John 11:47-53 – Jesus Dies For The Israel Nation

John 11:47-53 – Jesus Dies For The Israel Nation

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation." But one of them, Ca'iaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all; you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.

Comment
The advent of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, changed human history; it inevitably changed Jewish identity.

The passage from Judaism to Christianity rouses the passions of Jew and Gentile alike. The Jew accuses the Christian missionary of attempting to destroy the physical integrity of the people, though not, of course, by physical means. Father Hruby seems to accept the assessment for he says: “If Israel refuses to identify itself with the new Israel, which the Church pretends to be, it is because such an identification would lead, ipso facto, to the end of the Jewish people.”

Christians are surprised to learn that belief in a Jewish Messiah should appear to imperil the existence of the Jewish people. They are bewildered and hurt at the resentment their well-intentioned missionary overtures encounter among Jews. When the so-called “Anti-Mission Law” was passed in the Knesset, the parliament of Israel, the reaction of Christians was one of heated indignation. What is more, the very thought of adding the religious pluralism of the Christian world to that obtaining already in the Jewish world is enough to fill the Jew with horror.

Is it to be wondered at that religious and secularist Jews combine forces to resist the Christian missionary, who proclaims salvation for the individual and prepares the earthly extermination of the people? Jesus of Nazareth had no such intention. Had he not come to save the Jews? (cf. Mt. 1:21) He himself was a Jew, born in Bethlehem of a Jewish mother, Mary, and circumcised on the eighth day of his life. He was of the tribe of Judah (cf. Heb. 7:14), a scion of the royal house of David (cf. 2 Tim. 2:8; Rm. 2:26). Jesus directed his public ministry to the lost sheep of Israel whom he loved and for whom he was to die before dying for others (Jn. 11:51-52).

When the Samaritan woman rounded on him pertly, saying: “You are a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” Jn. 4:9), he does not reject the attribution. By announcing to the confused woman that “salvation comes from the Jews” (cf. Jn. 4: 22), he implicitly acknowledges that he was a Jew. The author of the Apocalypse bestowed on the Risen Christ the epithet “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (cf. Rev. 5:5). St. Peter teaches that Jesus had come to grant Israel “repentance and forgiveness of sins” (cf. Acts 5:31), not a destructive aim, surely.

Source:
JESUS AND JEWISH IDENTITY:
FROM MOSAIC JUDAISM TO THE CHURCH
JEWISH IDENTITY by Elias Friedman, O.C.D

John 1:29 – John Caught Sight of Jesus -The church is John the Baptist

John 1:29 – John Caught Sight of Jesus
The next day, when John caught sight of Jesus coming toward him, he exclaimed: “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Comment
In February of 1971, at a prayer meeting in Detroit, a woman stood up and shared with us a prophetic teaching that she had received during the week. She felt it was to be shared at the prayer meeting, but she did not understand it.
She said simply, “The church is John the Baptist,” and sat down.
This word stayed in my mind, without understanding, until September of that year when I attended a week’s symposium on the nature and mission of the church. During the week the speakers kept focusing on the foundation of the gospel: Jesus is Lord. On the morning of the closing day, the speaker became eloquent and said by way of summarizing his presentation: “The church is like John the Baptist; it must point to Jesus.”
Lamb of God
John points to Jesus as the sacrificial lamb who takes away our sin. Jesus is the suffering servant led like a lamb to the slaughter as an offering for our sin (Isaiah 53:7). John points to Jesus as our savior. And so we, the church, are to point to Jesus as the savior. Like John, we must continually point out to the world that only Jesus can take away our sins. This is the fundamental task of the church – to bring people to Jesus for healing, forgiveness and salvation. The church must be constant in its witness to Jesus as the savior and expose the folly of turning to other “saviors” that cannot bring salvation.
He alone gives the power that transforms us and will transform the world. No earthly power will bring about resurrection, but only the power at work in us that raised Jesus from the dead. Only by this power can we be witnesses to the risen Lord. The church must be a constant witness to the risen Lord if men are to be transformed. This witness means that each individual, myself included, must be experiencing this resurrection at work in him.
Now I have seen for myself and have testified: “This is God’s chosen One.” (John 1:34)
The task of the church is to build its foundations on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He alone is Lord and our one foundation. The Church is to point out to the world that the Father wants Jesus as Lord of our hearts and of the world – and there are to be no other “lords” in our lives.
John Came as Witness
There was a man named John sent by God, who came as a witness to testify to the light. (John 1:6)
John came as a witness, as one who saw, knew, and spoke out in prophecy. Part of the prophecy was positive and part of it negative. In positive prophecy he pointed to Jesus as the Savior, the Christ, and the Lord. In negative prophecy he pointed out what was not of God – to the Pharisees and to Herod. It cost him his head.
The church, too, is to be a witness to the risen Lord and point to Jesus – in both positive and negative prophecy. We are to point out to the world what is of Jesus and also point out what is not of Jesus. It may well cost us our heads. For this reason witnesses are called “martyrs” in Greek.
The church must be like John the Baptist and point to Jesus. And its greatest prophetic statement for my spiritual growth is: “He must increase, while I must decrease.”


Source: excerpt from THE KEY TO EVANGELIZATION - George W. Kosicki