A Verse On Sunday

The Gospel According To John, Chapter 1, verse 19
'And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?'

One if the peculiarities of this Gospel is that the Jewish establishment and its supporters are referred to as 'the Jews'. Clearly John the Baptist was a Jew, as was John the Evangelist, who wrote this particular Gospel. Indeed, Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary, his friends Martha and Mary, their brother Lazarus, and all the apostles were Jews too.
In the land of Israel, in those days there were two hierarchical power structures, the military power and the ideological, priestly power. The military power was in the hands of the Romans, the priestly power in the hands of a Jewish elite, increasingly accountable to the local powers such as the Herods as well as to the Romans. A gap seems to have sprung up between the collaborationist elite and the people. It comes as no surprise to learn later in the New Testament that Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, an establishment Jew, a moralist was a Roman citizen, just as nowadays the most moralistic, the most Politically Correct, are establishment radicals, faux revolutionaries, 'party members'.
The Levites and the priests were interested in John, for political correctness was their department. At first sight John the Baptist did not seem to threaten the 'government' the privileges of the overseer class, but you could not be too careful.
Curiously enough modern day Jews, like Reformed Christians, are perceived as a threat to Power, the principalities of this earth. Neither modern Jews, nor true Christians have a religious hierarchy, there are no priests, and so are perceived as a threat to the structures of domination. At heart, both modern Jews and Christians know no Law but the Law of God. Their dual citizenship is something that Caesar is not always prepared to put up with. Around here many churches seem to have replaced the Ten Commandments with the Equality Act of 2010, so Caesar need not worry too much.