John 11:51
Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation,
He did not say this on his own
This phrase indicates that Caiaphas, the high priest, was not speaking from his own understanding or initiative. The Greek word for "on his own" (αὐτοῦ) suggests a lack of personal origin or intent. In the context of biblical prophecy, this highlights the sovereignty of God in using individuals, even those who may not be aware of their role, to fulfill His divine purposes. Historically, this underscores the belief that God can work through any person or situation to bring about His will, a theme consistent throughout Scripture.

but as high priest that year
The role of the high priest was significant in Jewish society, serving as the chief religious leader and mediator between God and the people. The phrase "that year" emphasizes the specific time frame in which Caiaphas held this office, which was during a pivotal moment in salvation history. The Greek term for "high priest" (ἀρχιερεύς) denotes a position of authority and spiritual responsibility. This highlights the irony that Caiaphas, in his official capacity, would unwittingly prophesy about Jesus' sacrificial death, which would fulfill the ultimate priestly function of atonement.

he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation
The act of prophesying here is attributed to divine inspiration rather than human insight. The Greek word for "prophesied" (προεφήτευσεν) indicates a declaration of God's will or future events. Caiaphas' statement, though politically motivated, is used by God to reveal a deeper truth about Jesus' mission. The phrase "die for the nation" reflects the substitutionary atonement theology, where Jesus' death is seen as a sacrificial act for the redemption of Israel. This aligns with Old Testament prophecies and the sacrificial system, where the death of a substitute brought reconciliation with God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Caiaphas
The high priest during the time of Jesus' ministry. He played a significant role in the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. In this verse, he unknowingly prophesies about Jesus' sacrificial death.

2. Jesus
The central figure of the New Testament, whose death and resurrection are the cornerstone of Christian faith. This verse highlights His role as the sacrificial Lamb for the nation.

3. The Nation
Refers to the nation of Israel. Caiaphas' prophecy indicates that Jesus' death would have implications for the entire nation, and by extension, for all humanity.

4. The Sanhedrin
The Jewish ruling council, of which Caiaphas was a part. This body was involved in the decision-making process that led to Jesus' crucifixion.

5. Prophecy
The act of speaking forth God's message. In this context, Caiaphas' words are seen as a divine prophecy about the redemptive purpose of Jesus' death.
Teaching Points
Divine Sovereignty in Human Affairs
God can use even those who oppose Him to fulfill His purposes. Caiaphas, though not a follower of Jesus, was used by God to prophesy about Jesus' mission.

The Role of Jesus' Sacrifice
Jesus' death was not just for Israel but for all humanity. It was a divine plan for redemption, emphasizing the universal scope of His sacrifice.

Understanding Prophecy
Prophecy can come from unexpected sources and may not always be understood by the one delivering it. This calls for discernment and openness to God's ways.

The Importance of Jesus' Death
Reflect on the significance of Jesus' death as a fulfillment of prophecy and its implications for personal salvation and reconciliation with God.

God's Plan for Redemption
Recognize that God's plan for redemption is comprehensive and involves the entire world, inviting believers to participate in sharing this message.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Caiaphas' role as high priest contribute to the understanding of his prophecy about Jesus' death?

2. In what ways does the prophecy in John 11:51 connect to the broader account of Jesus' mission as described in the Gospels?

3. How can we see God's sovereignty at work in situations where His purposes are fulfilled through unlikely individuals or circumstances?

4. Reflect on the significance of Jesus' death for the nation of Israel and for all humanity. How does this understanding impact your personal faith journey?

5. How can we apply the understanding of prophecy and divine purpose in our daily lives, especially when faced with challenges or opposition?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 53
This chapter prophesies about the suffering servant who would bear the sins of many, connecting to the idea of Jesus' sacrificial death for the nation.

John 3:16
This well-known verse speaks of God's love for the world and the giving of His Son, which aligns with the purpose of Jesus' death as prophesied by Caiaphas.

