The closing section of today's reading, John 11:45-53, is interesting on a number of levels. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead it was enough for religious enemies, the Pharisees and the Sadducees (the chief priests), to come together united by their opposition to Jesus. They were concerned politically that if Jesus were allowed to continue, the people would rally around him as the Messiah and make him their king. The Romans would see this as a Jewish rebellion and crush Jerusalem.
God had given Caiaphas a prophecy that this high priest took to mean that if they would kill Jesus it would save the nation from this dilemma. The real meaning, of course, was that Jesus would die for the people's sins--not just for the Jews but for all the children of God across the world. The ironic thing is Jesus' action would lead to an everlasting new Jerusalem (heaven). Meanwhile, counter to the hope of the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus' death would not stop Rome from destroying Jerusalem only 40 years later.
Regarding this last point, I read a shortened version of Josephus' account of Jewish history and what's interesting is the role the Jews' rejection of Jesus had in the fall of Jerusalem. Because the Jews missed the true Messiah they continued under the impression that an earthly Messiah was still coming. Their confidence that God had special plans yet for the earthly Jerusalem led them to regularly and increasingly buck Roman authority until finally Rome had had enough; they destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.
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