John 11:47

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. THEN - or, 'Therefore,' in consequence of the intelligence brought them of this last and grandest of the Lord's miracles, "gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles....

47._Then the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled the council. _Not less monstrous is the blindness of _the priests_, which is here described. If they had not been exceedingly stupid and brutish, they would at least have been impressed with some reverence for Christ, after so striking a demonstration of his Divine power. They now assemble deliberately and intentionally to bury the glory of God, at the sight of which they are constrained to be astonished. True, they do not openly proclaim that they wish to make war with God, but as they cannot extinguish Christ but by overturning the power of God, they unquestionably fight against that power openly by presumption and sacrilege. Infidelity indeed is always haughty, and despises God, but does not all at once break out to such an extent as to raise its horns against God. But when men have long struggled against God, the result at which...

47-53 There can hardly be a more clear discovery of the madness that is in man's heart, and of its desperate enmity against God, than what is here recorded. Words of prophecy in the mouth, are not clear evidence of a principle of grace in the heart. The calamity we seek to escape by sin, we take the most effectual course to bring upon our own heads; as those do who think by opposing Christ's kingdom, to advance their own worldly interest. The fear of the wicked shall come upon them. The conversion of souls is the gathering of them to Christ as their ruler and refuge; and he died to effect this. By dying he purchased them to himself, and the gift of the Holy Ghost for them: his love in dying for believers should unite them closely together....

Verse 47. _THEN GATHERED THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE PHARISEES A_ _COUNCIL_] The Pharisees, as such, had no power to assemble councils; and therefore only those are meant who were scribes or elders of the people, in conjunction with _Annas_ and his son-in-law _Caiaphas_, who were the _high priests_ here mentioned. See John 18:13; John 18:24. _WHAT DO WE?_] This last miracle was so clear, plain, and incontestable, that they were driven now to their wit's end. Their own spies had come and borne testimony of it. They told them what they had seen, and on _their_ word, as being in league with themselves against Jesus, they could confidently rely....

A COUNCIL - A meeting of the Sanhedrin, or Great Council of the nation. See the notes at Matthew 2:4. They claimed the right of regulating all the affairs of religion. See the notes at John 1:19. WHAT DO WE? - What measures are we taking to arrest the progress of his sentiments? FOR THIS MAN DOETH MANY MIRACLES - If they admitted that he performed miracles, it was clear what they ought to do. They should have received him as the Messiah. It may be asked, If they really believed that he worked miracles, why did they not believe on him? To this it may be replied that they did not doubt that impostors might work miracles. See...

EXPOSITION JOHN 11:1 7. _Christ the Antagonist of death—a victory of love and power_._ _The narrative of this chapter is a further advance in the proof that the unbelief of the Jews was aggravated by the greatness of the revelation. The issue of his sublime and culminating act of power, of his supreme and self-revealing work of transcendent tenderness and beauty, was a deeper and wilder passion of hatred. The evangelist completes his series of seven great miracles with one that in true and believing minds, evokes a new sense of the glory of God. This great last sign corresponds with the first (John it.) by being enacted amid the domestic and family life of a small and insignificant town, and also by express reference to the veritable manifestation involved in it of the δόξα Θεοῦ, on which we have frequently commented. Baur

THEN GATHERED THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE PHARISEES A COUNCIL,.... They convened the sanhedrim, the great council of the nation together, of which they were some of the principal members: AND SAID, WHAT DO WE? that is, why is nothing done? why are we so dilatory? why do we sit still, and do nothing? or what is to be done? this now lies before us, this is to be considered and deliberated on: FOR THIS MAN DOTH MANY MIRACLES; this is owned, and could not be denied by them; and should have been a reason why they should have acknowledged him to have been the Messiah, and embraced him; whereas they used it as a reason, why they should think of, and concert some measures, to hinder and put a stop to the belief of him as such....

Lazarus had been publicly raised from the dead. A great number of persons saw the miracle, and there was never any question about its having been wrought. John 11:45. _Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done._ We could hardly have conceived it possible that men would have been guilty of such conduct as this to post off to Christ's enemies, and lay it as an accusation against him, that he had raised a man from the dead. John 11:47. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall

CHAPTER 11 _ 1. The Sickness of Lazarus Announced. (John 11:1 .)_ 2. The Delayed Departure and the Death of Lazarus. (John 11:5 .) 3. The Arrival at Bethany. (John 11:17 .) 4. Weeping with Them That Weep. (John 11:28 .) 5. The Resurrection of Lazarus. (John 11:39 .) 6. The Prophecy of Caiaphas. (John 11:47 .) 7. Seeking to Kill Him. (John 11:53 .)...

THE RESULTS OF THE MIRACLE. The majority of the Jews who came to comfort the sisters were convinced, but some remained hostile, and gave information to the Pharisees. The chief priests, _i.e._ the Sadducees, always first when action is needed, and the Pharisees, summon a council. In face of the growing number of adherents their inaction is felt to be unsatisfactory. If it leads to civil disturbance, the Romans will intervene and hold them responsible for their failure to maintain order. Caiaphas, the High Priest of that year, the notable year of the Passion, demands a policy which he pretends to be necessary in the interests of the nation. One must die rather than the whole nation perish. In this the author sees an unconscious prophecy. Jesus would indeed die on behalf of the nation, and of all God's children scattered throughout the world. That the author supposed the High Priesthood to...