John 11 has come up a few times over the last couple of days, so I thought I would make sure to set aside some time to read over it today. And I am very glad that I did. Now, about three-quarters of John 11 consists of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus [brother of Mary and Martha] from the dead. The last quarter of John 11 tells of a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Chief priests and Pharisees speak of their contempt for Jesus. While John does not mention anything about 'fear' in these verses, I can easily imagine that they are, indeed, fearful - not to mention jealous of their positions of power. This feeling comes from verse forty-eight, which says, ' "If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." ' They then go on to plot the death of Jesus.
... If they knew then what I know now...
Anyway, the foolish thoughts of the priests and Pharisees were not what caught my attention, really. Rather, it was the following verses that I felt God spoke to me through:
'He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.'
[John 11:51-52]
'Jesus would die... for the scattered children of God... to make them one.'
What a beautiful truth.
The Son of God would come to earth, living as a man, and die for sinners - chosen by God - to bring them together. And, as it is revealed throughout God's word, these truly devoted children of God are, united, the bride of Christ.
He died for His bride.
And she is beautiful.
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