Kill the Messenger

John 12:9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Whereas the last chapter focused on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and all the actions and truths surround that, this chapter focuses on Jesus' next visit to the home of Mary and Martha, on His way toward Jerusalem. A big celebration was held with Jesus as the honored guest and Mary lavishly anointed Jesus' feet. The paragraph above points out that people wanted to see both men - the Healer and the healed. It also tells us that there was a bounty on both their heads.  We have seen this attitude before in this Gospel: the blind man was booted from the temple because he told the truth: Jesus had healed him. There was a big push to drown out any testimony to Christ, and there still is today.  The remainder of the chapter takes us on into Jerusalem with the triumphal entry, where people were told by the leaders not to proclaim Him King.  Many people listened to them and refused to accept Him or profess Him as Savior and Lord. But some would not be silenced.  Which are we?