John 11:52, commentary and pictures

Jesus was to die not for the Jewish nation alone, but as Redeemer to gather all of God's scattered children together into one. Caiaphas uttered this as high priest, prophesying the purpose of that death without understanding its full meaning. He himself meant that Jesus should die to preserve the nation and its power and let it continue in sin, but the prophecy pointed to the wider gathering of God's people, not to leaving them in sin. The saying arose when the raising of Lazarus had given decisive proof of Christ's divine power over death, and the priests and rulers, fearing the people would believe and their own position and power would be lost, resolved to put both Jesus and Lazarus to death. God overruled their crime for the good of humanity, so that death made Jesus the Saviour of the whole world and ruler over all, without lessening their guilt, and it brought the Jewish sacrifices to their reality and ended the Aaronic priesthood.

Lazarus and the Council

The raising of Lazarus gives decisive evidence of Christ's divine power over death and of His identity as the Son of God, and it advances the completion of His earthly mission. It overturned the Sadducees' denial that the dead could be raised, and alarmed because they could not undo its effect on the people, they concluded Jesus had to die to stop His work.

The verse grows out of Jesus often finding pleasant rest in the Bethany home of Lazarus, where Lazarus loved Him with sincere fervent love and believed Him to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, where Mary earnestly listened to His words, and where the whole peaceful home sympathized wholly with Jesus, while Lazarus knew the depth of Pharisee enmity and the injustice of their charges. Though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after receiving the message He abode two days still in the same place, guided by divine wisdom and not going at once, and the message met no immediate response because Mary and Martha trusted Him to do what was best and did not demand an immediate coming to heal. It was God's plan that Lazarus should die and be laid in the tomb before the Saviour arrived so that the raising, Christ's crowning miracle, would lead many to believe in Jesus and glorify God. Those who had again and again rejected light would not yield even before overwhelming evidence but stayed hardened in unbelief and went away immediately to tell the priests and rulers what Jesus had done, arousing anew the hatred of the Pharisees whose jealousy was increased by every act of mercy.

The priests and rulers feared the people would believe in Jesus and that confidence in their rulers and their own position and the nation's power would be lost, so they resolved to put Jesus to death and also to kill Lazarus, whose life testified to Jesus' power. The miracle convinced them that they could not stop His works or teaching, and fearing He would gain many followers and seeing His miracles undermining their influence over the people, their hatred was intensified and their determination to destroy Jesus was sealed. The Jewish leaders rejected the light Christ gave through His teaching and miracles in hardened unbelief and decided to put Him to death, an opposition to truth that is repeated when ministers resist the truth.

Death Gathers Scattered Children

Jesus would die not for that nation only, but as Redeemer He would through His death gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. The council's plot to kill Him after the raising of Lazarus, when hatred was intensified and resolve to destroy Him was strengthened, is the setting for this gathering. Caiaphas spoke these words without understanding their full meaning and without grasping what he uttered, yet as high priest he prophesied that Jesus would die for this purpose.

What Caiaphas meant was that Jesus should die to preserve the nation and its power and place, and to let it continue in sin. Unknowingly his words pointed to the wider mission of the Saviour, to bring God's scattered people together into one, not to enable them to remain in sin. That death fulfilled the purpose of the Jewish sacrificial system, bringing its types and shadows to their reality and ending the need for them. It marked the close of the Aaronic priesthood.

His enemies intended His death to prevent Him from becoming king and exercising authority. God overruled their crime for humanity's good, so that His death made Him the Redeemer of mankind, the Saviour of the whole world and of the fallen race, and through God's providence ruler over the whole world. This divine purpose did not lessen their guilt. The Lord's message is to be proclaimed to gather His scattered children.