The Reasons Opposition Jesus Faced

The things that Jesus said. - Jesus never made a statement or comment that was not completely true. Yet these religious leaders tried to find fault in the things that he said. For example, in Mark 2.4-12 here we have the narration of Jesus healing a paralysed man. As well as the healing, He forgave his sins. Now look at the attitude of the scribes in vs. 6&7 then look at the reply that Jesus gave in the next five verse. Who was right? This was a direct attack on the divinity of Jesus.

A similar challenge is made in Luke 20:1-19 .v2 shows the reasoning of the religious leaders. Vs. 3&4. Looks at the Response of Jesus. In vs. 5-7 we see the Reaction of the religious leaders. In vs. 8-18. Jesus makes it very clear where His authority comes from. In the remainder of this chapter, they tried in many ways to catch Him out in what He said, yet they were unsuccessful. This is a chapter that is well worth reading on this subject.

The things that Jesus did. - When you read the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, you are struck by the amount of good things that He did. This is particularly evident in the gospel of Mark Peter in his message to Cornelius, in Acts 10 says, “Jesus went about doing good” see v10. Yet the religious leaders found fault in His worksIn Mark 3:2 we see that it was evident that the religious leaders were more concerned about keeping the Sabbath day laws than they were about people.In v3-5 we see that Jesus was more concerned about people than about their laws. In healing the man, He left them with a challenge. Look at their reaction in v6.

The company that Jesus kept. - We have seen the failure of the religious leaders to trap Jesus by what He said and by what He did. They now try a different method of attack. In Mark 2:15-22. We see how this attack commenced in v16. Again look at the reply of Jesus in the next verse.

The other reason was Fear

Herod. - Feared he would lose his throne. He was not the rightful king.

Pilate. - Feared the people, he also had the fear of losing the friendship of Caesar.

The religious leaders. Feared the loss of their authority and of losing face.

The people. Feared the cost of following Jesus.

Today they still reject the message Jesus brings - All of these people where made fearful by the father of all fear. Satan. He was also fearful and tried to thwart the plan of God for the salvation of lost sinners. He failed as well. As we read these accounts, it becomes very clear that nothing has changed in 2000 years. Today the same attitude prevails.

Rulers and nations still oppose Jesus. - Religious leaders still oppose Jesus.

People still oppose Jesus.

Yet the answer is still FEAR. - If we can conclude that fear is the root cause of opposition to Jesus, then this fear needs to be removed.

What is the answer and where can we find it?

The answer of course, is in the Word of God. 1John 4;18

“perfect love casts out ALL fears”

We know of course, that perfect love can only be found in a perfect person. The only perfect person is Jesus. The one against whom all the opposition was directed.

We all have our fears; to overcome them we must ask God in prayer to increase in us His perfect love. We need to ensure that we know the Saviour and that we have asked Him to forgive our sins. We need to accept, that all the opposition that He faced, was because He loved us with His perfect love. We need to accept that His death on the cross was for your sins and mine.

The Reasons for this Opposition - the things he said and did

Jesus never made a statement or comment that was not completely true. Yet these religious leaders tried to find fault in the things that he said

THE REASONS FOR THE OPPOSITION JESUS FACED

DURING HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY. - Page Two