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I have questions regarding John 11:47-52….
Verse 11:51 states that Caiaphas “prophesied” –I assume that this means that Caiaphas truly received a message from God. Is this correct?
Verse 11:52 states: “and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.”
-if Caiaphas made this statement in the presence of the other Pharisees, wouldn’t this have caused a major uproar (predicting salvation for the Gentiles)?
I was unable to locate any other Bible passages that provided additional information regarding this episode.
I don’t believe Caiaphas was referring to Gentiles. There were already sizable populations of Jews throughout the Middle East. For example, many Jewish people lived in Persia. And Simon, the man who carried the Lord’s cross, was from North Africa. I believe Caiaphas was speaking of these people, and referring to Old Testament prophecies that one day they would all be gathered together again.
As for Caiaphas delivering a message from God, I think John made that clear as well, but the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled in a way that Caiaphas would have expected or even desired. He thought that by killing Jesus he would be protecting the status quo. What he didn’t know is that first the Jews would be scattered even more widely, the Romans would take away both their place (Temple) and their nation, and all this would be due to actions that he himself initiated.
But in truth, it was better for one man to die for the people than to have the whole nation perish. In fact, the Lord’s death was the only way to prevent that from happening. And because of His death, all the scattered children of God will soon be one again.