As I was talking to God about everything that I was going through, people hating me and all. And I asked God if he could help me to forget about it all and help me focus on other things.
All of a sudden the idea came to me to look up the question : why did no one agree with Jesus and was he surrounded by haters?
The answer:
Jesus challenged the religious authorities. His teachings undermined their authority and exposed their misuse of religious laws for personal and political gain.
In Matthew 23:27 it says "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
Jesus preached a gospel of grace, forgiveness, and love for one's enemies, which was in sharp contrast with the rigidity of the religious leaders at the time.
In Matthew 5:17, it says "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
He was considered blasphemous because he declared himself to be the son of God and to have divine authority.
In John 10:30-33, it says "I and the Father are one.” after which they tried to stone him. Jesus was quite the rebel because he said ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ They replied, ‘We are not stoning you for any good work but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claiming to be God."
That he forgave sins in Mark 2:5-7 made matters worse. “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Jesus associated with sinners, those who were seen as unclean, and those considered outcast by society.
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus replied "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus broke societal expectations, he talked to women and broke the Sabbath which made the religious leaders quite angry. He went on to become a threat to Rome itself.
Jesus message about God's kingdom was revolutionary and challenged the status quo. He also challenged existing world views.
His message was hard to accept. Jesus called for complete surrender to God, self-denial, and radical love, which many found difficult to accept.
He didn't meet the expectations. Many people expected the Messiah to be a political or military leader who would overthrow Roman rule. Jesus’ teachings about a spiritual kingdom and His path of humility and suffering did not align with their expectations.
In John 6:66 it says "Many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.”
It was all part of the prophecy. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would face rejection and suffering. But it was all part of God's plan.
In Isaiah 53:3 it says “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”
And of course he faced spiritual opposition from Satan as well.
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