Home > Men > Connect with God > Grasp who He is
Men of Integrity, March/April 2006
The Caiaphas Calculation
Theme of the Week: My Substitute
Tuesday, April 11
Key Bible Verse: Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, "How can you be so stupid? Why should the whole nation be destroyed? Let this one man die for the people" (John 11:49-50). Bonus Reading: John 11:45-52
The high priest Caiaphas was essentially a mathematician.
When the Jews started worrying that they might all get into hot water with the Romans because of the way Jesus was carrying on, Caiaphas said that in that case they should dump Him like a hot potato. His argument ran that it is better for one man to get it in the neck for the sake of many than for many to get it in the neck for the sake of one man.
His grim arithmetic proved unassailable.
The arithmetic of Jesus, on the other hand, was atrocious.
He said that heaven gets a bigger kick out of one sinner who repents than out of 99 saints who don't need to. He said that God pays as much for one hour's work as for one day's. He said that the more you give away, the more you have.
It is curious that in the matter of deciding His own fate, He reached the same conclusion as Caiaphas and took it in the neck for the sake of many, Caiaphas included.
It was not, however, the laws of mathematics that he was following.
—Frederick Buechner in Beyond Words
My Response: Why doesn't Jesus seem to operate by our numbers? What are the "laws" that govern my values and decisions?
Thought to Apply: One drop of Christ's blood is worth more than heaven and earth.—MARTIN LUTHER (German Reformation leader)
Adapted from Beyond Words (HarperSanFrancisco, 2004) by permission.
Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
March/April 2006, Vol. 9, No. 2
 |
Prayer for the Week |
 |
Lord, this week help me grasp the agonizing ordeal Your Son endured to pay my penalty.
Men of Integrity
Connect with God | Transform my Mind | Live by His Power
Relate Better | Make an Impact
Home | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try an Issue of Men of Integrity
Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders.
If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Men of Integrity as a gift
Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| 
