So much irony! The reasoning of the religious leaders is astounding.
Come on, guys. Tell us the real reason you want to kill Jesus?
So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do since this man does many signs?
John 11:47 HCSB
Isn’t it amazing what lengths our depraved hearts will go to in order to protect what we cherish? I will credit the religious leaders with this; they did evaluate Jesus’ works just as He had asked them to do in John 10. But instead of seeing them as ordained by God, they saw them as a direct threat to their own rule and authority. I tend to think they were jealous. In the past several chapters we have read that people were coming to believe at a rapid pace. The raising of Lazarus was the icing on the cake. Just like today, people were in an uproar over Jesus; they either loved Him or hated Him.
But the ultimate irony of this situation is found in the “decision” made that day to end the life of Jesus. The religious leaders thought they were taking matters into their own hands. They thought they were in control. They actually believed (in an incredibly distorted way) that they were doing what was best for the nation. On the surface, it seemed like they were in control.
In hindsight, we can see that God was an eternity ahead of them. Their hardness of heart played right into His master plan to eradicate sin and death. How could the greatest act of injustice become the greatest act of redemption? Only with God.
On a much smaller scale, we are faced with these situations every day. Will we believe and trust that evil, suffering, and injustice are being worked out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose? Will we believe that man has total control or that God does? How does this chapter of John affect our daily lives? Only you can answer that question.