Saturday April 12th: No one Is expendable

‘…it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish’

John 11: 45-57

I remember being at an event when someone criticized Jesus for destroying the economy of the village when Jesus cast the unclean spirit into the pigs and the whole herd drowned in the sea.

I remember remarking that it was a sign that it was more important that one man should be saved than an economy protected.

In this Gospel passage it seems that Caiaphas was willing to sacrifice one for the many, most notably themselves. However, he unknowingly prophesies the very heart of the Gospel. That one man, Jesus, would indeed die, not to save a political nation, but to redeem each one of us.

The Gospel continually challenges us to value the dignity of each person, even at great cost, because in the eyes of God, no one is expendable.