One Sacrifice

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In John 11:45-48 the Pharisees called a meeting to discuss the attention Jesus was receiving because of his miracles. They were afraid this will bring the wrath of the Romans down upon them.

The Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem was generally composed of 70 of the leading priests (Sadducees and Pharisees) with the ruling high priest serving as the 71st member who would vote to break ties.

In verse 47 they concede that Jesus had performed miracles, thus acknowledging Him as more than just a good teacher or philosopher. But in verse 48 they were afraid that if they let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him. Their greatest concern was that the Romans would come and take away both their authority and even their nation.

So in John 11:53-57 we discover that they plot to kill Jesus!

Now, how did the Jesus’ enemies go from just being scared of Jesus’ influence to plotting to kill Him. That is a big jump. That is an extreme solution. That is truly an evil way to deal with someone you disagree with. The answer as to how they made such an extreme decision as to kill Jesus is found in John 11:49-50 - “…it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” (ESV). Caiaphas devised a plan to make Jesus an enemy of the state of Israel and sacrifice Him in order than the nation may be saved from the destruction impending by the Romans.

The Jerusalem Council’s plot is very symbolic of human “free-will.” Human free-will is by its very nature a foolish conspiracy against the sovereignty of God, a foolish conspiracy that is bound for utter failure. Man’s free-will is foolish, is against God, and is destined for complete failure. The Apostle Paul said that our flesh is “enmity against God.” Enmity is a word that means: an enemy that cannot be negotiated with; an enemy that knows no compromise; an evil enemy that can only be conquered by death. Our flesh is a “spiritual terrorist” against God, and peace will only be secured if we die or if God dies!

Now at this point in the text I want you to notice what may be the most dramatic illustration that God is indeed sovereign over all things – even the evil plots of men. Man, no matter how scheming or how evil, cannot thwart to will of God. God has never failed to do exactly what He wants. And you may be surprised at what God wants; you may be surprised at what God values as good and what God declares as right.

John 11:51 – He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, (ESV)

John reveals to us that God was at work in the words of the high priest. I guess if any human words in history could be described as an ex cathedra statement (words coming from the throne or “seat” and representing the mind of God), it was these words of Caiaphas. The irony is that Caiaphas did not realize that what he meant for evil God meant for good.

From the human side the crucifixion of Christ was a brutal murder for political ends. Caiaphas and the priests would sacrifice Jesus to avoid an unpopular tumult that might threaten their prerogatives. Even Pilate would consent to His death to avoid the unpopularity which might follow a refusal.

But from the Divine side, the death of Christ was a vicarious sacrifice for sinners. Jesus would die for a nation, for others, for His people as a substitute. “Vicarious” means performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another; taking the place of another person or thing; acting or serving as a substitute.

Why is this important? On the Cross, God treated Jesus as if he lived my life. And God punished Christ for my sins. And when I get saved, God treats me as if I lived Jesus’ life. This is the way we are justified. This is what it means to be saved. This is the Good News as preached by Jesus’ friends and prophesied by His enemies.

In addition, this sacrifice was not only vicarious but it was also “particular.” When John the Apostle commentated on Caiaphas’ statement, John understands that Jesus did not die for the nation of Israel as a geo-political state, but Jesus died for the true spiritual Israel of God found within the nation of Israel. He died for what the Bible calls “the remnant” = true spiritual Israel.

No matter how rebellious as a nation Israel became, there has always been a group of Jews who are true worshippers of the Messiah, Christ Jesus. This group is the remnant. Christ died for them. John understood that Jesus died for only the children of God within the nation of Israel.

Caiaphas’ use of the term “nation” in John 11:50 was ethnically related to Jews only, but John’s use of the term “nation” in John 11:53 is specifically referring to a nation within the nations = the nation of God’s chosen people. John makes it clear beyond any debate that Jesus’ substitutionary death was for all of God’s children no matter their ethnicity – Jew or Gentile. And John says, THIS IS GOD’S MEANING no matter what Caiaphas meant!

John 11:52 – and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

It was one death for all of God’s children, to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. It was one event that would bring them all together as one. Never again will there be any covenantal division among God’s children. Jesus died in order that he might bring many sons into glory among who are men and women from every tongue and race and tribe and nation.

Arthur Walkington Pink (d.1952), a Baptist evangelist and pastor, said: “The great Sacrifice was not offered to God at random. The redemption-price which was paid at the Cross was not offered without definite design. Christ died not simply to make salvation possible, but to make it certain. Nowhere in Scripture is there a more emphatic and explicit statement concerning the objects for which the Atonement was made. No excuse whatever is there for the vague (we should say, unscriptural) views, now so sadly prevalent in Christendom, concerning the ones for whom Christ died. To say that He died for the human race is not only to fly in the face of this plain scripture, but it is grossly dishonoring to the sacrifice of Christ. A large portion of the human race die unsaved, and if Christ died for them, then was his death largely in vain. This means that the greatest of all the works of God is comparatively a failure. How horrible! What a reflection upon the Divine character! Surely men do not stop to examine whither their premises lead them. But how blessed to turn away from man’s perversions to the Truth itself. Scripture tells us that Christ ‘shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.’ The saving efficacy of the Atonement lies in the vicarious nature of Christ’s death, in His representing certain persons, in His bearing their sins, in His being made a curse for them, in His purchasing them, spirit and soul and body. Scripture always ascribes the salvation of a sinner, not to any abstract ‘sufficiency,’ but to the vicarious nature, the substitutional character of the death of Christ.

If Jesus only died, then it means nothing to you.
But if Jesus died for you, then the Cross means everything to you.
If Jesus died as your substitute…
If Jesus took the wrath of God that was due you…
If Jesus completely paid for your salvation…
Then you need to pay close attention to the Gospel.
And Jesus’ friends and enemies agree that when Jesus died, He did so as one who was an innocent sacrifice that others will be saved.

A.W.Pink said, “The death of Christ was not an atonement for sin abstractly, nor a mere expression of Divine displeasure against iniquity, nor an indefinite satisfaction of Divine justice, but instead, a ransom-price paid for the eternal redemption of a certain number of sinners, and a plenary satisfaction for their particular sins. It is the glory of redemption that it does not merely render God placable and man pardonable, but that it has reconciled sinners to God, put away their sins, and forever perfected His set-apart ones.” (Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, 219–22.)

From God’s side the success of Caiaphas’ plot was God making the wrath of man to praise Him. The greatest crime ever done in the world is the greatest blessing ever given to the world. How is that possible? Because everything in this world is controlled by a sovereign God – even that which is evil.

So Caiaphas had a plan and God had a plan, and they both required the same event to take place. The event, the sacrifice, happened when Jesus was crucified. But Caiaphas’ plan failed as the great tribulation of 70 A.D. befell Israel and the nation of Israel was destroyed. But God’s plan did not fail as redemption was made complete for God’s elect through Jesus’ vicarious, particular atonement for them.

You cannot frustrate God. You can oppose him, but only you will pay the consequences, as did these men. Proverbs 19:21 declares, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”