Hebrews 9:11-14
Discusses Jesus as the high priest who offers Himself as a sacrifice, providing a deeper understanding of the significance of His death for the nation and beyond.
Mistaken PatriotismD. Young John 11:46-53
A Memorable YearF. Godet, D. D.John 11:47-53
CaiaphasC. J. Fox.John 11:47-53
Caiaphas; Or, a Glance as Government, Human and DivineD. Thomas, D. D.John 11:47-53
Men Active for DestructionR. Besser, D. D., Cowper.John 11:47-53
Self-SacrificeHomiletic MonthlyJohn 11:47-53
SubstitutionMissionary Record of the U. P. ChurchJohn 11:47-53
SubstitutionD. L. Moody.John 11:47-53
The Counsel of CaiaphasJohn 11:47-53
The Enlargement of the Spirit on Caiaphas's ProphecyM. Henry.John 11:47-53
The Modern CaiaphasW. J. Dawson.John 11:47-53
The Perplexity Jesus Occasions His EnemiesG. Barlow.John 11:47-53
The Prime Agents in the CrucifixionBp. Westcott.John 11:47-53
The Sacrifice of One the Salvation of ManyR. Newton, D. D.John 11:47-53
The SanhedrimJ. P. Lanye, D. D.John 11:47-53
Truth Borne by Strange WitnessesJ. Trapp.John 11:47-53
Unconscious PropheciesArchbishop Trench.John 11:47-53
Vicarious AtonementW. Baxendale.John 11:47-53
The Counsel of CaiaphasJ.R. Thomson John 11:49-52
People
Caiaphas, Didymus, Jesus, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Thomas
Places
Bethany, Ephraim, Jerusalem, Judea
Topics
Accord, Chief, Death, Declare, Didn't, Die, Initiative, Inspired, Jewish, Mere, Nation, Priest, Prophesied, Prophesy, Prophet, Spake, Spoke, Thus
Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 11:47-53

     2545   Christ, opposition to
     7565   Sanhedrin

John 11:49-52

     7378   high priest, NT

John 11:49-53

     5780   advisers

Library
March 28 Evening
Our friend sleepeth.--JOHN 11:11. I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. But now is Christ risen from the
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 6 Morning
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.--COL. 3:4. I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.--God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 11 Evening
Jesus wept.--JOHN 11:35. A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.--We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.--It became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.--Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 22 Evening
Behold how he loved.--JOHN 11:36. He died for all.--Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He . . . liveth to make intercession for them.--I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also.--Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.--Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. We love him, because he first loved loved us.--The
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 30 Evening
Thou hearest me always.--JOHN 11:42. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.--Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.--Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.--Not my will, but thine, be done. As he is, so are we in this world.--This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Christ's Question to Each
For the Young '... Believest then this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord.'--JOHN xi. 26, 27. As each of these annual sermons which I have preached for so long comes round, I feel more solemnly the growing probability that it may be the last. Like a man nearing the end of his day's work, I want to make the most of the remaining moments. Whether this is the last sermon of the sort that I shall preach or not, it is certainly the last of the kind that some of you will hear from me, or possibly from any
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Open Grave at Bethany
'Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Seventh Miracle in John's Gospel --The Raising of Lazarus
'And when Jesus thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Come forth. 44. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin.'--JOHN xi. 43, 44. The series of our Lord's miracles before the Passion, as recorded in this Gospel, is fitly closed with the raising of Lazarus. It crowns the whole, whether we regard the greatness of the fact, the manner of our Lord's working, the minuteness and richness of the accompanying details,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Caiaphas
'And one of them, named Caiaphas being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.'--JOHN xi. 49,50. The resurrection of Lazarus had raised a wave of popular excitement. Any stir amongst the people was dangerous, especially at the Passover time, which was nigh at hand, when Jerusalem would be filled with crowds of men, ready to take fire from any spark
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Delays of Love
'Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.'--JOHN xi. 5, 6. We learn from a later verse of this chapter that Lazarus had been dead four days when Christ reached Bethany. The distance from that village to the probable place of Christ's abode, when He received the message, was about a day's journey. If, therefore, to the two days on which He abode still after the receipt of the news, we
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? and how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?"--Numbers xiv. 11. Nothing, I suppose, is more surprising to us at first reading, than the history of God's chosen people; nay, on second and third reading, and on every reading, till we learn to view it as God views it. It seems strange, indeed, to most persons, that the Israelites should have acted as they did, age after age, in
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

A Mystery! Saints Sorrowing and Jesus Glad!
Jesus is talking of the death of His friend, let us listen to His words; perhaps we may find the key to His actions in the words of His lips. How surprising! He does not say, "I regret that I have tarried so long." He does not say, "I ought to have hastened, but even now it is not too late." Hear, and marvel! Wonder of wonders, He says, "I am glad that I was not there." Glad! the word is out of place? Lazarus, by this time, stinketh in his tomb,and here is the Saviour glad! Martha and Mary are weeping
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

Beloved, and yet Afflicted
We need not be astonished that the man whom the Lord loves is sick, for he is only a man. The love of Jesus does not separate us from the common necessities and infirmities of human life. Men of God are still men. The covenant of grace is not a charter of exemption from consumption, or rheumatism, or asthma. The bodily ills, which come upon us because of our flesh, will attend us to the tomb, for Paul saith, "we that are in this body do groan." Those whom the Lord loves are the more likely to be
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 26: 1880

