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existence and standing with the people.

Many of the Jewish people from Jerusalem who had come with Mary had seen the raising of Lazarus and
believed in Him. But some went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done. The chief
priests and Pharisees called the council together to plan now not only how they were going to kill Jesus,
but also Lazarus. Despite the clear evidence that Jesus was the Messiah, the hardened hearts of the
religious leaders were set to kill the Messiah. The High Priest, Caiaphas, declared that it was far better
to sacrifice one person than an entire nation. His prophetic declaration paralleled God’s plan and
purpose for Jesus Christ: that He should die for the sins of the world so that out of His death, many
would find eternal life. In a sense, Caiaphas was speaking for God despite his unbelief and rejection of
Jesus.

Jesus no longer walked about publicly among the Jewish people of Jerusalem but went away from there
to the region near the desert, to a village town called Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples. Jesus
was aware of His “time”. He must die as the Passover Lamb on Passover. He could not die beforehand.
And so, having succeeded at prompting the opposition to unify their rejection of Him, He retreated to
Ephraim to wait a few days.

The week before the Passover, Jesus and the disciples returned to Bethany for His final week of earthly
ministry before His death via a very strange route which we will discuss next. There was an important
reason He returned to Bethany. As you recall, Bethany is a very short distance from Jerusalem, and He
was about to make His entry into the city. He told the Pharisees in Perea that the next time He would
enter Jerusalem He would be hailed as the Messiah. In John 12:12, a “great multitude had come to the
feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem…” Jesus normally stayed in Bethany with
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, so evidently, they were watching to see if He would come from there and
enter the city.

Lazarus is Raised from the Dead

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