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b'FULL SERVICE VIDEO (link)TEXT: John 11:45-57; 12:9-19\\n\\n\\n\\nToday we are going to briefly return to the story of Lazarus and then a series of events that are full of action, plots, politics, and intrigue. In fact, the story of Lazarus dovetails right into the event that we are remembering today on Palm Sunday.\\n\\n\\n\\nI want to walk you through the timeline and events and note a few key elements along the way. We will be left with a question, perhaps better described as a tension: is all of this a plot against Jesus or sure signs of the salvation that God was providing to the world? People and opinions were divided\\u2026\\n\\n\\n\\nFirst Division: Sanhedrin (11:45-53)\\n\\n\\n\\nAfter the amazing miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, many believed. (v. 45) Of course they did! I\\u2019m not sure how much more clearly a sign could be given. Jesus didn\\u2019t just heal a sick man or bring the recently deceased back to life. He raised a four-day old stinking corpse to life. And as we saw last week, Jesus went out of his way to include those witnessing this, from his out-loud prayers to asking some to move the grave stone to asking some to help remove the cloth wrapped around Lazarus. People saw and smelled and touched and believed.\\n\\n\\n\\nAnd yet\\u2026 and yet\\u2026 SOME went and reported Jesus to the people trying to kill him. It\\u2019s right there in verse 46. Some, even seeing all that, did not believe Jesus, but turned against him and worked against him. It marks the first of several times in today\\u2019s text that, presented with the same events, people were divided over what to do with Jesus.\\n\\n\\n\\nThe ones trying to kill Jesus, the ones receiving this report of his whereabouts, were the chief priests and Pharisees, nearby in Jerusalem. We read in v. 47 that they convened the council (also known as the Sanhedrin) to discuss what to do about Jesus. Helpfully, we don\\u2019t have to imagine their concerns, they are spelled out for us:\\n\\n\\n\\nWhat are we doing? For this man is performing many 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. (vv. 47-48)\\n\\n\\n\\nThey recognize that he is performing signs. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus\\u2019 miracles are called \\u201cmiraculous signs.\\u201d The point is that they aren\\u2019t just supernatural (though they are that); rather, they are called \\u2018signs\\u2019 because they point to something. That something is Jesus\\u2019s identity as the Messiah. In other words, his actions are holding him up to be the Messiah \\u2013 popularly believed by the people to be a mighty warrior of God come to through off the oppressive rule of the Romans. You can see that played out in the council\\u2019s words. If Jesus continues attracting attention, his popularity will attract the attention of the Romans, who would tighten their grip on Israel, displacing the religious rulers place of power as well as what was left of the independence of the nation.\\n\\n\\n\\nThe council conversation continued and the high priest, a man named Caiaphas, noted that the stakes were so high that it would be worth sacrificing this one man\\u2019s life if it would spare the nation the wrath of the Romans. These words would have been ironic in hindsight anyway, but John makes a fascinating assertion that because he was serving as high priest, God actually spoke and accomplished these words through him. And we read in v. 53 that \\u201cfrom that day on they planned together to kill [Jesus].\\u201d Without the high priest realizing it, God was using him to bring about the once-and-for-all sacrifice of the spotless lamb for the sake of the world. God can even use His enemies to accomplish His will and bring Him glory!\\n\\n\\n\\nSecond Division: Looking Out (11:54-57)\\n\\n\\n\\nLast week I mentioned the risk to Jesus. That is what took him and the disciples some 20 miles from Jerusalem because of a crowd that had tried to kill him. It was a risk to come back to Mary and Martha\\u2019s house in Bethany, just two miles outside Jerusalem, and we have seen now that the risk was not unfounded. Indeed, he w'