And when they had bound Him, they led Him away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Matthew 27:2
There is a long-standing saying that politics makes for strange bedfellows. So many times we see groups that are normally very opposed to each other team up to take on an opponent that they both despise. A recent example was a joint campaign by the three largest wireless service providers in Canada, which normally complete vigorously against each other. But they got together to fight against government plans to allow a large American wireless provider to enter the Canadian market at very little cost. We also see opposition politicians of varying stripes gang up on the government when they see legislation that they dislike. But the decision by the Jewish leaders to seek the approval of Rome to get rid of the Galilean Teacher was an incredible sellout of their principles for political gain.
The religious leaders were all for preserving their religious power base. They saw that base threatened as the crowds thronged to see and hear Jesus of Nazareth. All that mattered to them was endangered. So they went to Pilate to make sure they could preserve their religious territory, even if it meant working with their bitterest enemy to do so. The Jews were chafing under the Roman yoke, and despised the Roman taxes and the Roman control over their lives. Normally, they would have done everything they could to oppose the Roman authorities and to express their hatred and their desire to be rid of the Roman presence in the land. But that animosity against Rome was about to be set aside. Because, just like today, the world will do everything it can, and compromise everything else, if it can get rid of Jesus Christ.
There is plenty of time and attention available in the world for religion. Most people will even profess to have a little bit of it, when it’s convenient. But the world has no time or place for the Gospel. Toleration for religion is accepted and even encouraged, as long as it doesn’t involve Jesus Christ. For example, there is a strong push these days for tolerance for and acceptance of the Moslem religion, even to support in some quarters for allowing Moslems to practice the hellish Sharia law within their communities. But the preaching of the Gospel receives the cold shoulder, and remarks of disdain and ridicule by religious, political, and societal leaders. And there is a growing movement by a wide variety of groups to have people who believe and who preach the Bible to be branded as dangerous radicals who must be silenced.
Opponents of Jesus Christ and His Gospel are uniting in opposition around us. Because they hate our Lord, they will hate us too. -Jim MacIntosh