56 ď‚Ż HOW CLOSE ARE WE?
Scriptures. It was common knowledge by now that Jesus of Nazareth had healed multitudes of every kind of disease, made the lame walk, opened the eyes of the blind, even raised the dead. Those public miracles, witnessed by so many, could not be denied. No wonder the self-centered religious leaders both hated and feared Him. His growing popularity with the masses threatened to put them out of business. They were serving themselves instead of God and His people. As John tells us: Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. . . . Caiaphas. . . said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, . . . it is expedient for us, that one man should die . . . and that the whole nation perish not (John 11:47-50). This Crafty Impostor How could the rabbis justify even to themselves such malice? It was quite easy, as rationalization always is. The miracles had to be an elaborate trick with the aid of unknown accomplices. This Jesus of Nazareth was such a crafty, slippery impostor! Whomever the Sanhedrin hired to engage Him in public debate in order to expose Him as a fraud was made to look abjectly foolish. How had He acquired such knowledge and brilliance? He confounded their best lawyers with an ease and wisdom which was obviously far beyond anything being taught in their rabbinical schools—or in any other centers of learning on this earth. This audacious Nazarene had even said that His kingdom was "not of this world." What did that mean? Was He deliberately baiting them? Multitudes were treating Him as though He were indeed a king. The situation had become so explosive that the Romans might very well step in suddenly with military force. Something had to be done!
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