Satan cannot destroy divine institution #1 - freedom of the soul.

Verses 45 and 46, we have the crowd again: response and reaction.

 

John 11:45 Many therefore of the Jews, who had come to Mary and beheld what He had done, believed in Him.

 

Then many of the Jews which came to Mary” - they came to comfort Mary, not Martha. Projplus the accusative, they came face to face with Mary. It was the life of Mary which drew the crowd, not the life of Martha. Martha was great in the kitchen but Mary was a grace lady. The dynamics of the grace lady are fantastic. Martha was too busy to learn doctrine and it was the grace lady who drew the crowd of mourners to the place of the seventh sign.

           

“and beheld” - aorist middle participle of qeaomai [theaomai], which means perception and not an actual complete understanding.

 

These are unbelievers so far so they can’t o(raw, [panoramic view] and they can’t even blepw[get a glance]. All they can do is qeomaiwhich means to get the point.

 

It means perception, to discern with the eyes, to relate what is observed to something in the soul. So we translate this, “having themselves perceived.”

 

This is what occurs at gospel hearing. There is a perception and a limited understanding, but that is all that is needed for faith application.

 

Every unbeliever will come to an understanding that Christ can save and that will happen many times in his life, but he has to mix that understanding with faith.

 

If it is not mixed with faith then it is soon gone when the reality of Christ being the Savior is rejected.

           

They perceived for themselves what Jesus did and then they believed [pisteuo = non-meritorious faith].

 

John 11:46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done.

 

“But some of them.” The word of is e)k, out from among them. This is the reaction crowd, negative at the point of God-consciousness; they will be negative at the point of the seventh sign. Even a miracle does not change negative into positive volition.

           

They went out from this crowd to be face to face with the Pharisees so they could relate to them what Jesus had done.

 

They related the works of the Lord to the Lord’s enemies without ever relating it to themselves.

 

Therefore, telling people about the Lord or the word of God doesn’t mean anything unless you have first related it to yourself.

 

This is why we have to establish our priesthood before we can be effective ambassadors.

 

John 11:47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council [“a council” - that is the word Sanhedrin, sunedrion[sun = together; edra= sitting] which means a sitting together. Transliterated, this word is Sanhedrin.], and were saying [there was a great deal of discussion], "What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs.

 

The convening includes the chief priests and the Pharisees. The distinction is very important.

 

In 539 BC the Persians conquered Babylon and in 537 BC Cyrus the Great allowed Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Temple.

 

He did not, however, allow the restoration of the Judean monarchy, which left the Judean priests as the dominant authority. Without the constraining power of the monarchy, the authority of the Temple in civic life was amplified. It was around this time the Sadducee party emerged as the party of priests and allied elites.

 

However, the Second Temple (completed 515 BC) had been constructed under the auspices of a foreign power [the Persians], and there were lingering questions about its legitimacy. This provided the condition for the development of various sects or "schools of thought," each of which claimed exclusive authority to represent "Judaism," and which typically shunned social intercourse, especially marriage, with members of other sects. One of these sects, a council of sages or wise men in the Scriptures, became the Pharisees.

 

The Sadducees were usually very rich and influential while the Pharisees were not priests but rather wise men in the scriptures. Therefore the Pharisees became more popular with the people and by means of this were able to hold their power.

 

The chief priests were all Sadducees. They were rationalists; they were politicians; they were not interested in doctrine of any kind, they were interested in power.

 

The Pharisees were religionists, legalists, theologians, and full of false doctrine. The Pharisees were the scribes or theologians. The Pharisees also believed that an oral doctrine was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai as well as a written doctrine. The oral doctrine was written by teachers [Rabbis] over hundreds of years, which together comprise the Talmud. And so they believe in the divine inspiration of the Talmud.

 

These two groups became the major parties of power in Israel and since one could not destroy the other, they existed together forming a ruling body called the Sanhedrin.

 

Both groups for different reasons are in opposition to Jesus Christ.

 

The Sadducees as politicians see the danger of having Christ as a potential ruler to overthrow them.

 

The Pharisees, on the other hand, were zealous for self-righteousness and religion, and therefore they were antagonistic toward Jesus Christ who is the epitome of all that is grace. Since religion is the devil’s ace trump, and since both groups were satanic in much of their viewpoint, they are both in opposition to Jesus Christ. This is really an emergency meeting, and emergency session of the Sanhedrin, in order to deal with the new crisis, the seventh miracle, the resuscitation of Lazarus from the dead.

           

So the question for the council is, “What are we doing?”

