The Gospel in 12 Verses

By Steve Leininger

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Ezekiel 37:21-28
John 11:45-56

I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on today’s gospel reading two years ago. In that reflection, I did a deep dive on the reading as found in a biblical era tabloid picked up in a secondhand store. Here is what I “discovered” last time.

The reading starts out:
Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. [John 11:45]
 
Mary is the sister of Martha. You remember the other reading about Mary and Martha, don’t you? Martha complained about doing all the work while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened. Jesus says “Martha, Martha” and explains that Mary had made the better choice. What had happened just before today’s reading focused on the brother of Mary and Martha, Lazarus. At Jesus’ command, Lazarus rose from the dead. Many Jews were visiting to pay their respects to Lazarus and found out what happened.
 
But other Jews went to the Pharisees to tell them of the resurrection of Lazarus. If you recall, this caused the Pharisees to go into a bit of a panic:
 
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”  [John 11:47-48]
 
The fear wasn’t that Jesus was doing extraordinary (miraculous?) deeds, but that his growing popularity would attract the attention of the Romans, who would take away “all things Jewish”, land and nation as punishment. They would lose their power, position, and property.
 
What happens next is a milepost, an inflection point in the story of Christ, history will be changed forever.

But one of the Sanhedrin, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”  [John 11:49-50]
 
Did you get that? It is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish. The problem isn’t that Jesus is doing good work, it’s that Jesus may put them out of business and call attention to a high power than the Roman emperor, bring assured retribution and destruction at the hands of the Roman Empire.
 
Just to clarify the situation, we are then told what exactly that meant.
 
So from that day on they planned to kill him. [John 11:53]
 
THIS is the moment that the Pharisees changed the history of the world. The incident doesn’t seem to get as much visibility as Jesus appearing in person on separate occasions before Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, or Pilate, but this event set the rest of those into motion. I believe that this is one of the most revealing verses in any of the gospels.
 
So are there other moments like that, an inflection point, a moment of time in the story of Jesus, that were formative to the Chistian faith we have today?
 
I’d like you to consider my version of outline, Cliff’s Notes, and greatest verses from the 4 gospels in something I call . . .
 
The Gospel in 12 Verses 

1.       Then the angel Gabriel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.”  [Luke 1:30-31]
 
2.      The angel of the Lord said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.” [Luke 2:10-11]

3.      The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  [John 1:29]
 
4.      After Jesus was baptized, a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  [Matthew 3:17]
 
5.      At the wedding in Cana, Mary, the mother of Jesus said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” [John 2:5]
 
6.      Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, instructs
“This is how you are to pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors;
and do not subject us to the final test,
but deliver us from the evil one.”  [Matthew 6:9-13]
 
7.       Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  [Matthew 22:37-39]
 
8.      But one of the Sanhedrin, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”  [John 11:49-50]
 
9.      Then Jesus took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you. [Luke 22:19-20]
 
10.    Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last. [Luke 23:46]
 
11.    The angel said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him.” [Mark 16:6]
 
12.   Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  [Matthew 28:18-20] 

You might rightly ask “Where are the parables?” or “Where are the miracles?” or “What about the apostles?” These are valid questions indeed. I could duck the criticism by noting that I, perhaps randomly, limited the number of verse-sets to 12. Without some limit, one could make a case for including everything from the four gospels.

I could make the case that many of these apparent “missing pieces” from my list are explanations, examples, or elaborations of the good news message in my twelve choices.

Here’s my challenge to you: If you were limited to twelve short excerpts from the 4 gospels to tell the story of Jesus, what would YOUR list look like?