Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

Good morning. The chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council and were worried because Jesus was performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. They weren’t concerned for the truth about who Jesus was; they were only concerned about themselves. One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year (my Bible says that he was the son-in law of Annas, who had been deposed from the high priesthood by the Romans. The high priest was supposed to be for life - he couldn’t be deposed.) You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish. Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. It just shows that sometimes people who are in authority think they are doing things because of their own will, when in fact it is accomplishing exactly what God wants. In the past leaders have done things that they thought would keep them in control, when in fact it was God allowing them to do things that He knew in the end would be beneficial to His plans. From that day on they planned together to kill Jesus. Because of this, Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away to a place near the wilderness. It wasn’t because Jesus was afraid – it’s that it wasn’t quite time for Him to go to the cross. Father thank You that no matter what people in authority over us try to do that would be harmful to us, You make it turn out for our good.