This passage is full of irony, typical of John's gospel, where people make statements with a meaning far beyond what they intend to say. The raising of Lazarus had led many to believe in Jesus but others were alarmed. They asked what was being done to stop Jesus in his tracks. "If we let him go on in this way everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy the Holy Place and our nation." Of course, what they feared and wanted to stop is exactly what happened. The Romans did come and the nation was destroyed. Then Caiaphas, the high priest, goes on to make his own unwitting prophecy: "You fail to see that it is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed." It was indeed better for one man to die and not just to save the nation but to bring together the "scattered people of God." Jesus' death was not just for his own people but for people everywhere. Let me thank God that Jesus also died for me.