Don't Kill the Messenger (John 12:9-11)

Today's scripture: John 12:9-11

We continue to see the chasm between those who sought Jesus because they believed in Him and those who sought Him to get rid of Him.

There's an added twist here, though. Not only did the chief priests seek to kill Jesus, they also wanted to kill Lazarus. Why? Just because Jesus had raised him from the dead. Lazarus was proof of Jesus' divinity.

Jesus had performed many miracles by this time. He'd even raised people from the dead. Why was the raising of Lazarus different for the chief priests? I'm not completely certain, but I've heard that the Jewish belief was that a person's soul left his body after four days. When Jesus had raised others from the dead, they hadn't been dead as long, so one might argue that they still had their souls. So perhaps the miracles weren't ... so miraculous. But they couldn't say the same about Lazarus. He was in the grave for four days.

When people heard about this miracle, they knew Jesus was more than a man, more than some magician or healer. They began to listen to Him and His teaching. And they believed in Him.

The chief priests figured if they killed Lazarus, the buzz about Jesus would die down. Little did they know that the message wouldn't die ... just as its Messenger wouldn't die.