John 11:48

"The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs."

Key Reflection

John 11:48 reveals the tension and strategic dilemma faced by the chief priests and Pharisees in light of Jesus' miraculous actions. These leaders recognized that Jesus was performing numerous signs, which threatened their authority and control over the people. The phrase "What are we doing?" (τί ποιήσωμεν; tί poī́hsōmen) suggests a sense of urgency and deliberation as they convened to discuss how to counteract these miracles. This moment foreshadows their eventual plot to have Jesus put to death, highlighting the escalating conflict between Jesus and the religious establishment that would culminate in his crucifixion.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 48. All men. That is, all men among the Jews. The whole nation. And the Romans shall come. They were then subject to the Romans--tributary and dependent. Whatever privileges they had they held at the will of the Roman emperor. They believed, or feigned to believe, that Jesus was intending to set up a temporal kingdom. As he claimed to be the Messiah, so they supposed, of course, that he designed to be a temporal prince, and they professed to believe that this claim was, in fact, hostility to the Roman emperor. They supposed that it would involve the nation in war if he was not arrested, and that the effect would be that they would be vanquished and destroyed.

Related Verses

More from John 11

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

Go deeper with Bible.talk - your AI Bible study companion