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John 11:47-53,57
Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles…

Genesis 4:4-10
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: …

Exodus 10:3
And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

made plans
This phrase indicates a deliberate and premeditated decision, reflecting the growing hostility towards Jesus and His followers. The chief priests' actions were not impulsive but calculated, showing their determination to eliminate threats to their authority and religious traditions.

to kill Lazarus
Lazarus had become a living testimony to Jesus' power, having been raised from the dead (John 11:43-44). His resurrection was a direct challenge to the religious leaders' authority and beliefs, as it drew many to believe in Jesus. The decision to kill Lazarus highlights the extent of their opposition to Jesus' ministry and the lengths they would go to suppress His influence.

as well
This phrase underscores the broader conspiracy against Jesus and His followers. The chief priests' plan to kill Lazarus "as well" suggests that their plot against Jesus was already in motion. It reflects the escalating tension and the desperate measures taken by the religious leaders to maintain control and prevent the spread of Jesus' message.

• The verse opens with a connecting word, tying this plot to the larger story that began inJohn 11 when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

• The momentum has shifted; the miracle stirred crowds (John 12:9), so something had to be done—at least in the minds of the religious leaders.

• Scripture reminds us that unbelief often responds to God’s work with resistance: “But though He had done so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him” (John 12:37).

• These were the temple authorities, men responsible for spiritual leadership (Exodus 28:1).

• Instead of drawing people to God, they rejected God’s Messiah. “So the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, ‘What are we to do? For this Man is performing many signs’” (John 11:47).

• Their opposition had already hardened; now they took the lead in plotting murder, echoing earlier hostility: “The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Him to destroy Him” (Mark 3:6).

• The language points to deliberate strategy, not a spur-of-the-moment reaction.

•Psalm 2:1-2 captures the spirit: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand…against the LORD and against His Anointed”.

• Planning in secret stands in contrast to Jesus’ open ministry (John 18:20); darkness always schemes, but light reveals.

• The sixth commandment is explicit: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Yet their envy pushed them past God’s clear boundary.

• Earlier, they had sought Jesus’ death for “making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Now the scope widens to anyone who threatens their power, underscoring how sin escalates when unrepented.

• Their hatred fulfills the Lord’s warning: “The world hates Me because I testify that its works are evil” (John 7:7).

• Raised after four days in the tomb (John 11:43-44), he walked proof that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

• His very existence preached louder than words. Many were “going over to Jesus and believing in Him on account of Lazarus” (John 12:11).

• Killing Lazarus would, they hoped, erase the evidence. Yet the transformed life always bears witness (Acts 4:14).

• The plot already targeted Jesus (John 11:53), but now it extends “as well,” showing how deeply entrenched their opposition had become.

• Persecutors rarely stop with one victim; they silence any voice that magnifies Christ. The pattern repeats inActs 4:17-18, where leaders try to stifle the apostles who testified to the resurrection.

• Ironically, every effort to suppress the truth only spreads it further (Philippians 1:12-14).

John 12:10 exposes the chilling determination of Israel’s religious elite: they would rather destroy undeniable evidence than surrender to the Messiah. Their calculated plan to kill Lazarus illustrates how hard hearts escalate from disbelief to lethal intent when faced with living proof of Jesus’ power. Yet their scheme could never silence the gospel; the very plots of men became stepping-stones in God’s sovereign plan to exalt His Son and offer life to all who believe.

(2)On the chief priests.The chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus. They deliberated to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus. It was not enough that one man should die; another and another must follow if their plan is to succeed. And now the hour had come (John 2:4;John 7:30), but not until our Lord once more warned the disciples with intense significance and explicitness of his approaching death and burial. Thus another striking illustration is given of the judgment, thecrisis, the sifting process, which is always going on in the presence of Christ. His greatest signs, his wisest teachings, his most amazing love, bring out the twofold result. Some receive, some reject, some burst into louder acclaim, some try to slay. As with the history of this "Gospel," some hear in it the very voice of the Eternal, but there are others who would grind it to powder. Because Ignatius and Polycarp bear witness to the existence of the Gospel, these Lazaruses must be put to death, or banished to a later period out of harm's way. Even the genuineness of the Apocalypse, so long a tower of defense for the Tübingen school, is too powerful a proof of St. John's residence in Asia to be accepted with equanimity or left in possession, and some of the later critics have taken counsel to repudiate its Johannine authorship.

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