John 11:48 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.”

NIV: 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.'

NASB: If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our place and our nation.'

CSB: 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."

NLT: If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.'

KJV: If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

NKJV: If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

Two thousand years of changing history can cloud our view of biblical stories. The term "Pharisee" has a very negative connotation today, but this was not the case in ancient Judea. Pharisees were disciplined, respected, and legitimately moral men. Obviously, their traditionalism led most of them towards pride and arrogance. And yet, some members of the Jewish council were sincerely interested in the truth, such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (John 3:1–2; 7:50–51; Luke 23:50–51). It's easy to view these ancient groups as two-dimensional cartoons, rather than as fully-human people with complex motivations.

Scripture makes it clear the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees had a generally-wrong response to Jesus. They are stubborn, hard-headed, and deliberately ignoring evidence and good reasoning (John 5:39–41; Mark 3:22–30). And yet, they are also reasonably consistent: they see Jesus as dangerous, not just spiritually but also politically. The actions of the Council in these next few verses are heinous, but they are entirely coherent, given their point of view.

In broad terms, the Roman Empire let conquered territories govern themselves. However, that freedom came with the price of overall submission. Taxes, travel access, and cooperation were required, and no person could challenge the authority of the Emperor. Prior to Jesus' public ministry, there had been several instances where Jewish rebellion was met with a devastating Roman counter. The Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees are correct in their assumption that any Jewish man leading an open revolt against Roman power will bring ruin to the Jewish people.

At the same time, these men will push the idea of Jesus as a political rebel for their own ends. They are just as concerned about the loss of their "place" in the power structure as they are the annihilation of their people. They know painting Christ as a rebel is the only chance they have of getting Jesus out of the way. And they persist in that claim despite His clear statements to the contrary (John 6:15, 25–27). Even if politics is not what Jesus' ministry is all about (John 18:36), that misunderstanding is the lever the religious leaders will use to attack Him. His triumphal entry will only make that spin easier to promote (John 12:12–19).

John 11:45–57 follows Jesus' seventh and most spectacular miraculous ''sign,'' the resurrection of Lazarus. Amazingly, Jesus enemies are so hardened against Him that this miracle only inspires them to have Jesus killed even more quickly. This is one of many examples disproving the claim that non-believers merely lack sufficient evidence. Critics claim Jesus may incite rebellion and invite destruction from Rome. For the most part, however, Jesus is a threat to their pompous arrogance and positions of power. When Jesus maintains a low profile, the religious leaders give orders to find Him so He can be arrested. This sets in motion the critical events completing Jesus' sacrificial death.

Jesus has left the vicinity of Jerusalem to avoid hostile religious leaders. While gone, He receives word that a good friend, Lazarus, is sick. In fact, Lazarus has died by the time this message reaches Jesus. He purposefully waits a few days before returning to Bethany, arriving four days after Lazarus' burial. In front of Lazarus' mourning sisters—who Jesus weeps with—and an assembled crowd, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in a stirring and spectacular miracle. This is the seventh of John's seven ''signs'' of Jesus' divine power. In response, religious leaders coordinate in their effort to have Jesus murdered.

After giving sight to a man born blind (John 9), Jesus sparred with religious leaders on at least two occasions (John 10). After another failed arrest attempt, Jesus left the area and went out where Jerusalem's politics had little influence. In this chapter, He returns to resurrect a recently-departed friend, Lazarus. That results in a renewed commitment from Jerusalem's religious leaders to have Jesus murdered. As the crucifixion draws near, Jesus will stage His triumphal entry in chapter 12, and then begin His final teachings to the disciples.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.