JOHN 11:45-54 GOD’S WILL WILL BE DONE

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
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.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

There is a famous story in Jewish history where a brother is betrayed to death by his siblings and God uses that betrayal to save the entire family and through them the future of a people and nation. Of course it is the story of Joseph. That story reveals to us the way in which God has chosen to work through a sinful fallen people in order to restore a relationship with them. The “money verse” of the whole story came after Jacob died, when Joseph reassured his brothers with these words, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).

God is the God of redemption. He knows how the mind of fallen humanity works and makes us unwary participants in his divine plan. God is good, therefore does not will evil even as a means for doing good. If we follow his will then his purposes will be achieved and evil avoided. However, we are sinful and choose our own will over God’s will and by doing so introduce evil into the equation. Praise God that he is both good and sovereign over all things, including evil. It is simply because of his grace and mercy that in spite of our sinful, self-centered actions and attitudes he works all things according to his purpose. But at the same time we must remember that he is a just God and even if he redeems our disobedience for his purpose we will suffer the consequences of our choices.

In our lives we must be constantly vigilant in realigning our wills with God’s will. But when obeying God brings us into conflict with the world, we need to remember that God is sovereign and not despair that he will not overcome the evil for the good. It is the faith in what God has done through Jesus Christ that unites all believers as his children.

May I ever see your steps before me, O Lord, that I might walk in them and be an instrument of your purpose. Through the power of your Spirit help me to choose always to do what you will and glorify you directly through my actions rather than in spite of them. Amen.