March 18: A Plot is Hatched
♫ Music:
Day 25 - Saturday, March 18
Title: A PLOT IS HATCHED
Scripture: John 11:45–57
After this many of the Jews who had accompanied Mary and observed what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went off to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Consequently, the Pharisees and chief priests summoned the council and said, “What can we do? This man obviously shows many remarkable signs. If we let him go on doing this sort of thing we shall have everybody believing in him. Then we shall have the Romans coming and that will be the end of our holy place and our very existence as a nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, addressed the meeting: “You plainly don’t understand what is involved here. You do not realise that it would be a good thing for us if one man should die for the sake of the people—instead of the whole nation being destroyed.” (He did not make this remark on his own initiative but, since he was High Priest that year, he was in fact inspired to say that Jesus was going to die for the nation’s sake—and in fact not for that nation only, but to bring together into one family all the children of God scattered throughout the world.) From that day then, they planned to kill him. As a consequence Jesus made no further public appearance among the Jews but went away to the countryside on the edge of the desert, and stayed with his disciples in a town called Ephraim. The Jewish Passover was approaching and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem before the actual Passover, to go through a ceremonial cleansing. They were looking for Jesus there and kept saying to one another as they stood in the Temple, “What do you think? Surely he won’t come to the festival?”
It should be understood that the chief priests and the Pharisees had issued an order that anyone who knew of Jesus’ whereabouts should tell them, so they could arrest him.
Poetry & Poet:
“What Shall it Profit”
by William Dean Howells
If I lay waste and wither up with doubt
The blessed fields of heaven where once my faith
Possessed itself serenely safe from death;
If I deny the things past finding out;
Or if I orphan my own soul of One
That seemed a Father, and make void the place
Within me where He dwelt in power and grace,
What do I gain by that I have undone?
A PLOT IS HATCHED
Today’s passage is a dramatic one, as we peer in on a private conversation between Israel’s religious leaders. Jean Leon Gerome’s painting The Conspirators gives visual language to the conversations and plans that threaten Jesus. Our music for today comes from the TV adaptation The Chosen, and provides a soundtrack for the concern we may feel when reading the threats made against Jesus. Yet while it is easy for us to (metaphorically) grab the popcorn as we read, racing ahead to see how the story ends, there is much more to be found in this text.
Our passage today is the last segment of John Chapter 11. We can see the immediate impact of Jesus’ demonstration of the glory of God by raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:40). Rather than remaining with the celebration of those who believed in Jesus, we are taken to a conversation between the major religious leaders. The Pharisees are chagrined upon hearing of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. They freely acknowledge that Jesus has “[shown] many remarkable signs.” We are not witnessing a scientific disbelief that such things could be possible, but a disbelief predicated on expectations of the world around them. They fear that the Romans will show up and decimate Israel if people believe in Jesus.
It is perhaps a little bit startling for us to follow the logic presented here. We don’t think of believing in Jesus as the precursor to losing our statehood. But the reaction of the Pharisees is a very human one; when confronted with the power of Jesus, their immediate reaction is to reach for their utmost concern. For them, it was Israel’s religious and political sovereignty under the threat of Rome. For us, it will likely be something different. When confronted with Jesus, we all find ourselves in that place where we understand that Jesus’ power and call to believe means the death of our plans and expectations.
The Book of Hebrews lays it out clearly for us. God has spoken through his son Jesus, after speaking through the prophets (Hebrews 1:2, 1. The author of Hebrews illustrates that Jesus is superior to angels and then warns that we must pay particular attention to Jesus (Hebrews 2:1). We are then asked “how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord … At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders …” (Hebrews 2: 3-4) Hebrews cautions us that we too can be like the Pharisees––seeing Jesus but retreating into our own disbelief and our own expectations. Let us consider Jesus, “the apostle and high priest of our confession,” so that we do not turn away from him in pursuit of our expectations (Hebrews 3:2).
Prayer:
Jesus, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and faith to rejoice in you.
Amen.
