This Gospel is full of contrasts and here we have another as we consider the chief priests (v9-11) and the welcoming crowd (v12-19).

Even though Jesus had given amazing proof to His identity as God’s Son and the Messiah in the raising of Lazarus from the dead, still the religious leaders will not embrace Him but rather plot His death (v9-11). Not only are they trying to kill Jesus but also Lazarus who was a living testimony to Jesus’ greatness. As we consider the blindness of these men there is a parallel with the story of the other Lazarus in the Bible who was the beggar at the rich man’s gate (Luke 16 v19-31). Remember how the rich man wanted Lazarus to return from death to warn his brothers. Abraham’s reply was, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’

The proof of that statement is now found in the religious leaders here. A Lazarus has been raised from the dead and they will not believe. The problem was not that the evidence was not strong enough but the hardness of their hearts. As we seek for people to be saved today the answer is not in presenting the Gospel in a more dramatic way but in praying for God’s grace to break down hard hearts. Pray about this.