March 16, 2011 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

March 16, 2011 - Lent Midweek 2 - Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - John 11:43-53
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 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. 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 place 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."
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
　
The theme for this week, as we continue with our Lenten series on People of the Passion, is "Caiaphas, the Schemer." Caiaphas was high priest of the Jewish people and also the chairman of the Jewish 70 member Sanhedrin or council that dealt with religious, political and national matters. But this Sanhedrin was not in total control of the nation. Rome was in control, had its soldiers there, its own governor, and that at this time was a man named Pontius Pilate. That means that Caiaphas could be a schemer, but really was not totally in charge - and let’s add that Rome and Pontius Pilate were not either. God was.
Before continuing with Caiaphas, can you think of an Old Testament incident when there was scheming for evil against someone, scheming that seemed to work, but it turned out that the schemers definitely were not in charge? Think just a bit. Did any of you think of Joseph, think of Joseph’s brothers who were jealous of him, who when they had an opportunity schemed to get rid of him by selling him into slavery into the land of Egypt, who then lied to their father Jacob and told him Joseph had been killed by an animal? They schemed and thought they were in control, didn’t they. But they were not. God was. And that is what we see also in our text as we now look at
CAIAPHAS, THE SCHEMER
I JESUS HAD ACTED (43-44)
1. Jesus had planned but not schemed (43)
When he had said this ---.
a) if you recall, after hearing Lazarus was sick Jesus deliberately
planned to stay away for a while
b) His purpose was to prepare for a wonderful miracle
2. Then He acted (43-44)
Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
a) this wasn’t a case of acting within a few minutes window of
opportunity after somebody’s heart stopping
b) Lazarus came to life after having been buried for four days
3. Here indeed was proof of who Jesus was
a) in His ministry Jesus had been giving all kinds of proof that
He was the one Old Testament Scripture foretold as the
Christ, the promised Savior; that included the healing of many
many people who were sick or blind or couldn’t hear
b) but here was a healing of a dead man, of a dead man who
came walking out of his grave after four days, alive and well c) don’t you think this called for headlines in the newspapers;
don’t you think this would bring crowds to accept Jesus as the
promised one of God for whom the people had been waiting?
II UNBELIEF REACTED (45-48)
1. There was a mixed reaction (45-46)
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
a) if we had something bad and found a doctor who helped and
healed us, I am sure we would put our faith in that doctor the
way some people here put their faith in Jesus who gave life
b) but not all did that; instead some reported to the Sanhedrin
2. Unbelief could not deny the fact (47)
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."
a) what they had been trying to accomplish was to get rid of this
man from Nazareth, this man named Jesus who was going
around saying the kingdom of heaven was at hand, who talked
about God’s Old Testament promises and said He had come to
fulfill them, who talked about forgiveness of sins, who said He
had come to seek and to save the lost
b) now this man had raised somebody from the dead; they could
not deny this; they had to acknowledge,
"Here is this man performing many miraculous signs."
3. Yet it held to its own thinking (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 place and our nation."
a) they had no evidence whatsoever about Jesus causing trouble
for them with the government of Rome
b) they assumed many followers of Jesus would lead to trouble
c) they assumed that because they wanted to get rid of Jesus
III CAIAPHAS SCHEMED (49-50,53)
1. Caiaphas took strong leadership (49)
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all!"
a) I wonder how the other members of the Sanhedrin felt when
Caiaphas said they knew nothing at all - would the president of
our congregation, Ralph Engelhardt, at a Voters’ Meeting tell
those present that they didn’t know anything at all? - I am sure
he would not, he’s not that kind of a man
b) but obviously Caiaphas was that kind of a man
2. Behind his scheming was self-preservation (50)
"You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."
a) mister know-it-all wanted no trouble with Rome, trouble that
might lead to power being taken away from the Sanhedrin
b) his scheming solution: get rid of Jesus
3. And the plot for Jesus’ death was put into motion (53)
So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
a) here were the leaders, under Rome, of the Jewish nation
b) here were the spiritual leaders, the ones who should have
been pointing to Jesus as the promised Christ, the Savior
c) but Caiaphas’ scheming led them to plot death for Jesus
IV BUT GOD FULFILLED (51-52)
1. Unwittingly Caiaphas spoke the truth (51-52)
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.
a) Caiaphas thought Jesus’ death would spare the nation of
Israel, save his job and position of importance
b) but God’s plan was not only for the Jewish people but for all
people, not only for an earthly peace but for an eternal peace
2. So Caiaphas schemed, but God could laugh
a) listen to these words from Psalm 2:1-6
"Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break
their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.’"
b) Caiaphas schemed; God laughed, and fulfilled His purposes
3. He had done that also with Joseph
a) Joseph’s brothers, as we said at the beginning of this
sermon, schemed to get rid of Joseph
b) but God was in charge, using what the brothers did to Joseph
to bring the nation of Israel to the safety of Egypt until God
was ready to bring them out of Egypt and into the promised
land where His promised Savior would be born in Bethlehem
c) that was God’s plan; there Jesus died to pay the wages of our
sins that we might be forgiven, and there Jesus, like Lazarus,
came out of the grave alive to prove He is our Savior, our
resurrection and our life
V WHAT ABOUT US? (53)
1. We still face scheming
a) it comes from the devil; listen to this warning in Eph. 6:10
"Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."
b) it comes from the world around us, the devil using its many
temptations to draw us into sin and away from God’s will, as
the Apostle Paul warns us in 2 Cor. 2:11 to be on guard that
"Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes."
2. How do we react?
a) sad to say it often is in weakness; what the devil and the
world offer often seems so appealing, and we fall into sin
b) sometimes we even become schemers ourselves, trying to
figure out how we can get away with things, do things wrong
without getting caught - you children in school, all of us, we
know we often are guilty, aren’t we; Caiphas is not the only
schemer
3. But rejoice in God’s planning fulfilled (53)
So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
a) they plotted, schemed to take Jesus’ life; but God laughed
b) God’s plan was to use that life that was taken as the payment
for our sins, all of our sins, including our scheming sins
c) fellow sinners, fellow schemers, rejoice; when Jesus died He
was not the loser but the winner, and He has made all of us
winners with Him
Many people followed Caiaphas the schemer. May God’s Holy Spirit strengthen us through Word and sacrament always to follow God the Planner who in His Son carried out His plan for our eternal salvation.
As penitent believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, flee the world’s scheming and trust God’s planning. Keep that in mind when we come to the closing hymn of this service and sing confidently, "I leave all things to God’s direction."