applying his journalism skills to a study of the New Testament, and interviewing experts, and gathering data, which led to his conversion. And then he used those same skills to write a whole series of books making the case for Christ, which have helped hundreds of thousands of people.

If you had met Lee Strobel in his early days, you would have been tempted to write him off, but that would have been a mistake. Who are the Lee Strobels in your life right now? Have you been looking at them wrong?

And then one more thing: when we believe in a sovereign God, we become Worshipful. We become amazed with the God who works all things according to the counsel of his will. We become in awe of this God that you can’t outsmart or outmaneuver, who’s infinitely stronger than human resistance, who takes what people intend for evil, and turns it to good. We become filled with holy reverence for the God who’s infinitely greater than any power in heaven or on earth. Amen?

So as we close our service today I want to invite our worship team to come up and lead us in worship. As they come up, would you stand?

At the end of Romans chapter eleven there is a breathtaking response to the sovereignty of God. So before we lift our voices in song, let’s speak these words of praise together. This is Romans 11, verse 33 to 35—let’s say this together…

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
  How unsearchable his judgments,
  and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
  Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
  that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
  To him be the glory forever! Amen.