03/13 – John 11:47-53 – Caiaphas the Schemer

Genesis 22:1-18

God tested Abraham and called to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am!” he answered.

God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah {MORE-ee-ah}. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”

Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that God had told him about. Two days later Abraham saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there. We’ll worship. After that we’ll come back to you.”

Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to his son Isaac to carry. Abraham carried the burning coals and the knife. The two of them went on together.

Isaac spoke up and said, “Father?”

“Yes, Son?” Abraham answered.

Isaac asked, “We have the burning coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God will provide for himself a lamb for the burnt offering, Son.”

The two of them went on together. When they came to the place about which God had told him, Abraham built the altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied up his son Isaac and laid him on top of the wood on the altar. Next, Abraham picked up the knife and took it in his hand to sacrifice his son, but the Messenger of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes?” he answered.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.”

When Abraham looked around, he saw a ram behind him caught by its horns in a bush. So Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. It is still said today, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

Then the Messenger of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I am taking an oath on my own name, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not refused to give me your son, your only son, I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of their enemies’ cities. Through your descendant all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

James 1:12-18

Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When someone is tempted he shouldn’t say that God is tempting him. God cannot be tempted by evil and God does not tempt anyone. Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him. Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin is fully grown it gives birth to death.

My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled. Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn’t change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.

God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us his most important creatures.

John 11:47-53

The chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council. They asked, “What are we doing? This man is performing a lot of miracles. If we let him continue what he’s doing, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will take away our position and our nation.”

One of them, Caiaphas, who was chief priest that year, told them, “You people don’t know anything. You haven’t even considered this: It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

Caiaphas did not say this on his own. As chief priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation. He prophesied that Jesus wouldn’t die merely for this nation but that Jesus would die to bring God’s scattered children together and make them one.

From that day on, the Jewish council planned to kill Jesus.