John 11:45-57 | What's a lesson for the original audience?

The lesson is primarily informative but there is definitely a takeaway that Jesus iterates in just about all His comments about persecution.

What we see is how Jesus is treated in light of His recent miracles. Namely, we see how He is treated for raising the dead. One would expect that everyone would be thrilled about the idea. But when that idea threatens to destroy what has already been established, it scares people. The Pharisees and other Jewish leaders had their reputation and relationship with Rome they wanted to uphold. Jesus was posing a threat to that. Something to remember is that people then believed the Messiah was coming to rule and reign in that time. If people were looking to follow Jesus, they were not thinking spiritually, but physically. Those people who would otherwise be under the authority of the Jewish leaders would find themselves under Jesus' authority. This evidently threated the Jews.

Nevertheless, the reader would be caught up in a position of seeing how Jesus, who was perfect, was treated for His righteousness and have to come to a realization themselves. Jesus taught on how the servant is not greater than His master. If the master was treated horribly, so also would the servant. This passage may very well serve as a warning to the reader about persecution. If this is how they treated Jesus when He raised the dead, how do you think they would treat you, who has new life?

I find this to be a very interesting interpretation of the lesson to the original audience. This is the moment that shifted Jesus' ministry. In like manner, the resurrection life is one that shifts all of us.

What lesson do you see?