John the Baptist was more outspoken against political powers than Jesus, and it cost him his head. Jesus took a different approach for his ministry. He didn't concern himself with the Roman hierarchy. Instead he focused on those who were the protectors of the Jewish Law and the scriptures.
Jesus called them hypocrites that did not understand what was important in the scripture. Their focus was on keeping the Sabbath, avoiding things unclean and tithing. Jesus never wanted to destroy or replace the Law, rather he focused on different areas of the Law that had been neglected. The most important part of the Law for Jesus was not keeping the Sabbath, avoiding the unclean and tithing; the important matters of the Law for Jesus were mercy, faithfulness and justice.
The keepers of the Law in Jesus' time focused (in great detail) on what kinds of obedient actions would please or placate God. To them the Law was about God. Jesus sought to keep the same Law as the Religious keepers, but Jesus saw the Law through a different set of glasses. The center of the Law for Jesus was not actions for God alone, but actions that helped people - community, family, the weak and the poor. Helping people in and outside of one's community was the real key to pleasing God and keeping the Law.
The real Jesus did not concern himself much with Roman politics, rather he was deeply interested in the Law and the right way of interpreting it.
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