I got to thinking about all the groups of people who were aligned against Jesus when they came together to execute him. Yesterday, I looked at the Pharisees. But I thought about how we are still like them. Today, I’m thinking about the Romans.
The Temple leaders had decided they needed Jesus out of the way. He posed the possibility of upsetting the delicate balance they had achieved with the Romans. So they went to Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea. Now Pilate wasn’t going to do something just because the Jews wanted it. So they told him that “you are no friend of Rome if you don’t execute him.” They said Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews–and that was not allowed.
If Pilate was ever going to get a promotion, he needed to keep peace in Palestine and keep the grain flowing to Rome. Pilate’s reign was marked by terror and cruelty. He once executed over 2,000 followers of another wannabe messiah and strung their crosses for miles along the roads of Galilee. Jesus was a boy then. He knew that.
Rome was all about power. Jesus was all about love. It was a clash of worldviews played out in the agendas of people in power. One reason Jesus had to die in this moment was to protect his followers from the same fate as that other messiah from his youth. He loved his followers and he believed in their power to spread his message to the world. Jesus showed a different kind of power that has lasted long after the Roman empire.
But I get to thinking that sometimes we forget about love. We also think that it’s all about power. Political power. Power within the church to tell others what to do, think, believe. We all know someone who was given a little power and it “went to their heads.” They began to believe they were invincible. They began to think they could just give orders and others would get in line. Everything in life is about control. And I need to be the one in control.
But Jesus wasn’t in control. He did what he had to do to fulfill his mission. Think of Gethsemane. He prayed that he didn’t have to go through the next 24 hours. But he did. He gave control to God.
Are you exhibiting power? Or love?
Faith Venture 
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