John 11:48-50
If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
This one struck me differently in this election season.
Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin believe that preserving the nation in its present state is absolutely essential, and that they have to get it done.
It’s deep irony: “to preserve God’s people, Jesus must die.”
Deeply true, theologically.
Caiaphas got it completely wrong, politically.
(Can’t resist, but this was Denethor the steward opposing Aragorn the King…)
If you are prone to believe during this election that one candidate must be kept from the highest office to preserve the nation (or that another must be elected), you may want to give this a closer look.
God shakes the nations all the time. Not monthly, or even in our lifetime, but regularly throughout history. If He has the right to reconstitute His chosen people Israel into a church, which He does and did, surely He has the right to let a nation like ours fall due to its continued unbelief and rebellion. We don’t HAVE to make America great again, though we may want and work for that. America is dispensable in God’s plan, as the Sanhedrin also was.
By all means, love your country, and back your preferred candidate (coughcoughnotharriscoughcough), but don’t lose sight of God’s sovereignty. He often brings about a great catastrophe, like the cross, that brings a phoenix out of the fires. Trust and hope in Him alone.
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