10/13/08: Mark 3
Ted: The religious Jews of the day (Pharisees and Sadducees) wanted to kill Jesus (as in Mark 3:6). There were several reasons for this:
1) Their concept of the Messiah was NOT someone coming as humble, meek, and mild. They felt that the Messiah would come in great power and immediately take over, destroying Israel's enemies and bringing the Israelites into the new kingdom of God.
2) Jesus exposed them for the hypocrites that they were. They told the people what to do, interpreting the laws as they conveniently perceived them to be, yet did not follow many of the laws themselves. They felt that they were "above" the law and resented being told that they were not.
3) They did not like the people's attention taken away from them and focused on Jesus. They were jealous of this, and they were envious of the miraculous powers that He had but which they did not have.
4) They knew that if, indeed, Jesus WERE the true Messiah, He probably would be taking over soon, and their status would be diminished, if not totally vanquished. They were not willing to take second place to anybody, including God.
1) Their concept of the Messiah was NOT someone coming as humble, meek, and mild. They felt that the Messiah would come in great power and immediately take over, destroying Israel's enemies and bringing the Israelites into the new kingdom of God.
2) Jesus exposed them for the hypocrites that they were. They told the people what to do, interpreting the laws as they conveniently perceived them to be, yet did not follow many of the laws themselves. They felt that they were "above" the law and resented being told that they were not.
3) They did not like the people's attention taken away from them and focused on Jesus. They were jealous of this, and they were envious of the miraculous powers that He had but which they did not have.
4) They knew that if, indeed, Jesus WERE the true Messiah, He probably would be taking over soon, and their status would be diminished, if not totally vanquished. They were not willing to take second place to anybody, including God.
