Today's Gospel in Lent: The plot to kill Jesus and the prospect of suffering
Today's gospel John 11:45-56
Many of the religious leaders therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to put him to death.
Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.
Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, ‘What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?’
In this gospel the plot by his opponents to kill Jesus becomes apparent and Jesus obviously knows of it, as we see him move on and away from the immediate source of danger, knowing that it is not time yet for him to be taken.
It is interesting that he retreats to Ephraim, a town the name of which has connotations of abundance and prospering in affliction. It is notable too that Ephraim is in the wilderness region - where Jesus went to be with God his Father in preparation for his ministry - and that Jesus stays there for a time with his disciples. Jesus, though divine, needed the comfort and support of human companionship when experiencing hardship and hostility. We will see this again soon in the Garden of Gethsemane, when prior to his arrest he asks his friends to stay with him and pray for him, as he prays in agony and anticipation of the suffering to come.
Truly he suffered all that we, human beings, have suffered, and immeasurably more.
"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4)
Jesus prays in agony in the Garden
Unknown source
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit." (1 Peter 3: 18)
Sacred Space
You can find a gentle devotional aid and thought-provoking reflection on this gospel here:
https://sacredspace.com/daily-prayer/2025-04-12/
Christian Art
You may find this interesting video an informative, moving and helpful preparation for Holy Week and Easter:
https://youtu.be/RHCORHpQBdQ
(or here https://christian.art/featured-video/ )
