DRIVEN BY FEAR

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. —Mark 11:18

Jesus’ most vocal and effective opponents were driven by fear.

The Jewish leaders were afraid of Jesus, they were afraid of the people, and they were afraid of the Romans who occupied their land. They were afraid of people who were like them and afraid of people who did not live up to their expectations.

They were afraid that they could never be good enough to be accepted by God and afraid that God did not fully appreciate their piety. It was their fear of Jesus—His power and His growing popularity—that was the catalyst for their plotting to kill Him.

They feared that because of the miracles He performed, “everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation” (John 11:48). Accordingly, they reasoned that it was better that Jesus die than the whole nation be destroyed, as Caiaphas put it (see John 11:50). The leaders also feared the people.

When Jesus asked awkward questions, they flailed in search of an answer that would not implicate themselves, but that also would not offend the people who “held that John really was a prophet” (Mark 11:32). They knew what they wanted to say but did not have the courage to risk the reaction of the crowd around them. The fear of the people and of Jesus’ popularity combined to bring an end to their interactions with Jesus.

Even their attempts to trick Him into a compromising answer were defeated by His careful responses, and they feared that Jesus was really making them look bad. “And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions” (Mark 12:34).

Ultimately, their fear led them to conspire with their oppressors, to plot His arrest, and to murder the Son of God!