Two Prophecies: Prophecy of Ezekiel and Prophecy of Caiaphas - Saturday before Passion Sunday (A)

The Scripture readings for this eve of Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday), Saturday of the 5^th week of Lent (A) are Ezekiel 37:21-28 and John 11:45-56.

At first glance, these two reading may not seem to have no relevance, as the first reading (Ezekiel 37:21-28) has a hopeful tone for God’s post-exilic renewal to the Israelites still in the Babylonian Exile, while the Gospel Reading (John 11:45-56) gives the looming darkness of evil in the persecutors cast over Jesus to be killed. One gives a sense of silver lining in darkness to bring a new through a new everlasting covenant with God, while the other reflects the increasing darkness with the Sanhedrin’s firm determination to kill Jesus, who is the light.

So, how these seemingly irrelevant Scripture narratives from the Book of Ezekiel and from the Gospel according to John man make sense with each other to mark the day before Holy Week?

In the first reading, Ezekiel prophesizes to his fellow Israelites, while still in the Babylonian exile, that God will bring the scattered Israelites back to the homeland, which was lost to enemies (Assyria and Babylonia) to make one nation, again, but never to be divided, in God’s new everlasting covenant. In this new covenant restorative prophecy, Ezekiel tells that God will not only restore the Davidic royal lineage but make it everlasting. Through Ezekiel, God also tells that the Israelites will live in their ancestors’ recovered land permanently under the shepherding of Davidic king.

In contrast, the Gospel reading describes how the darkness of evil desire to attack Jesus, which became evident upon Jesus healing an infirm man by the Bethesda pool, performing his 3^rd sign (John 5:1-18), has reached its boiling point with the Sanhedrin’s official decision to arrest and kill Jesus, upon Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, his 7^th, last, sign (John 11:1-44). And, the official decision of the Sanhedrin to get rid of Jesus for sure is based on Caiaphas’ prophecy: It is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish (John 11:50).

Reading from John 5 on, you notice that Jesus was first accused of violating on Sabbath law and equating himself to God at first (John 5:18). As his persecutors kept attacking him on, he was accused as being demon-possessed (John 8:48, 52). And, again, accused of blasphemy (John 10:33, 36). But, in Caiaphas’ reasoning to kill Jesus does not seem to reflect any of these charges against Jesus. Rather, it is prophetic about the best interest of the Jewish nation, which was a province of the Roman Empire, at that time. Caiaphas’ prophetic decision to kill Jesus for the best interest of the Jewish nation is his response to the Sanhedrin’s concern about possible social unrest in response to Jesus’ continuing signs, inviting Romans to completely crush the nation.

Caiaphas nailed that killing Jesus was for the best interest of the Jewish nation – to save the nation from the Romans.

Now, compare this prophesy of Caiaphas to preserve the Jewish nation – Judah, to justify the killing of Jesus and Ezekiel’s prophecy of God’s new everlasting covenant to restore one Jewish nation, after the north-south division, Assyrian’s takeover of the northern kingdom, and Babylonian’ destruction of Jerusalem, resulting in the Babylonian exile of the survivors.

Yes, the Babylonian exile ended with the demise of the Babylonian Empire, and many captive Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. And, those who returned from Babylon worked hard to restore ruined Jerusalem and rebuilt the destroyed Temple. However, no Davidic king. Soon, this post-exilic unity declined as many of the post-exilic Jews slipped back into sins. The post-exilic Jewish nation had been under the rule of foreign powers, except for a brief period from 167 BCE to 37 BCE, upon the Maccabean victory over the Seleucid dynasty. However, they had already lost their full sovereignty in 63 BCE with the Roman Seize of Jerusalem. By the time of Jesus’ birth, the Jewish nation was basically a client state of the Roman Empire, as King Herod of Judea was under the Roman control.

It looks like that the post-exilic Jews’ fall back to sins, breaking the new covenant, became the stumbling block to the Ezekiel’s prophecy from being fulfilled.

In regard to Caiaphas’ prophecy, Jesus was killed, as the Sanhedrin desired. The way Jesus was killed as to give him a criminal charge: being the king of the Jews – an enemy of Caesar – a threat to the Roman Empire. It has nothing to do with blasphemy or working on Sabbath. The members of the Sanhedrin, including Caiaphas, knew that their Law did not have the legal power to kill Jesus. So, they had to make Jesus a criminal to the Roman Law. By offering Jesus to Pilate, Roman Governor of the province, the Sanhedrin’s intent was to pleaser the Roman authorities by catching and presenting a threat to the Roman Empire’s peace.

The Roman authorities executed Jesus by crucifixion. Yes, they succeeded to get rid of Jesus by conspiring the Roman authorities and under the Roman Law. But, in 70 AD, in less than a half century after killing Jesus, the Romans crushed Jerusalem, and the Jews lost their nations. Afterward, they scattered throughout the world as diasporas, until 1948.

Neither Ezekiel’s prophecy in the first reading nor Caiaphas’ prophecy in the Gospel reading were fully fulfilled. What was fulfilled for sure was that Jesus died as the one man, who was better to be killed to save many. Caiaphas said that Jesus was better to die to save the Jewish nation, but it was not saved, in spite of Jesus’ death. The post-exilic restored Jewish nation was destroyed after Jesus’ death, father than growing to prosper with peace under the new Davidic royal lineage to fulfill the Ezekiel’s prophecy.

Why the prophecies failed to be fully fulfilled?

It is sinfulness. Sinfulness of the post-exilic Jews, breaking the new covenant with God in Ezekiel’s covenant.  Sinfulness of the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus, because of their blindness to see the Christological truth in Jesus.

The prophecy of Ezekiel is, in fact, and still in effect and open to be fulfilled, because Jesus resurrected from the dead. Hasn’t Jesus prophesized that he is the shepherd in one unified Kingdom of the Davidic royal lineage, before he was killed? The consummation in fulfilling this prophecy of Ezekiel is through Jesus, who has died and resurrected, is envisioned in Revelation 21-22.  We shall not be blind to this.