Looking for a Way to Kill Him

"As He taught them, He said, Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations' but you have made it a 'den of robbers.' The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and they began looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching." Mark 11:17-18

The effort to kill Jesus; Him, His name, His teaching, His people, and His church is as old as the Gospel. Once those in power and those who control the money realized that what Jesus was teaching was going to change their religion, and the power structure, and money distribution system of the day, they had to get rid of Him.

Oh, you can say what you want at first and kinda do what you will for awhile, but as soon as the whole crowd starts to believe and are amazed at how irrefutable His truth is, then something has to give. Either He has to moderate what He teaches, or He has to stop teaching, and if that is not an option, He must be eliminated. You know why? Simply because those in power, who control the money, and rules feel threatened by someone who calls into question their motives and values. Jesus had in effect said, 'you Priests and Teachers of the Law are robbing God and His people." Those are fighting words. Powerful people who call the shots usually go down hard. They feared Him because He was gaining credibility and traction with the people. This meant that they would soon have to account for why they were oppressive and why they were mishandling the monies and abusing the power that came from their entrusted authority.

God's work, no matter what century it is functioning in, must adhere to His teaching. When someone calls that into question, there will be conflict. The Teachers of the Law, were twisting and misinterpreting the truth to line their own pockets and gain more and more power. You mess with the elitist, powerful and money hungry structure of any organization and they will turn on you in a heartbeat. Jesus knew this and the only conflict resolution possible was to take Him out of the picture. He told them what they should be... 'A house of prayer for all nations'. He told them what they were, 'a den of robbers'. He had to confront the power structure and they were not going to confess their wrongdoing. Their solution was to find a way to kill Him. A way that would not point to them as murderers, but one that would appear legal, and not be traced back to them. They were so enmeshed in their religious ways that they could not hear or receive the truth.

Today, are we so caught up in “doing church” that we can't be the church? Do we get stuck and empowered to the degree that our religion can't change or transform? Would we kill someone, or just reject them or shut them down if they questioned or tried to change our religion? If Jesus came back today, would we feel threatened by Him or by His teaching?

Something to definitely think about.
Pastor Fred

Tweet