The predictions about Christ have been fulfilled.

People ask, “Did it have to happen?” Some will say it was fate, others will say it was ordained by God from eternity. Yes, God from eternity knows everything. This is also how we look at Caiaphas’ actions. After the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus gained many followers. Many Jews were present at the resurrection because they were to comfort Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus when Jesus came and manifested His power before their eyes. Even the high council was involved in this in their meeting because they are worried about their power, which none of them will say, but they want to turn their problem in a different direction. They are afraid that Jesus led an open rebellion against the Romans, and they destroy Jerusalem. It is a paradox that it was they who longed for such a revolutionary, that he would free them from the hated Romans.

It was Caiaphas, who was a high priest that year, who took advantage of this situation in the great city, he said: “You know nothing. You do not realize that it is better for you if one man dies for the people and the whole nation does not perish” (Jn. 11:49-50).

With bitter irony, the evangelist describes Caiaphas the high priest as the political leader of the Jewish nation. He observes with concern that Christ’s ministry is stirring up a movement unacceptable to the people, who may openly oppose him as well. He explains to the others what would eventually follow: They would lose their freedom, their temple, and their income. By the statement “you know nothing” with which he admonishes the undecided Great Council, he touches himself, for even he does not know that the death of Christ, which he seeks, will destroy the old Israel, its law and covenant, and thus a new Israel and a new covenant, or New Testament, will be established. We can say that Caiaphas at this point is unwittingly prophesying that Jesus will die not just for a nation but for all mankind, to gather the scattered sheep into one flock.

We know that Jesus was not a victim of chance and that his crucifixion and death were not mere execution, mistake, etc. Though they all thought they had a part in it, they did not think that this was the death that redeems, for which mankind through the prophets had cried and pleaded so much. We know that behind the actions of all those who were instrumental in the death of Jesus, whether it was Judas who betrayed, Caiaphas and Annas who demanded from Pilate the death of Christ, whether it was Pilate who pronounced the sentence and washed his hands, whether it was the deceived multitude in Pilate’s courtyard-these were all in the hands of God and were fulfilling that which is behind the words: He gave his Son as a ransom sacrifice for all. We also see that Jesus did not resist arrest or condemnation, and that was only because He had willingly accepted His condemnation and death long before these events began. The will of the Heavenly Father and the irrevocable consent of Christ made his execution on the cross a redemptive act. Everything was in the plan of God. And He used people for His redemptive mission as well. It is with this thought that we enter into next week, which we also call Holy Week because these events are still alive and relevant to us.