‘The chief priests therefore, and the Pharisees, gathered a council and said, “What are we going to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him thus alone all men will believe on him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation”.'
Meanwhile the Pharisees who received the news decided that something must be done. Jesus was becoming a danger. And so their leaders went to the chief priests, and suggested to them that it was time to act together. It seems incredible that in the face of this great public act the leaders did not gather in order to back Jesus' ministry. But they had so hardened themselves against Jesus that they did not even consider that as an option. They did not want the status quo affected, especially by Someone Who, if He was right, would consign their own carefully built up ideas to the waste bin. Their ideas were more important to them than the truth.
‘Gathered a council.' Not an official one but an unofficial one made up of the enemies of Jesus. Incredible though it may seem, from first to last they were angry rather than impressed. They were fearful that what He had done might win men to His cause and result in an insurrection, with the consequence being that their own position might be undermined in the eyes of the Romans so that they lost even more power. Fear makes men behave irrationally. He was disturbing the peace and people were getting excited. This could start off another rising and they would be the losers. It was necessary to do something quickly.
Had Jesus sided with them more positively it might have been different, but they could not conceive of God working through any but themselves, nor would they allow it. Thus all they could now think of was the harm that He might do by becoming too popular and bringing a reaction from the Romans, resulting in the destruction of the Temple and the nation (John 11:47-48). The idea is ironic, for that is precisely what would result from the actions of some of their own within forty years.
‘Our place and our nation.' They were concerned more for their own positions and status than for their countrymen. They did not want anyone to upset how things stood. ‘Our place' might have in mind the Temple, or it might have in mind their position on the Sanhedrin and where it met. But they did not need to worry. The ruthless Caiaphas knew exactly what to do.