THE ORDERS ARE GIVEN

John 11:53-57
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

53 So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. 54 As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

55 It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” 57 Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.


The planning is done. The orders have been given. The priests and Pharisees have set in motion the circumstances which will bring an end to the threat to their positions … their authority over the people.

The amazing thing is that all their plans and actions fulfill the Old Testament prophesies about the Messiah. When you look at it from this side of the Cross, from a God perspective, their action is not what is amazing. What is amazing is the accuracy of the prophesies. What they planned and executed was foretold years before it ever happened.

It was God’s plan from the foundation of the world for His Son to be the Savior … to be arrested … to be unfairly tried and beaten … to be hung on the Cross … to die for the sins of the world. And it was God’s plan that Jesus would rise from the dead and live. He is alive today and lives in the hearts of all believers. The priests and Pharisees plan failed while their actions fulfilled God’s plan.

You know what else? The orders have been given. He’s coming back again … just as the scriptures said!