Though He were Dead
Martha, you see, in this case, when the Lord Jesus Christ told her that her brother would rise again, replied, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." She was a type, I say, of certain anxious believers, for she set a practical bound to the Saviour's words. "Of course there will be a resurrection, and then my brother will rise with the rest." She concluded that the Saviour could not mean anything beyond that. The first meaning and the commonest meaning that suggests
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884

Even Now
"Even now."--John 11:22 I HOPE that there are a great many persons here who are interested in the souls of those around them. We shall certainly never exercise faith concerning those for whose salvation we have no care. I trust, also, that we are diligent in looking after individuals, especially those who are amongst our own family and friends. This is what Martha did; her whole care was for her brother. It is often easier to have faith that Christ can save sinners in general, than to believe that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

Oh, How He Loves!
"Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!"--John 11:36. IT WAS AT THE GRAVE OF LAZARUS that Jesus wept, and his grief was so manifest to the onlookers that they said, "Behold how he loved him!" Most of us here, I trust, are not mere onlookers, but we have a share in the special love of Jesus. We see evidences of that love, not in his tears, but in the precious blood that he so freely shed for us; so we ought to marvel even more than those Jews did at the love of Jesus, and to see further into
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 56: 1910

The Welcome visitor
IT seems that Martha had heard of Christ's coming, and Mary had not. Hence Martha rose up hastily and went to meet the Master, while Mary sat still in the house. From this we gather that genuine believers may, through some unexplained cause, be at the same time in very different states of mind. Martha may have heard of the Lord and seen the Lord; and Mary, an equally loving heart, not having known of his presence, may, therefore, have missed the privilege of fellowship with him. Who shall say that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

The Displeasure of Jesus.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.--John xi. 33. Grimm, in his lexicon to the New Testament, after giving as the equivalent of the word [Greek: embrimaomai] in pagan use, 'I am moved with anger,' 'I roar or growl,' 'I snort at,' 'I am vehemently angry or indignant with some one,' tells us that in Mark i. 43, and Matthew ix. 30, it has a meaning different from that of the pagans, namely, 'I command with
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Disciple, -- Master, what is the Real Meaning of Service? is it that We...
The Disciple,--Master, what is the real meaning of service? Is it that we serve the Creator and then His creatures for His sake? Is the help of man, who is after all but a mere worm, of any value to God in caring for His great family, or does God stand in need of the help of man in protecting or preserving any of His creatures? The Master,--1. Service means the activity of the spiritual life and is the natural offering prompted by love. God, who is Love, is ever active in the care of His creation,
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

How to Make Use of Christ as the Life, when the Believer is So Sitten-Up in the Ways of God, that He Can do Nothing.
Sometimes the believer is under such a distemper of weakness and deadness, that there is almost no commanded duty that he can go about; his heart and all is so dead, that he cannot so much as groan under that deadness. Yea, he may be under such a decay, that little or no difference will be observed betwixt him and others that are yet in nature; and be not only unable to go actively and lively about commanded duties, yea, or to wrestle from under that deadness; but also be so dead, that he shall scarce
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Of the Intimate Love of Jesus
When Jesus is present all is well and nothing seemeth hard, but when Jesus is not present everything is hard. When Jesus speaketh not within, our comfort is nothing worth, but if Jesus speaketh but a single word great is the comfort we experience. Did not Mary Magdalene rise up quickly from the place where she wept when Martha said to her, The Master is come and calleth for thee?(1) Happy hour when Jesus calleth thee from tears to the joy of the spirit! How dry and hard art thou without Jesus!
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Peræa to Bethany. Raising of Lazarus.
^D John XI. 1-46. ^d 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [For Bethany and the sisters, see p. 478.] 2 And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair [John xii. 3 ], whose brother Lazarus was sick. [The anointing had not yet taken place, as John himself shows. For a similar anticipation see Matt. x. 4. There are five prominent Marys in the New Testament: those of Nazareth, Magdala and Bethany; the
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Retiring Before the Sanhedrin's Decree.
(Jerusalem and Ephraim in Judæa.) ^D John XI. 47-54. ^d 47 The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council [called a meeting of the Sanhedrin], and said, What do we? [Thus they reproach one another for having done nothing in a present and urgent crisis. As two of their number (Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathæa) were afterwards in communications with Christians, it was easy for the disciples to find out what occurred on this notable occasion.] for this man doeth many signs.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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