M-G: 5.25.11 // Crossianity, John 12:10

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Whenever I read this verse of Scripture chills run down my spine, for it reminds me of the icy saying, "It's nothing personal just business." This passage strips away the religious veneer of the spiritual leaders of Israel and exposes their blindness, sinfulness, cruelty, heartlessness, hatefulness, and spiritual deadness to the things of God. Jesus had challenged their hypocrisy with the truth which was essentially characterizing their authority, and they were offended. This verse could aptly be entitled, “When miracles won’t work” or “Don’t confuse me with the truth; I know what I believe!” The ruling religious authority, the Sanhedrin, had already decided it was best for the nation of Israel to put Jesus to death in order to maintain the Pax Romana (Latin, Roman peace, Jn 11:48, 53).

Six days before the Passover feast in Jerusalem, Jesus visited Bethany, the hometown of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, about two miles from Jerusalem (Jn 11:18). Once word got out that Jesus was in Bethany he attracted a crowd. Many came to see Jesus, but they also wanted to see Lazarus, the man raised from the dead by Jesus (Jn 12:9)!

On a previous visit to Bethany by Jesus, Lazarus had died a natural death and had been in the tomb for four days. Jesus raised Mary’s and Martha’s brother from the dead (Jn 11:39, 43-44)! Now, through no fault of his own, other than guilt by association, Lazarus was the second most wanted man in Israel “because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus” (Jn 12:11), many but not all.

The chief priests were not too keen on Lazarus coming back from the dead, but the evidence could not be denied. There was Lazarus in living color, and everybody knew it. These chief priests were probably Sadducees This faction of the Jewish leadership didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead like their counterpart, the Pharisees; but neither sect believed that Jesus was the Messiah. 

A living Lazarus was proving to be an embarrassment to the theology of the chief priests, and Jesus and Lazarus were causing no small stir among the people which was a political concern of the Jewish leaders. It was decided by the Jewish councils that Lazarus had to die, too. Poor old Lazarus had already died once, and now the “priests” wanted him to die again, permanently along with Jesus. Whatever happened to Lazarus is unknown for the biblical record is silent. We know he experienced a natural death, but whether he experienced an unnatural death via murder is unknown.

The resurrection of Lazarus from the grave reminds me of the story told by Jesus of a rich man and a beggar known as Lazarus (not the same one as Bethany). A rich man had died and went to Hades and begged Abraham, who was far away with Lazarus, to send Lazarus to witness to his five brothers and warn them that Hades was an awful place of pain and to turn from their sins and not end up here (Lk 16:27- 30). Abraham replied to him,

“Your brothers have the Scriptures (emphasis mine), Moses and the prophets (representing all of the Old Testament, cf. Lk 16:16); they should listen to what they say” (Lk 16:29). However, the rich man was convinced that “if someone would rise from the grave and go to them, then they would turn from their sins" (Lk 16:30, TEV). But Abraham responded, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death” (Lk 16:31, TEV).

For the religious leaders, the miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead didn’t convince them to turn from their sins, that miracle didn’t work; Lazarus’ resurrection was rejected as proof that Jesus was the true Messiah! And because many Jews were rejecting the teaching of the religious leadership and believing in Jesus, the chief priests were in agreement to kill Lazarus to keep the peace. It was for the good of the nation, nothing personal. Jesus’ own resurrection from the tomb three days after His crucifixion didn’t convince the spiritual leadership of Israel to turn from their sins, that miracle didn’t work either. According to the Sanhedrin, “Jesus wasn’t the Messiah; He was dead, and that’s the end of it.” But it wasn’t….

Today, men still do not believe in Jesus though the world has more access to the truth of Scripture than at any time in the history of man. If people refuse to believe the Bible, miracles won’t work for salvation, for those people seeking miracles are looking for relief from some physical infirmity, not relief from sin. The greatest miracle is the spiritual transformation of the soul from darkness to light, not the physical. The Sadducees and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day are like so many people today – “Don’t tell me the truth I know what I believe," or they want the blessings of God but not the responsibilities that come with it. 

The plotting to put Lazarus to death reveals a spiritual blindness that reminds us that this warfare we are engaged in as believers of Christ is spiritual in nature. It is difficult to fathom the depths of this blindness and refusal to believe in light of the miracles performed by Jesus that validated He was and is the Messiah. This story of Lazarus of Bethany reminds us that any association with Jesus will promote persecution and even martyrdom from those who are in thick darkness with godless agendas. Inspiring, yes? Listen to what Jesus said about suffering for righteousness in His Sermon on the Mount, 

"Blessed [happy] are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:11).

Christianity is our belief ("If anyone desires to come after Me," Lk 9:23); crossianity is our behavior ("let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me," Lk 9:23). <><