The unwitting prophet

The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet He cared for them.  But Ephraim has bitterly provoked Him to anger; his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.  Hosea 12.13-14

I wonder sometimes how people with the gift of prophecy know when they have said something significant.  I'm not talking about so-called psychics, who try to foretell the future for profit.  Nor am I talking about Nostradamus or Edgar Cayce, whose "predictions" are eerily close to the truth, but recognizable only after the event happens.  In those cases, the "prediction" was so vague that almost any tragic event could be applied to the words those men used.  Many have been led astray by reading these men's books and giving them the same weight as the Word of God.

There are other skeptics who will trace back the history of canonized Scripture, and will note that committees of sinful, politically-minded Church leaders "voted" on which books to include in today's Bible.  These committees, or "canons", debated furiously over whether to include books such as Jude in the Bible, and whether to exclude books such as The Gospel of Judas.  Whether the early Christian Church Fathers selected members of the canon based on spiritual knowledge and commitment, or on devotion to certain Church teachings, I do not know.  But I'll bet one thing for sure.  When David wrote his Psalms, or when Paul sent his letters to individual pastors like Timothy, or to individual slave-holders like Philemon--they did not know at the time that what they were writing would end up in the Bible. 

In the eleventh chapter of John, there is a story of a secret meeting between the acting High Priest of the Jews and some members of the Sanhedrin.  Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead, and a good many Jews were there to witness it.  The story doubtless spread like wildfire throughout the land.  Something had to be done about this--it was getting out of control.

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.  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." (John 11.47-48)

The concern was not for truth, but for maintaining their position as leaders in their region.  Some scholars believe that when they said "our place", they were referring to the Temple.  Ironically, even though they were successful in arresting Jesus and putting Him to death, their Temple would eventually be destroyed anyway.  But whether the phrase "both our place and our nation" was meant as "our Temple and our Country", or if they were emphasizing their own positions of power ("Our place, and our nation"), they were primarily concerned about themselves.

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "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." (John 11.49-50)

As a religious leader (Caiaphas was a Sadducee--by the way, historian Josephus commented on the rudeness of Sadducees generally), the high priest was concerned about keeping his job.  His plan was to put Jesus to death at any cost, so that the status quo could be preserved.  There would still be a Jewish nation (such as it was--subservient to Roman rule and all that entailed), and the Sadducees and Pharisees would still be leaders in it.

But John, who recounted this story, wrote his own commentary on the statement:

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.  (John 11.51-52)

So Caiaphas meant one thing by his statement, but John read a different meaning into it.  Caiaphas presented an ultimatum--it's Him or us.  Either we put this man to death, or he will be the death of us.  But God used his words to predict that Jesus would die for the sins of the world, and that many, both Jews and Gentiles alike, would be saved through His sacrificial death.

I am grateful that Jesus died for me.  His sacrificial death atoned for my sin, so that when God looks at me on the Judgment Day, He will only see the Blood of Christ, not the stain of sin.  We used to sing this hymn in church:

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb.
There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
O, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

The prophets foretold of the coming of the Son of God, who laid down His life for you.  The prophets also foretold of His return to earth, to take us all home with Him.  Give your life to Him today.  And be careful what you say--the words you use may be used by God to foretell His will in someone's life.