John 11:47-53 - Who's In Charge Here? - March 29, 2020

“Who’s in charge here?” It’s a question I imagine is on the minds of millions of Americans today. “Who’s in charge of our country, our healthcare system, making sure everyone has enough food to eat, money to pay their bills,” and on and on and on. Who’s in charge and are their decisions right and constitutional and how do we know we can trust that what they say is true and for the best? That’s a good question – and not just in a time of crisis. It’s a good question to ask every day of our lives and today, it’s a good question to ask during Lent as we continue to follow Jesus to his cross. Who’s in charge here?

Today in our country, it certainly seems like God’s enemies are in charge. Just think of how many things have been redefined, been transferred from the column labeled “immoral and sinful” to the column of “normal, moral and acceptable behavior” over the course of the past 50 years or so. Life has been redefined as beginning outside of the womb – and in some states, only if the mother deems the life worth preserving – instead of the definition that has been in place since the beginning of time: that life begins in the womb at conception. The end of life has been placed into the hands of doctors and nurses – with the ultimate goal of making a person comfortable – rather than in the hands of God – with the goal of making one sure of salvation. Sexual norms have been redefined so that not only has same-sex marriage been legalized, but the arbitrary changing of one’s gender identity is now publicly promoted and encouraged.

And what has been the result? What has happened to those who have presumed to “play God” and undermine his authority? Apparently, nothing. He didn’t send fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24-25) to burn up lawmakers who decided to legalize and use tax payer money to fund the systematic murder of unborn babies. He’s allowed his gifts of science and medicine to be used to alleviate the consequences of homosexuality and to facilitate transgenderism. Not only has our godless culture not been judged for daring to overthrow God’s authority, but they appear to be winning their war against God and his church every day. They have slandered, smeared, and prosecuted those who oppose them and face no consequences when they blaspheme God’s name or will. It would be very easy for any Bible-believing Christian to wonder “who’s in charge here?”

If there’s anything we should be sure of, it’s that when believers have questions, God has answers. As we heard in Psalm 2, the Lord acknowledges that the nations have conspired against him and his Anointed One. And what is his reaction? The one who is seated in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them (Psalm 2:1-4). In Psalm 37 David sees that the wicked plot against the righteous and says the Lord laughs at [them] (Psalm 37:13). Other psalms describe the persecution believers undergo at the hands of unbelievers and in each and every case, the Lord and even his people laugh at them (Psalm 59:8; Psalm 52:6).

So the LORD has answered our question. He has guaranteed us in his Word that he is and will always be in charge. But can we trust him? Well, he promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit and inhabit Canaan (Genesis 15:18-21) and that promise looked pretty bleak during the 430 years of their slavery in Egypt – but then God stepped in and freed them (Exodus 12:40-42). Babylon took Israel into exile and released them 70 years later, just as God had promised (Jeremiah 29:10). After the prophet Malachi left the scene, it seemed like God had abandoned his people, but then John the Baptist showed up in the wilderness 400 years later (John 3:1-2). The Roman Empire engaged in systematic persecution of Christians for centuries. But the Roman Empire lies in dust while the Church still stands strong. Can we trust God when he says that he’s in charge? Yes. Why? Because he has a left a perfect track record of promises kept.

But even as we confess that truth, there is something else we must confess: the real problem in our world and in our lives isn’t that God’s enemies try to overthrow his rule, it’s that I do…and you do. We are guilty of this attempted coup whenever we think that we should be able to define what is good, what is best for us. Sickness is bad; health is good. Poverty is bad; wealth is good. Having a job is good; unemployment is bad. Who are we to determine these things? We’re acting like children who think that ice cream would be the perfect food for every meal – we don’t really know what’s good for us. We may say and pray your will be done (Matthew 6:10), while we’re really thinking “as long as your will corresponds with my will and you get it done quick!”

“Pastor, don’t you know the chaos that is going on in our world right now, is this really the time to make us feel sorry for our sins and call us to repentance? Don’t you think now is the time to tell us that everything is going to be fine, that no one who puts their trust in God is going to die from Covid-19, run short on food, lose their job, or go bankrupt?” No, I don’t. Not only because God has not promised those things but also because unless God leads us to the realization and confession that the greatest problem in the world isn’t some invisible virus out there, isn’t some corrupt or ill-informed or power-hungry politician, and isn’t the uncertain future – then we are always going to wind up with a worse problem: damnation. If we don’t confess that our greatest problem is not out there but in here, then we’re always going to be idolaters. We’re always going to blame him when things don’t go the way we think they should; doubt his love and goodness; or question that he is as powerful as he claims to be – which is nothing less than unbelief (Matthew 14:31). And that’s a real problem when Jesus has said that the line between heaven and hell is as thin as faith: whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16).

