Neville Goddard on John 11:47-53 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read John 11 in context

Scripture Focus

47Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.

48If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

49And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,

50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

51And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

52And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

53Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

John 11:47-53

Biblical Context

The chief priests and Pharisees convene over Jesus's miracles, fearing loss of authority. Caiaphas privately declares that one man should die for the people, and thereby the nation, while the gathering of God’s children is foretold as a deeper unity.

Neville's Inner Vision

This scene is not history but your inner life. The so-called council represents departments of your mind that protect status and fear loss when a higher truth arises. The miracles of Jesus symbolize a breakthrough idea that could awaken all, and the fear of losing place and nation mirrors your fear of losing separate identity. Caiaphas's supposedly pragmatic claim - one dies for the people - unfolds as a spiritual law: the old self must die for the new life to be born in consciousness. Yet the prophetic note that the children of God will be gathered speaks to a unity already latent in you, waiting to be realized as you revise belief. The 'nation' is the mental world you inhabit; the death is the end of separation, the gathering the unification of your scattered I AM into one whole. Embrace this by consciously choosing the higher idea and letting the old image dissolve into light.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes, revise the scene by declaring, 'The old belief dies; the I AM gathers all into God's one life.' Then feel the shift as a warm, unifying sense of I AM expanding within you.