There are things worth trying and others not worth trying. One of the most foolish things to do is to attempt to fight against the truth. As observed by former U.K. Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

This truth very much applies to the case of Christ and the Pharisees. Long before Christ came into the world, the Pharisees commanded high esteem among the Jews. They, indeed, craved the praise of men and positioned themselves as custodians of God’s holy standard. Unfortunately, they were “like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” Christ rebuked their hypocrisy and corrected their misinterpretation of Scriptures. This hurt their pride and they gave Christ no breathing space with their ceaseless antagonism and even death plots.

In today’s text, the Pharisees got incensed by Christ’s high popularity rating among the common people, especially after he raised Lazarus from death. During the Passover feast, even the Jews that came from different parts of the world, having heard about the miracle, were anxious to meet Him. The commoners were so delighted that they gave Him the best reception by waving palm fronds and singing, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord”. The Greeks among them also desired to meet Him. The Pharisees acknowledged that all their efforts to stop Christ had failed!

It is a constant principle that the truth – and those who stand by it – cannot be defeated. At the height of the persecution of the early Church, even Gamaliel, a staunch Pharisee and doctor of the law, counselled his colleagues to desist from fighting the truth. True believers should stand for the truth always.