Seven Miracles - Pt 26

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. (John 11:47-53 ESV).

Today we come to the second truth of this passage: Substitution is at the heart of the Christian faith. I hear people from time to time mention the concept of “karma.” “Karma” means action, work or deed; it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual. This is entirely foreign to the Christian faith. We don’t get what we deserve; Jesus got it on our behalf! Look at our reading again. Caiaphas said, “It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish” (v. 50). Then John tells us he was really speaking the words of God: “He prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation” (v. 51). In the mind of Caiaphas, the substitution was they would kill Jesus so the Romans wouldn’t kill them. He wanted to substitute Jesus for themselves. In the mind of God, the substitution was this: I will kill my Son so I don’t have to kill you. God substitutes Jesus for his enemies. The truth is that God killed Jesus? I know it sounds harsh to speak of God killing Jesus. Killing so easily connotes sinning and callous cruelty. God never sins. And he is never callous. But this is the truth of Scripture. Even Isaiah uses this harsh language: “We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.” Isaiah 53:4,6,10). God “smote” him. God “crushed” him. This is the very center of our Christian faith: God substituted Jesus for us. The encouragement we draw from this is that this is the depth of God’s love for us. The impact of this truth is the erasing of our fear. If God could love us so deeply and sacrificially, how could anything harm us? This takes away the greatest of fears. Death no longer has any power over us. Jesus took that penalty as his own and conquered it on our behalf forever!