28th Day of Lent

Saturday, April 5, 2025

John 11:45-53, NRSVUE

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 Jesus 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.

Reflection - Deacon Allison Wilcox, Grace Lutheran Church Royersford

There’s a pretty strong temptation to see the Pharisees as the mustache-twirling villains of the Gospels. And while they clearly felt their power was threatened by Jesus, there was also another underlying reason that Caiaphas lays out here: fear.

They had a reasonable idea about what might happen if more and more people followed Jesus. The Romans would see it as a threat and crush them all with a brutal force. Better to Caiaphas that the temptation to follow Jesus be taken off the table. Better Jesus should die.

The most common command from God in scripture is this: Do not be afraid, or do not fear. Yet over and over fear is the thing that upends human beings more than anything. They say the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s fear.

When we are afraid, we shut down our emotional connections. We turn inwards. Instead, God calls us to turn outwards. Turn to others for help, and turn to God for hope.

The world is a scary place right now. But we don’t walk this journey alone. When it becomes too much - remember all the ways in which God has been with you. Reach out for help. Talk to someone. Pray. Remind yourself that you are God’s and no one can take that from you.

Prayer: I am yours. Free me from the fear that sometimes makes me forget that. Amen.