Ironic Gospel
6 min read
48 “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
John 11:48-50
There is so much irony here in how the Jewish establishment responds to Jesus. The irony comes from their refusal to believe Jesus’s claim to be the Son of God. Because of that, their analysis of the “situation” was completely off. And the solution that they came up with to deal with the “situation” was at the same time completely wrong and completely right. But they had no clues as to why, either way.
The fact of the matter is that the Romans did take away both the temple and “our nation” from them. Politically speaking, the “whole nation” perished in the Jewish War in 70 AD, along with the complete destruction of the temple, which has not been rebuilt since. And whatever limited sovereignty the Jewish people had, it was taken away from them and was not restored until after WW II.
The Jewish establishment had no capacity for understanding that their analysis and their solution were simply driven by their sinful need to be in control and to hold on to power. Their attitude and their actions reflected the exact reason that Jesus had to come and be murdered by them.
Their sinful intent was fulfilled, because sinful hearts cannot help but to feel, think, and act sinfully (Jeremiah 17:9). And yet, through the culmination of evil brought forth by sin, God brought forth the salvation of the world.
In the Bible, we see God bringing about good through the evil intentions of the human heart all the time (Genesis 38-50). And so I wonder if that is also how Jesus is going to come back. That is, Jesus will come back when sin reaches its full maturity here on the earth. It’s scary to think about what that might look like, but it will be the fullness of sin that ushers in the return of Jesus and the destruction of sin forever.
But what does that mean for me right here and right now? What that means is that I cannot really trust my own heart because I know that sin lurks there. The Holy Spirit has taught me that the more I try to “handle” things, the more I make a mess of things.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that I should just sit on my hands and do nothing. Far from it.
The one thing I can really trust to do is to follow Jesus Christ. And what that ultimately means is that I can only really trust the word of God.
The Holy Spirit has also taught me that fruitful ministry is found when I make every effort to keep it BASIC and to fulfill the three gcc’s of GCC—to be a gospel-centered church, a greatest commandment church, and a great commission church.
The sin lurking in my heart doesn’t have room to maneuver when I keep it BASIC and fulfill the three gcc’s of GCC.
Father, I pray that You would bear fruit in me and bear fruit out of me. You have told me that I can only bear fruit when I am connect to the Vine, who is Christ. Forgive me whenever I try to detach from Him. But lead me with Your Holy Spirit to keep me grafted to Him. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
