Hello and welcome to Thursday’s Podcast. This week we’ve been asking the question: who is Jesus and what does this mean for us this day – whether we are at home with the kids, at school, at work, wherever we are and whatever we are doing – who is Jesus to us in those moments and how does that shape how we live out our lives?

REFLECTION:

Today’s reading is John 11: 45-57. We’re going to focus on verses 49-50:

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

Jo and I, after experiencing some serious FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) decided to get involved in watching HBO’s highly acclaimed miniseries, Chernobyl, which depicts the tragic events following the nuclear accident which occurred there in the 1980’s. It’s an incredibly haunting and thought provoking drama – knowing that so many lives were affected by the horrendous accident and the subsequent decisions that were made following it. We’ve just finished episode two which ends with an attempt by the authorities to prevent a further catastrophic explosion of the nuclear reactors happening. It is decided that three workers from the plant will have to go back in and manually fix the problem from within. In the meeting where that decision is made, one of the scientists, Valery Lagasov, knowing that this is the only way to reach and attempt to fix the damaged reactors, and at the same time realising that this means exposing these workers to such extreme levels of radiation poisoning is asked the question by the State Commission, ‘What do you need from us?’. He, knowing all of this, replies ‘I’m asking for the State’s permission to send these three men to die.’

And yet, the truth of Caiaphas’ statement which we read at the start, that it is better for one man to die so that a whole nation doesn’t perish, does make seem to make sense. In stepping into that nuclear plant these men were bringing about their own death but potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives in the process. The State, who gives the order for these men to be recruited for this task, deems this as an acceptable sacrifice to make.

And this is sort of the thought process going in the heads of the religious leaders we read about in today’s passage who at this point are convening a council to devise a way to put Jesus to death. To them getting rid of Jesus means squashing what they deem to be a potential revolution and at the same it would keep the Roman Empire off their back. You can see the logic – one man dies so the people don’t have to suffer. What they don’t realise is that the sacrifice Jesus makes will be not just be for their nation but for all nations, and that the result of which will be far beyond anything they could ever possibly contemplate.

In watching that episode of Chernobyl, I was so moved by these men and their sacrifice for the people and yet at the same time I was also hit with a powerful realisation that Jesus did this for me, for us, for all mankind, in an even greater way on the cross. What’s more he went to the cross knowing what it would entail. Sadly the nuclear plant workers weren’t given the full picture about what they were signing up to – they only discover that at the last minute when they enter the flooded radioactive site. Jesus does know the consequences of going to the cross. He knows the great victory he will bring… but he also knows the cost and he embraces it.

Jesus paid the ultimate cost. And he knew he had to because it was the only way it could be paid. The one who lived the life we should have lived, dies the death we should have died. Jesus takes our place. This is the ultimate sacrifice. Through it we are saved, rescued from the weight, the cost of our sin. We are free!

And yet, as we spoke about yesterday,