Episode 83 - Stopping at nothing to stop Jesus - John 12:9-11

John 12:9   When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The scene is the dinner in Jesus’ honor for having raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days, and Jesus called him back to life. This is not according to one person’s story, but the testimony of many witnesses who knew that Lazarus had indeed died, was buried, and that Jesus had called him by name while he was in the tomb and that Lazarus came out alive. 

At this dinner, John records that Jesus is speaking of his own imminent death because he tells Judas Iscariot (his disciple who would soon betray him) not to bother Mary regarding the expensive ointment she used to anoint Jesus’ feet because she would also use it for his burial. 

We’ve already learned that when the Jewish leaders, including the high priest, learned of this miracle, they conspired to have Jesus killed. Many who had witnessed this miracle believed in Jesus, which made the leaders uncomfortable.

In this section, John adds some more detail. Obviously, the news about this miracle is spreading, and people are going out to the location of this dinner to see Jesus (the miracle worker) and Lazarus (the miracle). You can imagine how this must have looked like a circus sideshow. People wanted to see a man who had died and come back to life and the one who made it possible. John mentions again that many people were going away and believing in Jesus “on account of” Lazarus. 

This fact led the high priest and leaders to expand their plan to also kill Lazarus. In earlier attempts to arrest or stone Jesus to death, the leaders had justification for their actions based upon their own reasoning that Jesus had violated the Sabbath or had made himself equal with God. But, how could they justify this murder when Lazarus had not done either. They couldn’t. But, they are so consumed with their jealousy they don’t recognize or care about the problem with this plan. They will stop at nothing to hinder the work and mission of Christ.

My question to you in light of this fact is, “Why should we expect people to act any differently today than they did then?” We should expect people to stop at nothing to impede or stop anything we are doing for the purpose of the Lord.