47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do wo ? for this man doeth many- miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him : and the Romans shall come and take away both our placo and nation.
49 And one of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, gaid unto them, Ye know nothing at all,
50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
5 1 And this spake he not of himself : but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation :
62 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scat- tered abroad.
53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wil- derness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.
55 And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand : and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.
56 Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast ?
57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command- ment, that, if any man knew where ho were, he should shew it, that they might take him.
These concluding verses of the eleventh chapter of St. John contain a melancholy picture of human nature. As we turn away from Jesus Christ and the grave at Bethany, and look at Jerusalem and the rulers of the Jews, we may well say, "Lord, what is man?"
"We, should observe, for one thing, in these verses, the desperate wickedness of man's natural heart. A mighty miracle was wrought within an easy walk of Jerusalem. A man four days dead was raised to life, in the sight of many witnesses. The fact was unmistakable, and could not be denied ; and yet the chief priests and Pharisees would not believe that He who did this miracle ought to be received as the Messiah. In the face of overwhelming evidence they shut their eyes, and refused to be convinced. " This man," they admitted, " does many miracles." But so far from yielding to this testimony, they only plunged into further wickedness, and " took counsel to put Him to death." Great, indeed, is the power of unbelief!