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Morning Meditation
September 15, 2026
Reading: John 12:9-11
When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
I am not sure how many of you reading this text have focused on this last sentence before. The chief priests were going to put Lazarus to death? After he had just been "raised from the dead”?
Even if you can convince yourself that the priests did not think the raising of Lazarus was God’s work; to contemplate executing a man simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, as holy men, is horrifying to me. But it doesn’t take a cynic to acknowledge that this kind of desperate grasp for power has happened across all religions, all politics, all eras and regions since the beginning of humanity.
We can understand the threat of Lazarus. Without Instagram and 24-hour news cycles; to see him, with Jesus, was to believe in the miracle. They needed to eliminate the evidence because of what the evidence represented: a difference in pedagogy and politics and a different understanding of God. What Jesus taught threatened the stability of the temple hierarchy, the balance of Jewish society under Roman rule, and the power of the Sadducees and Pharisees. Simply put Jesus threatened the relevance of the chief priests.
As I thought more about this idea of relevancy, I could begin to wrap my head around it. It can be terrifying for parents, as their kids grow up and no longer need them, to let go. Some might grasp for control or power, potentially damaging the relationship forever. It can happen with older people who no longer recognize their place in a family or a community and demand authority and eminence without recognizing the very capable progeny they have raised. Or a CEO threatened by an accomplished Vice President eager to contribute. This even happens in marriages and friendships, or any number of working relationships, where one person begins to slip away. Relevancy often comes down to power and the potential loss of it.
I talk often with the youth group about these kinds of dynamics in relationships and the importance of open dialogue and honest reflection. Our egos are real things. But so is progress. Trying to hold onto control versus letting go of what we cannot control, or should not control, can create this tension. Jesus came to bring the world something better than what the chief priests were offering. He offers it to all of us and it should be liberating even for those who fear the loss of their importance; even for the “chief priests” then and now.
God is available to all of us.
Love is more important than power.
When will we learn?
C. S. Lewis on Love and Power:
“It must work towards its own abdication. We must aim at making ourselves superfluous. The hour when we can say 'They need me no longer' should be our reward.”
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