A plot? No. A purpose.

So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

John 11:53

People may love a good conspiracy, but in this conspiracy around Jesus, there are no secrets. It all unfolds in a way that will change the world… for good.

The “they” of this verse consisted of the high priest in Israel and the highest council of Jewish religious leaders. The “him” is of course, Jesus. The full-fledged conspiracy to kill Jesus has come into a matter of public record with this council’s determined action. It is now official policy to put Jesus to death. The last straw? Jesus raised a man from the dead, causing stir enough to potentially draw Roman attention in ways the Jewish leaders were afraid would further erode what power they had.

The council hated Jesus. But they covered their hate with the pretense of a political rationale that was in their minds “better for the nation”. Caiaphas, the high priest, even unwittingly spoke redemptively of their plan to murder Jesus: “…it is better for you that one man should die for the people…”

And so a private plan that was meant to silence Jesus forever would become for all eternity the loudest, best news that still reverberates in our world. It is the joyous song of the redeemed even now: Christ died for our sins!