The passage begins with warnings against guaranteeing the
debt of a neighbor or stranger and urges the hearer to get out of such
entanglements as quickly as possible if already entered into. If we make guarantee for another we are at
their mercy at some level and wisdom would indicate that this is a bad
decision, we can't truly know the neighbor and stranger. The second part of the passage is a warning
against laziness and sounds very much like the Aesop fable about the ant and
the grasshopper, the grasshopper spends the warm months singing and the ant
storing up for winter. Finally, it wraps
up with something we all need to take to heart, the seven things the Lord hates
- haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart
that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness
who breathes out lies, and one who sows
discord among brothers. Notice that
three of these relate to the tongue, as James wrote, "If anyone thinks he
is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this
person's religion is worthless."
What was the motivation for those who went from to tomb of
Lazarus to the Pharisees to let them know what Jesus had done? Was it to alert them to His movements that
they might come against Him or was it in the hopes that surely this would finally
convince them He was Messiah? We don't
know the answer but John seems to hint that the darker motive was in play. How could the Pharisees not believe after hearing
this story? Their hearts, like Pharaoh's
in Egypt during the plagues, were hardened and could not let the people go and
worship Him. Caiphas seems to suggest what
John Stuart Mill would propose as an ethical system in the 19th
century, utilitarianism, doing whatever act results in the greatest good for the
greatest number of people, something which cannot be known. Caiphas doesn't care whether Jesus is
innocent or guilty, good or bad, such things don't matter, it is the outcome
that matters. Caiphas really only has
one person in mind here, himself. As high
priest he has the most to lose. John actually
credits Caiphas with prophetic utterance here, that his position as high priest
is from God or he wouldn't speak thus.
Jesus has stood surety for us, we the worthless sinners who
He calls not only neighbor but brothers and sisters. His work on the cross moves us from strangers
and enemies to heirs, adopted children. Belief
in Him is the key to eternal life but it isn't the end of story, we are to be
like Him as we were created in His image.
Caiphas believed something right, it was indeed better for the one man
to die but he believed that not because he believed in Jesus as propitiation
for sin, the true Messiah, but for other reasons. If we only believe what Jesus did as our
cosmic get out of jail free card, we don't have sufficient faith. If, however,
we believe He also set us free from the slavery to sin, and are becoming like
Him, we have salvific faith. The testimony
we have is the life of faith not of fear.
There should be a familial likeness.
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