READING: 2 Kings 18-20, John 12:1-19
The chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus, the one Jesus resurrected, because “he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus” (John 12:11). The people apparently believed that Lazarus had indeed been dead but was now alive again—and Jesus was the one who had worked the miracle of resurrection. From the perspective of the religious leaders, though, both Jesus and Lazarus now had to go.
What strikes me is that the priests thought that killing Jesus and Lazarus would end the threat. That is, they would be killing the one who called himself “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25) in addition to one that Jesus had already raised to life, and thus would end the movement Jesus had begun. He and His followers would be out of the picture. The threat to the religious leaders and their systems would be gone.
What the religious leaders didn’t recognize is that death isn’t the end of the story when Jesus is involved. Resurrection always awaits—and that truth should give us great comfort and hope.
PRAYER: “God of the resurrection, I praise You today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 21-23, John 12:20-50