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JESUS THE SAVIOUR OF ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12
John 11:45-54

Ephesians 2:11-22

 

“…Jesus should die for that nation.”

 

JESUS THE SAVIOUR OF ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH
 
Jesus’ miracle of and teaching on the resurrection led many of Mary’s friends to trust in Him as their Saviour and Lord. Mary’s friends loved Him for it, but His enemies who were present hated Him all the more, and reported all that had happened to the Pharisees, no doubt to persuade them to take swift action to destroy Him (John 11:47-48).
 
The chief priests and Pharisees convened a Sanhedrin-meeting to talk about the popularity Jesus was amassing. The Jews at large were taking Jesus to be their political Messiah. To the Sanhedrin, that was dangerous. If they did nothing to oppose Jesus, they would certainly be implicated if the Romans were to clamp down on Him. So, Caiphas as high priest and president of the Sanhedrin, hatched a sinister plot to put Jesus away. In a hypocritical show of patriotism, he declared that in order for the nation to be saved, Jesus must die. But God made Caiaphas’ words prophetic of Jesus’ salvific work in His substitutionary atonement. There were times when God used His enemies to speak His words. In the OT, we find God causing the false prophet Balaam, who had intended to curse Israel, to bless her instead (Num 24:2-9; Deut 23:5). Here, God used Caiaphas.
 
God’s prophetic words through Caiaphas in John 11:51-52 are significant. Caiaphas thought that by putting Jesus to death, Israel would be saved, but ironically it led to her destruction in AD 70 when the Romans sacked Jerusalem. This was the chastitive will of God. Nonetheless, God’s promise of salvation to Israel through Christ remains true. Indeed, Christ was to die for the nation of Israel, and not only for Israel, but also for the world. Israel indeed crucified their Messiah, but God turned their wicked deed into their salvation (Rom 11:25-27). This will happen when Christ returns. Israel shall be great again when the Son of David sits on the throne of His father, and rules over the whole world from Jerusalem for a thousand years (Acts 1:6; Rev 20:6). And through Israel’s Messiah, we who are Gentiles have received salvation (Eph 2:11-13; cf. John 10:14-16). What a Saviour! What a God! A God who keeps His covenant and promises to His chosen nation (Israel), and to us His saints (the Church).
 
THOUGHT: Our God is a Covenant-keeping God.

PRAYER: “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father.”

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