What is the meaning of John 12:10? So • The verse opens with a connecting word, tying this plot to the larger story that began in John 11 when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. • The momentum has shifted; the miracle stirred crowds (John 12:9), so something had to be done—at least in the minds of the religious leaders. • Scripture reminds us that unbelief often responds to God’s work with resistance: “But though He had done so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him” (John 12:37). the chief priests • These were the temple authorities, men responsible for spiritual leadership (Exodus 28:1). • Instead of drawing people to God, they rejected God’s Messiah. “So the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, ‘What are we to do? For this Man is performing many signs’” (John 11:47). • Their opposition had already hardened; now they took the lead in plotting murder, echoing earlier hostility: “The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Him to destroy Him” (Mark 3:6). made plans • The language points to deliberate strategy, not a spur-of-the-moment reaction. • Psalm 2:1-2 captures the spirit: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand…against the LORD and against His Anointed”. • Planning in secret stands in contrast to Jesus’ open ministry (John 18:20); darkness always schemes, but light reveals. to kill • The sixth commandment is explicit: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Yet their envy pushed them past God’s clear boundary. • Earlier, they had sought Jesus’ death for “making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Now the scope widens to anyone who threatens their power, underscoring how sin escalates when unrepented. • Their hatred fulfills the Lord’s warning: “The world hates Me because I testify that its works are evil” (John 7:7). Lazarus • Raised after four days in the tomb (John 11:43-44), he walked proof that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). • His very existence preached louder than words. Many were “going over to Jesus and believing in Him on account of Lazarus” (John 12:11). • Killing Lazarus would, they hoped, erase the evidence. Yet the transformed life always bears witness (Acts 4:14). as well • The plot already targeted Jesus (John 11:53), but now it extends “as well,” showing how deeply entrenched their opposition had become. • Persecutors rarely stop with one victim; they silence any voice that magnifies Christ. The pattern repeats in Acts 4:17-18, where leaders try to stifle the apostles who testified to the resurrection. • Ironically, every effort to suppress the truth only spreads it further (Philippians 1:12-14). summary John 12:10 exposes the chilling determination of Israel’s religious elite: they would rather destroy undeniable evidence than surrender to the Messiah. Their calculated plan to kill Lazarus illustrates how hard hearts escalate from disbelief to lethal intent when faced with living proof of Jesus’ power. Yet their scheme could never silence the gospel; the very plots of men became stepping-stones in God’s sovereign plan to exalt His Son and offer life to all who believe. |
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