 

The concept is: Jesus Christ is active; we are idle! What are we going to do to stop His influence?

 

You see, since directly after 500BC these two parties have been fighting for power over the nation. Sometimes the Sadducees were up and sometimes the Pharisees were up, but never was one party able to eliminate the other.

 

But now, Jesus is on the scene and He’s winning over many people and He’s speaking out against both parties because of their legalism and false doctrine, and rejection of Him.

 

So the ones who were normally enemies begin working together because they have a common enemy, much like Pilate and Herod will when the trials begin.

 

The Sanhedrin was not impressed with the miracles of Christ but disturbed by their influence on the people, and they recognised this as a challenge to their rulership.

 

This is going to be a maximum expression of their own negative volition. Instead of receiving Christ as their saviour and Messiah they seek to destroy Him.

 

And they say, “this man” - a)nqrwpoj, which at this point becomes an insult. They do not call Him a)nhr, noble man, they simply say “this man.”

 

This is a rejection both of the deity of Christ as well as the well-established fact that He is the heir to the throne of Judah.

           

He keeps on doing - “many miracles.” Present active indicative of poiew.

 

What are we doing? He is doing miracles. These miracles refer specifically in John to the seven miracles which are the credit cards of Messiahship. They demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the son of David.

 

In the next verse they continue their deliberation.

                                          

John 11:48 "If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

 

Their dilemma is introduced by the word “If,” a 3^rd class condition. “If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him.” The point is: ‘We have to do something. If we don’t He is going to convert everyone.’ Of course, they are excluded. They are non-convertible—negative volition.

The verb here is interesting. It is the aorist active subjunctive of a)fihmireally means to abandon Him, to give Him perfect freedom, abandon Him to His own function, let Him alone completely. The word connotes live and let live.

 

And that’s their argument. If we give Him the freedom (an inalienable right to any person) He’ll convert everyone [translation: He’ll hurt our power and our wallets].

 

It’s amazing how often men in power, who have no capacity for power and leadership, use this argument towards their own ends. They will desire to destroy the freedom of some with the reason that it is for the greater good.

 

Many of our leaders in the US are doing this right now.

 

Up to now they have tried to remove the Lord’s influence and freedom, and here they say, what if we begin such a policy? This means that some in the council have suggested this. Some, maybe even Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea have stated, “Just let Him be, He hasn’t done anything, or broken any laws,” and here that voice is shut down by the majority who are in fear of losing their wealth and power.

 

Notice the implication of what they say. They realise why the seven miracles. What was the purpose of seven credit cards? That they might believe in Him!

 

The Sanhedrin understood the issue even though fundamentalists in our day do not. (No walking aisles, raising hands, being baptised, etc.) When the Sanhedrin says “believe” they have rejected e)pignwsijgospel themselves. They themselves understand the issue clearly and they have obviously rejected it. So if we let Him alone and continue His function all will believe.

           

“all will believe” is a future active indicative of pisteuw. Not only did the Sanhedrin understand the issue of salvation but it also assumes that a few more miracles like the last one and everyone will be believing.

 

They themselves are impervious to miracles because they have already rejected e)pignwsijgospel and scar tissue of unbelievers cannot be impressed with miracles. (A believer with scar tissue is impressed with miracles) An unbeliever with scar tissue can only be impressed with himself. These are unbelievers; they have rejected Jesus Christ. No matter what He does they will never, never be impressed.

           

What they assume is not true, as illustrated by their own negative volition expressed in unbelief. The real problem here is not “all will believe.”

 

If all believe they have everything to lose as far as they are concerned - their own power.

 

They realise that if Jesus Christ performs another miracle they are going to lose their power. They have power lust, and like all people with power lust they are very jealous of anyone who gains the attention of the people.

 

The Sanhedrin is in danger of losing control of the people at this point and part of their dilemma is the fact that Jesus Christ has challenged their power to the extent that they are afraid they are about to lose it. The other part of the dilemma has to do with the Romans.

           

“and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” At this time the Jews were enjoying a certain measure of autonomy under Roman protection. Northern Palestine at this time was under the rule of Herod the tetrarch; southern Palestine was under the control of the Sanhedrin. As far as they are concerned if the people flock to Jesus Christ and believe in Him then the Romans may decide that the Sanhedrin cannot handle the situation and will personally come in and take a greater part, and remove the autonomy of the Sanhedrin. The Romans were already there but “the Romans shall come” means to come and take over.

           

John 11:49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all,

 

Caiaphas, through years of training, has become very wise in the ways of evil, and the manipulation of the people.