Stacie Schmidt
Law Librarian
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab
About the Translation of the Bible for the 2023 Lent Project:
J.B. Phillips New Testament Translation of the Bible
J.B. Phillips (1906-1982) was well-known within the Church of England for his commitment to making the message of truth relevant to today's world. Phillips' translation of the New Testament brings home the full force of the original message. The New Testament in Modern English was originally written for the benefit of Phillips' youth group; it was later published more widely in response to popular demand. The language is up-to-date and forceful, involving the reader in the dramatic events and powerful teaching of the New Testament. It brings home the message of Good News as it was first heard two thousand years ago.
https://www.biblegateway.com/
About the Artwork:
The Conspirators
Jean-Léon Gérome
c. 1892
Oil on canvas
66 x 91.4 cm
Private collection
In The Conspirators by French artist Jean-Léon Gérome, we witness a clandestine and private meeting between three men, huddled together in dark shadowy corners as they secretly plot and scheme against others. Secret plots and plans of the Jewish religious leaders to murder Jesus slowly mounted as he repeatedly challenged their religious authority, political power, and social status with his teachings and ministry.
About the Artist:
Jean-Léon Gérome (1824–1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits, and other subjects. Gérome’s disputes with the artists of impressionism marked the start of his decline in popularity. At the time of his death in 1904, Gérome’s achievements had earned official praise, but public opinion toward him was largely indifferent. Following a retrospective exhibition in Paris, recognition of Gérome’s remarkable skill increased substantially. He is now considered to be one of the most influential and imaginative painters of the nineteenth century, and his work can now be seen in international collections including the Wallace Collection, the National Gallery in London, the Hermitage State Museum, the Louvre, and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-L%C3%A9on_G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me
https://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/jean-leon-gerome
About the Music: “Assassination” from the album The Chosen Season Two Soundtrack
Lyrics: Instrumental Music
About the Composers: Matthew S. Nelson and Dan Haseltine
Matthew S. Nelson is a composer, a cellist, and a guitarist who has worked professionally in a wide variety of musical roles since 1999. Nelson holds a Bachelor of Music from Middle Tennessee State University, where he studied cello and jazz guitar. In addition to album credits as diverse as JD Souther, Anderson East, Michael W. Smith, and Hooray for the Riff Raff, Nelson has performed live with Amy Grant, Sleeping at Last, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Cheap Trick, among a long list of others. He has appeared on NBC’s Today, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Grand Ole Opry, NPR’s Mountain Stage, and the TV drama series Nashville. Nelson with Dan Haseltine co-composed the original score for The Chosen, the critically acclaimed multi-season TV show about the life of Jesus.
https://www.zenspacemusic.com/
Dan Haseltine (b. 1973) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay. He has had different artistic titles, including songwriter, producer, film composer, music supervisor, and art designer. Haseltine is also the founder of the nonprofit organization Blood: Water Mission, where he is one of the board of directors. He is a regular writer and speaker about worship music, HIV/AIDS in Africa, social justice, and church reform. Haseltine is also a regular columnist for Relevant Magazine, and has contributed articles to Moody, CCM Magazine, Christianity Today, World Vision, Campus Life, and Beliefnet. In 2019, Haseltine and Matthew S. Nelson composed the soundtrack for The Chosen, including the theme song "Walk on the Water," featuring recording artist Ruby Amanfu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Haseltine
About the Performer:
Ruby Amanfu is a Ghana-born, Nashville-based recording artist. Amanfu has released seven studio albums and multiple singles. She is well-known for being one half of the duo Sam & Ruby, whose album was named Associated Press Album of the Year in 2009. Amanfu is also known for her collaborations with Jack White in his all-female band, The Peacocks, and has widely appeared on his critically acclaimed solo albums, Blunderbuss and Lazaretto. In 2020 and 2022, Amanfu was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for co-writing "Hard Place" by H.E.R. and "A Beautiful Noise" by Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile. Outside of her musical career, Amanfu is an actress, civil activist, an elected Recording Academy board governor, private chef, and food blogger. In 2020, she was featured in the soundtrack for The Chosen, a live-action recreation of the gospel narratives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Amanfu
https://www.rubyamanfu.com/
About the Poetry and Poet:
William Dean Howells (1837–1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters.” He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of The Atlantic Monthly, as well as for his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day" and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria. In addition to his own creative works, Howells has also written criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and especially Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dean_Howells
About Devotion Author:
Stacie Schmidt
Librarian
Stacie Schmidt has a B.A. in history from Cedarville University and a M.L.I.S. from UCLA. Currently she is a librarian at a large law firm. She is almost done with a Masters degree in legal studies, and looks forward to the day when her hobbies don’t include schoolwork.