had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called together the Council. They said,
“What are we to do? For this man keeps on performing many miraculous signs. If we let
him go on like this, all the people will believe in him and, as a result of this, the Romans
will come and destroy our Holy Place and our nation.” Then one of them, Caiaphas, who
was High Priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! It is better to have one man
die for the people than to let the whole nation be destroyed.” In saying this Caiaphas did
not speak for himself, but being High Priest that year, he foretold like a prophet that Jesus
would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also would die in order to gather
into one the scattered children of God. So, from that day on, they were determined to kill
him. Because of this, Jesus no longer moved about freely among the Jews. He withdrew
instead to the country near the wilderness, and stayed with his disciples in a town called
Ephraim. The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and people from everywhere were
coming to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. They looked for Jesus
and, as they stood in the temple, they talked with one another, “What do you think?
Will he come to the festival?”

Reflect

“Give life to others.”The chief priests and the Pharisees joined forces against Jesus
because they were afraid that many people were beginning to believe in Jesus. They
thought of stopping Jesus because if more people would believe in him, the Romans
would come and destroy their nation and the temple. This happened after Jesus had
performed the seventh and the last sign or miracle in the Gospel of John, which is the
raising of Lazarus back to life. Jesus had brought somebody back to life and the religious
authorities of his time began plotting to kill him. Jesus was carrying out his mission of
bringing life in its fullness and there were people who would try to stop him. These people
belonged to the portion of humanity that had been overtaken by darkness, corrupted by
the power they were enjoying. They were selfish and insecure. Jesus, on the contrary,
secure with the Father’s love, would offer his own life as a consequence of his mission
of bringing the fullness of life. As we are about to enter the Semana Santa, let us be
mindful of our Christian mission of offering our life in order to give life to others.

 
© Copyright Bible Diary 2024