Back to our question: who is in charge? Look at our text. See how God was in control right in the midst of his enemies. As the Sanhedrin met to discuss how best to handle this “Jesus issue”, one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. You do not even consider that it is better for us that one man died for the people than that the whole nation perish.” Caiaphas was a Sadducee. Sadducees didn’t believe in angels or in the resurrection (Matthew 22:23; Acts 5:17; 23:8) – they were essentially “religious atheists.” But Caiaphas was in charge and he had a very simple plan: get rid of Jesus. And God used his agenda, his plan and his mouth to preach the Gospel. That’s why the apostle adds an editorial comment: He did not say this on his own, but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation. The question is, who was right? Well, Caiaphas was right, but John was more right. Caiaphas didn’t have the slightest clue as to what he was saying. He didn’t understand either side of his prophecy, neither the gospel truth nor the future political reality. The gospel truth was that God had planned all along to sacrifice his Son in place of the world (1 John 2:2). As high priest, this should have come as no surprise to Caiaphas, because God is the one who promised that while the Savior would crush the serpent’s head, the serpent would succeed in crushing his heel (Genesis 3:15). It was God who predicted that Jesus was be betrayed by a trusted friend (Psalm 41:9). It was God who saw the leaders of the world surrounding Jesus like a pack of wild dogs snarling and thirsty for his blood (Psalm 22:16). It was God who said that it was his will to crush him (Isaiah 53:10), that he be stricken, smitten, and afflicted, that he be crushed for the guilt our sins deserved, that the punishment that brought us peace should be upon him, all so that by his wounds we might be healed (Isaiah 53:4-5).

But Caiaphas didn’t understand the political consequences of his words and actions, either. The political reality was that, by putting Jesus to death, he was actually making himself, the Sanhedrin, and the nation of Israel obsolete. God had used Israel as a kind of “incubator” for his Promised Savior, but once the Savior had come and completed his mission, Israel was no longer needed – at least, not as God’s specially chosen people. That’s why John said [Caiaphas] did not say this on his own, but, as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for that nation, but also in order to gather into one the scattered children of God – meaning the elect, his chosen from the Gentile nations. And, guess what happened not long after Caiaphas uttered this divinely inspired prophecy. 40 years after he spoke these words, 40 years after the Sanhedrin worked in concert with the Romans to crucify Jesus, 40 years after Jesus rose from the dead, Caiaphas’ nightmare came true: the Romans came and laid waste to Jerusalem, to the Temple, and to the high priesthood – all according to God’s plan.

What does this mean? This means that when the devil, when an invisible virus, when chaos and unemployment and irrational panic and never-before-seen lockdowns seem to be controlling your life, it’s just an illusion. It’s not true. God hasn’t and will never abdicate his throne. Even when he is apparently helpless, bound and bleeding and standing trial before Pilate, what does he say? You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above (John 19:11). God’s enemies think they are in charge. They think they are in charge of the situation when they agree that Jesus has to die – when in fact they are simply pawns in God’s master plan of salvation.

Jesus’ journey to the cross proves, more than anything in the world, that God is in charge. Even when evil men think they are doing what they want they wind up doing precisely what God wants – that’s the definition of control, is it not? And what did God want to do? He wanted to hand his only Son over to death for our sins (Romans 4:25). He wanted to hand over the perfect Man, who had kept every letter of every law, who never sinned once, who had never even had a sinful desire in his heart – to evil men who would torture and crucify him. Why? For you. He handed his perfect Son over to death for you, for your family, for your neighbors, for everyone. To make you his children, his sons and daughters (Galatians 3:26). He handed his Son over to buy you back from the certainty of eternal death in hell.

It’s kind of like dodgeball. Remember that? Remember the tension of the whole team-picking process? Where did you fall? Regardless of where you were picked in the game of dodgeball, in the game of life, God picked you first. He chose you over his only-begotten Son and sent him to take the responsibility and all the punishment for all of your sins, your guilt and shame. You weren’t God’s last choice, the last kid sitting on the bench. No, God chose you to hear the Gospel and be baptized, to come to faith and remain in the faith even before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). God is in charge and you are the proof. Because God picked you to come to faith and be saved, somehow and in some way he sent someone to communicate the Gospel to you and baptize you. You and your faith are the proof that God is – and always will be – in charge.

Who’s in charge of our world and our lives? Humanly speaking, I’m not going to pretend to know the answer, and it doesn’t really matter. Because we know who’s in charge of everything – everything related to this life and the next. Here’s what I do know: obey your leaders and honor their authority (Romans 13:1) – because if we learned anything today, it’s that God can and does use the words and decrees of even foolish and evil leaders to carry out his will for the good of his people. We will not panic, we will not be afraid, we will walk the narrow Lutheran middle, because we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28) – yes, even the great coronavirus crisis of 2020. Amen.