Advent 2025: Mon 22 Dec
Mark 3.6 We have to stop him
6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Just three chapters in, and the net has started to be pulled in. Three chapters into Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels we’re still finding out about John the Baptiser. In John Jesus has embarked upon his ministry. Here in Mark a plot is being hatched, or at least compacts are being formed.
Why did they want to kill Jesus? Why not silence him in prison? Exile him? Ban him? They had no alternative but to do away with Jesus completely. Jesus was taking (not stealing) the limelight – crowds were following him. Pharisees wielded religious power, but they did not have many admirers. Some Pharisees recognised Jesus as special, but the majority of them, especially those with the most to lose, saw Jesus as a threat, both to their authority and their livelihood.
Paul the Apostle was a Pharisee. He, like other Pharisees, had studied the Scriptures in depth. He was zealous for tradition and proper practice. He believed that Jews needed to follow the Law if they were to be God’s people. He actively opposed the Christian faith and went around with a posse arresting Christians wherever he found them. He did, of course, undergo a miraculous change later.
Jesus would have been seen as dangerous. He paddled in a different direction. He was opening up the Kingdom of God to ordinary people and teaching them things that would render the office of Pharisee redundant. And they couldn’t counter the truth he spoke – they were left beaten and humiliated when they stepped into the ring with him.
What else could they do but find a way to get rid of Jesus? They wouldn’t have known that by removing Jesus the Jewish priesthood and all of their precious traditions would be cleared away, too.
Has envy or jealousy of another Christian ever caused you to want less than the best for them?
How do you deal with brothers and sisters in the faith who get on your nerves?
Father God, what lengths people go to when fear turns to hatred! Pour out your peace on nations, tribes, communities and all those who feel cornered or threatened, and search my heart to reveal the prejudice in me. Amen.
Jesus prophesied that, when he returns to earth, all people would see him coming on the clouds of heaven.
Paul