Jesus also lost an election. What we can learn

I have keenly observed the outcomes of elections in many countries including my own Nigeria, and have discovered that election results often defy prophecies, fasting and prayers of Christians.

In 2019 in Nigeria, Christians prayed fervently and there were many prophetic declarations in favor of the Christian candidate, but in the end we lost the election.

And this year during the U.S. presidential election, Christians all over the world prayed for a candidate whom we thought would support policies that Christians favor globally, but in the end he appears to have lost.

Could it be that most of the elections in this world are going the way of Jesus and Barabbas? Why is God not answering our prayers? Have churches and Christians failed God? Or is it that we are praying wrongly?

A meticulous look at why Jesus lost to Barabbas in Matthew 27 could help us understand why Christians, despite fasting and prayer, lose political elections. 

In the election of Jesus vs Barabbas, there was no campaign or any form of election preparation before the day of voting. There was no debate beforehand, either, but actual voting took place. The method of voting was by voice and voters overwhelmingly cast their votes for Barabbas and Jesus scored zero votes (Mathew 27:21).  Despite the offer for voters to reconsider and have a re-election, they insisted that they voted rightly.

There are some reasons that I think are responsible for Jesus’ loss to Barabbas and these reasons could be related to why Christian candidates are not favored by this world's elections today.

Jesus was not popular among the Jews and His teachings and policies did not go down well with them.  He was hard on them for their hypocritical and immoral lifestyles and called them names for not following the ways and ordinances of God.

The people of the world today also do not want candidates who will support Christian policies while in office, and work to frustrate those whom they think will work to enact policies that align with Christian values.  

If Jesus himself was rejected and crucified by the world, do His followers expect the world to embrace them?

We must have the mindset that the world will reject our candidates and if we should win in a free and fair election, we need to work hard to increase the population of Christians through evangelism and missions.

On a more practical note, Christians pray and prophesy but often do not vote. I do not know about other countries but it has been observed that most of the prayer warriors and prophetic champions in Nigeria do not have voters cards and the few that have, find it difficult to come out to vote on the day of elections.

Maybe we have to take heed of James' instruction that every act of faith must be accompanied with work. The failures of our prophesies and prayers could sometimes be attributed to “faith without work.”

It is also important to note that for our prayers to be answered and for our prophesies to be fulfilled, we must pray and prophesize according to the will of God. Before intercession should be made on behalf of any politician, we are supposed to know the position of God concerning such individual. Those who prophesy must hear from God and should not prophesize in the flesh. Christians do not have power to choose whom God has not chosen.

As we strategize to win political positions, we should not be oblivious of the coming kingdom that will satisfy the yearning and aspiration of Christian faithfuls.  All signs that will bring down this kingdom to us have been accomplished except that the Gospel of the kingdom has not been preached to the entire world as a witness to all nations.

I think that Christians should be more actively involved in the mandate of the Great Commission to facilitate the return of Christ than in the politics of this world, which will naturally bring about the society we desire.