John 12 -- Not Going Their Way

God pointed me to the Pharisees today.  Verses 9-11 told of the large crowd of Jews that had come from Jerusalem to Bethany to see both Jesus and Lazarus. “So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too.  Because of Lazarus, many of the Jews were leaving THEM and believing in JESUS.”

My commentary said about Lazarus, “One would think he had committed high treason by being raised from the dead!  It was nothing over which he had control, and yet they considered him worthy of death.”  What really struck me was that they were making plans to murder a man whom God had just raised from the dead!  How totally off-base they’d gotten!

It was all about them and their perceived power.  They were the spiritual leaders of Israel.  No one else, including Jesus, would take them where they did not want to go, and it had to be their idea as well.  They couldn’t be seen as followers, only leaders.

In verse 19, it says, “So the Pharisees said to each other, ‘You can see that nothing is going right for us.  Look!  The whole world is following Him.’ “  Nothing is going right for us speaks of their selfishness and conceit.

The Pharisees wanted to rule.  The people, like so many today, were only interested in change.  They hardly cared what that change would mean, except when it came to Jesus.  Verse 37 says, “Though Jesus had done many miracles in front of the people, they still did not believe in Him.”  And that was the opposite of what the Pharisees perceived.

How difficult this must have been for Jesus.  He’d come to die for us to save us from our sins.  Yet the religious leaders wanted to kill him, and the vast majority of the crowds were only interested in the sensational, not wanting to believe.  My commentary said they wanted a king to rule over them, but they did not want to repent.

Father, I don’t want to be like those Pharisees, wanting to be ruling anyone at any cost.  I don’t want to be like the crowd, just wanting a king and not wanting to repent.  I simply want my Savior to show me how to live the kind of life that honors You and gives You glory.  Help me to do that every day.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford