I think you and everyone else on this thread missed the point entirely.
From your quote of John 11:49-53
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all!
50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,
52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
If one is to believe what is written here, it plainly shows what happened.
Jesus' death was prophesied and inevitable. According to the Gospel of John, the High Priest saw it in vision and explained to the priests. They knew exactly what they were doing according to John and knew it was to be the will of G-d.
This has absolutely nothing to do with guilt. It was according to the High Priest the will of G-d. Even Jesus according to the gospel knew what was happening.
There simply was no choice in the matter, no guilt, and no fault. Jesus' death was Israel's salvation and by extension the world's salvation.
Read this closely again:
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,
52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
Then look at this:
Matthew 15:24
I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.
Now put this in historical context and I mean from 1948 all the way back to the 1st century. Even as a Jew, which I am, I realize that his death was a catalyst on a scale unseen in human history. His death was the catalyst for historical change unlike any other figure in human history, sending shock waves all the way to the present day. From the persecution and near extinction of the children of Israel(prophesied by Moses), the rebirth of Israel, and the proclamation throughout the earth of an obscure Semitic deity worshiped by nomadic herders thousands of years ago. From Jerusalem, to Rome and to Mecca the once obscure Semitic G-d of Abraham is now proclaimed. The impact on history from Rome to Mohammad has shifted human civilization. The role that the Abrahamic faiths and its members have played in human history is monolithic on a scale hard to even begin to try to comprehend.
Had Jesus not died, the catalyst for this massive shift in human civilization would not of happened. If one is to believe the Gospel of John, the High Priest saw this in prophecy all the way to the rebirth of Israel. He chastised the Pharisees for their ignorance, "You know nothing at all!", when the Pharisees spoke of immediate political concerns.
One has to look at the bigger picture. This wasn't about guilt or fault. They had no choice. It was the inevitable Will of G-d and it would change our world and the course of human history forever.
