49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."
I find it incredibly interesting the vessels God chooses to use to bring forth His messages of Truth. In our verses for today, unbeknownst even to the speaker, God uses the Jewish high priest Caiaphas to prophetically announce: “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
Now of course, Caiaphas meant nothing more by his words than the mere murder of Jesus. Indeed, it was he that knew nothing at all! It is amazing the blind ignorance with which God’s enemies often act and reason. This high priest merely wanted our Lord out of the picture. His motivating factor was simple: better Jesus should die and save the nation from further trouble than live and have the nation be brought into trouble by Him. He was totally unaware that the Holy Spirit compelled him – making use of his mouth, albeit unconsciously, to speak words which remarkably predicted the death of Christ and which would thereby offer hope and life in abundance to a lost and needy world.
“God can and often does make wicked men instruments to serve His own purposes, even contrary to their own intentions. Words of prophecy in the mouth are no infallible evidence of a principal of grace in the heart. ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?’ will be rejected as a frivolous plea.” Matthew Henry
Since creation God has remained consistently persistent in His communication with us. Jesus confirms Caiaphas words earlier in John:
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV)
"God often uses the repetitive events and themes in daily life to get my attention and draw me closer to Himself. Now instead of just listening for God's whisper, I am trying to recognize the sacred echoes- those moments when God speaks the same message to my heart again and again. I call them sacred echoes because I've noticed that throughout my relationships, daily life, and study, the same scripturally sound idea or phrase or word will keep reappearing until I can no longer avoid its presence. Is this mere coincidence or is it something more? When it comes to hearing from God, I firmly believe the Bible is our source and authority. God's Word is like a megaphone to His people. Throughout Scripture God speaks through kings and queens, princes and prophets, poets and pilgrims. He speaks through weather patterns, barnyard animals and even the stars in the sky. God is not only creative, but He is persistent in getting our attention and communicating with us.” The Sacred Echo by Margaret Feinberg
Indeed, here God uses an unbelieving high priest to make an incredible proclamation of hope, not only for the Jewish nation but for the benefit of all God’s children throughout the world. Caiaphas’ words demonstrated the people had not yet reckoned their desperate need and furthermore that Christ came to fulfill that need. Indeed, the word “perish” (which follows each name apart from Christ) used in verse 50 is from the Greek word “Apollymi” meaning “to utterly destroy, decimate, ravage, demolish, obliterate (not annihilate), wholly, completely and utterly. Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible New Testament Lexical Aids. This begs the question for us as well – have we realized our desperate need apart from Jesus and that He came to fulfill that very need?
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:16-18 (NIV)
God’s motivation towards all people is love. This love is demonstrated through the gift of His Son. Biblical love – God’s love – always finds expression through giving and the ultimate in giving is the giving of self. Paul tells us in Romans:
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)
2 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with 3him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32 (NIV)