“Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’
“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 11:49-52
This passage had troubled me, until very recently (yesterday, in fact). How could Caiaphas, who was in cahoots with the rest of the Sanhedrin, plotting and scheming to kill Jesus, prophesy something that was truly from God? Yet his words are true: Jesus died for the Jewish nation, and for the children of God among the Gentiles, making them one in the church body (Gal. 3:28).
Similarly in Matt. 27:42 the priests prophesied, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself!” If Jesus had saved Himself from the pain of the cross, we could not be saved.
Despite their own agendas, God was still honouring the priesthood that He had established, as one of His ways of speaking to the people. Recall how the Holy Spirit also prophesied through Balaam, although he had ulterior motives to curse Israel and receive a reward from Balak for doing so (Num. 22-24). God is able to take what someone intends for evil, and turn it around for His purposes.
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