Event Calendar
Lent Midweek 0209– “God’s Truth vs. Satan’s Lies.” John 18:12-14
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. The text for our sermon meditation is taken from the Gospel account of
“Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.”
So far the reading.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Things are not always as they seem to be. Consider this fable. Once there was a time when all animals could speak. During that time, there was a town that was beset by a multitude of birds. The situation became so bad that the town sent for a fowler to trap the birds in a net and kill them. As he was going about his grizzly task, he caught his thumb in the net and sprained it. His thumb hurt so badly that he was drawn to tears. One young bird who witnessed the fowler in tears said, “See, he pities us.” An older bird replied, “Don’t mind the tears, look at his bloody hands.”
This evening we continue our of the people associated with the suffering death and crucifixion of Jesus. We consider the lie which is placed before them and us by Satan, and the truth which God would have us hold to as we walk the path of faithful obedience here on earth. This fable helps us to see that faithful obedience is what God desires while Satan teaches that practical action is best. This truth is made manifest in the choices we make and the actions we take.
The young bird in the parable was misled by the tears of the fowler. Witnessing the tears of the man who had sprained his thumb, the young bird thought the fowler was having pity on the birds he was destroying. While in all truth, the fowler cared nothing for the lives of the birds. The birds were a means to an end. He would fill his bank account with every bird he trapped and destroyed. It was a matter of business.
It was the same thing for Caiaphas. Arresting and condemning Jesus was a matter of business. John makes this very clear when he writes:
“Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.”
Context is all important here. So we must back up in the Gospel account of John, the 11th Chapter, to understand these words.
“Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. "What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 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."
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."
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. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.” John 11:47-53
Do you not see the mercenary spirit displayed for us here in the words? It is quite readily apparent what motivation is filling Caiaphas’ heart when he speaks. Expediency, practicality, convenience and self-interest are quite obvious. There is not even a hint of ethical thought, concern for what is right, or the determination of faithful obedience to the Word of God. It is a matter of business.
Faithful obedience should have been the uppermost desire in the heart of Caiaphas. Caiaphas is High Priest in the
However, look at his bloody hands. Caiaphas’ hands are covered in the blood of the innocent Son of Man. Caiaphas’ hands are in control of the machinations which will eventually bring the sound of judgment upon the innocent Son of Man. He is bringing to light and life the plan that was formed in the secret sessions of the Sanhedrin just days earlier when Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. His business is erasing the line between right and wrong, between faithful obedience and practical actions. The result being the death of the innocent Son of Man.
How many of us have erased the line that separates right from wrong, as did Caiaphas? We have seen in the last few weeks, ample evidence of this same expedient spirit among the elected leaders of our nation. Three nominees for high office have been shown to be lacking in moral and ethical character. It seems that one owed $38 K, one $130 K and now a third owed $10 K in back taxes and fines. These amounts were quickly paid when it was revealed they would be appointed to high public office. Quite a practical action to make all things look right.
In other areas, our leaders are being influenced to ignore the desires of our founding Fathers by removing any mention of religion by the government. They are being persuaded that freedom from religion is what our founding fathers intended rather than freedom of religion. So judges now declare that the Ten Commandments must be erased from public view because they promote a belief in God. So judges also now declare manger scenes and Stars of David removed from government property because they promote a specific religious belief.
If the government uses a church building through the week, all religious icons must be removed from the sight of those who will use the building. To leave such religious icons in view would be to promote something that might be offensive to someone using the building.
Such thoughts and actions are not absent from among God’s people. We also struggle against the desire to be self-serving and expedient in our service to the Lord. Some religious leaders promote themselves over the Son of Man. They glory in the earthly kingdom they build by misleading others to think about material prosperity rather than spiritual riches. They teach that having wealth in a healthy bank account is a sign of God’s favor and a barometer of a strong faith life. When in all truth, Scripture teaches that our lives consist not in the wealth of the world, but in the rich grace of God who covers our sin in the blood of the sinless Son of God. The same son of God that once stood before Caiaphas and was condemned to die upon the cross.
We also fall prey to the temptation to be less than truthful about our needs and desires. Indeed, we may make confession of our sins, but do we always bear the fruit of repentance. Many times, we slip back in to the apathy we earlier confessed, or the concern we have for ourselves in this world over the concern we don’t have for the world to come. We take the eraser of sin and remove the line between right and wrong.
Let us now return to his Son of Man and see the life that is now to be forfeit that the world would see the faithfulness of God. Caiaphas thought he was working his will in arresting and condemning this miracle worker Jesus. Caiaphas thought he was saving himself and his nation by directing the full might of
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6
God took Caiaphas’ expediency and covered it with the faithful obedience of His Son, Jesus Christ. God took our rejection of the Son of Man and atoned for it with shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. God took the wavering uncertainty of our heart and shored it up with the unswerving determination of His Son Jesus Christ. We look not at the bloody hands of Caiaphas; rather we reach for the outstretched bloodied hands of Jesus Christ. For, in those bloodied hands alone do we have hope and peace with God through the forgiveness of our self-serving attitudes and desires.
Rightly we need to confess the words of the hymn sung earlier:
Ye who think of sin but lightly Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly, Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed, See who bears the awful load;
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s anointed, Son of man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation, Here the Refuge of the lost:
Christ the Rock of our salvation, Is the name of which we boast;
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded Who on Him their hope have built.
Look at Jesus’ bloodied hands and see the sacrifice foretold in the Word of the God spoken through the prophets, and now fulfilled in the Word of God made flesh.
In the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen