What was it that sealed Jesus fate with the Jewish leaders? Did he do something shameful, some act of perversion, dishonesty or violence? Of course not. Jesus was the perfect Son of God. But there was one thing he did that put his opponents over the top in their determination to kill him.
He raised Lazarus from the dead!
Yes, that is right, his greatest crime was that he took a man from the clutches of death and restored him to life. Of course, we know from the eternal perspective that Jesus was born to die and that it was God's will that the crucifixion take place. But on a human level, Jesus' greatest miracle was also his greatest offense.
They did not consider that perhaps he might actually be God's Messiah or that he might be speaking the truth. They were concerned simply about their places of power and their status as a nation, as is demonstrated in John 11:47-48.
“What are we going to do since this man does many signs? If we let Him continue in this way, everyone will believe in Him! Then the Romans will come and remove both our place and our nation.”
It would be easy to condemn the religious leaders if we did not so often fall into the trap of imitating them. We forget that the Christian faith is about living for the glory of Christ and not about my needs, my power and status, my reputation or my will. It is about Jesus and if we forget that, we err.
Father, I thank you that Jesus is alive and powerful. May my life always be about him!
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