They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. – Matthew 21:46

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 5, 2017): Matthew 21

In the 1970’s, it seemed that the Metric System was poised to take over the world. Most of the world had already at least started the change from the various local systems of measurement to a universal Metric System. The argument was that a comprehensive form of measurement would aid in trade and cross-border economics. By the 1970’s, the idea was already centuries old. In North America, Mexico had begun the process in 1852. The United States had followed suit in 1866 but made no move toward the acceptance of the new system of measurement. Canada, a nation of the British Commonwealth, waited until after the United Kingdom began their shift from British Imperial form of measurement to the Metric System in 1965. So Canada started her journey toward change in 1973. President Gerald Ford finally signed the “Metric Conversion Act of 1975” into law on December 23, 1975, indicating that the process of changing to the Metric System was to begin in the United States. In 1982, the Act was abolished by President Ronald Reagan having made very little impact on the people of the country.

So what happened? The simple answer is fear. There is evidence that as the world becomes more of a global community, a reliance on one system of measurement makes sense. The reality is that the anti-metric community of nations is small. It consists of the United States, Myanmar (who is making strides toward changing to the Metric System), and Liberia. The United States reliance on the imperial system of measurement caused the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1998. While the specs for the Orbiter were ordered in the Metric units, Lockheed Martin provided their data according to the Imperial system of measurement. The result was the unintended crash of the Orbiter on the Martian surface. But, traditionally, fear has reigned creating failure in any discussions toward a change from Imperial System to the Metric System in the United States.

Dean Krakel, director of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma, argued that the “Metric is definitely Communist. One monetary system, one language, one weight and measurement system, one world — all Communist.” Bob Greene, a syndicated columnist, followed Krakel’s evaluation of the Metric System by founding WAM! (We Ain’t Metric) agreeing that it was all an Arab plot “with some Frenchies and Limeys thrown in.” In politics, fear often seems to rule the day.

So it probably shouldn’t be surprising that the first emotion experienced by those plotting against Jesus was one of fear. They knew the negative response of the people to the execution of John the Baptist, and were not looking forward to the reaction of the people should they arrest and execute Jesus. Before the arrest, they knew that they needed to build an argument against Jesus that would sway the people. They needed to find an inside man who would help them out with their plan. Fear meant that they needed to arrest and try Jesus during the night when no one was around. And then, in the final stages, create fear in the people so that their plan could take place. The driving force of this Passover movement had to be fear – because nothing shapes our politics more than the act of being afraid.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 11