Why Did They Hate Jesus?

Jesus teaching in the temple

 There were many people who hated Jesus. You may be wondering who these people were and why they hated him. Why would they hate a perfect man, who had done nothing but good things for people?
Well, there were many people who were very upset by what Jesus was teaching, and by the way so many people starting following him.
And Jesus had some very challenging things to say. He told the religious leaders that they were laying heavy burdens on people that God had never intended, adding to the law. That they looked clean on the outside, but were empty on the inside. He publicly told these leaders that they were hypocrites, and that they were not serving God's people, or God, at all, though they took the best seats at feasts and wore fancy clothes and made sure to always wash their hands and follow the little things in the law. And yet they forgot about justice and about God himself. The didn't understand God's love for broken people. They felt threatened by Jesus, and wanted to even kill him!

The Religious Leaders and Pharisees

These leaders were so angry with Jesus that they looked for opportunities to trap him. But he was too brilliant to fall into their traps, and always showed them a mirror for their hearts.
One time they asked him, "Should we Jews pay taxes to Caesar?" (Caesar was the Emperor of Rome.) Jesus said, "Give me a coin." He said, "Whose image is on the coin?" They said, "Caesar's." So Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (In Genesis, it says that man was "made in God's image," so what he meant was, you owe your whole self and your whole heart to God, which is the bigger issue.) They were amazed at his answer, and speechless.

+++
Jesus,
I would have probably been one of those people who hated you, too, because you turn everything upside down, all of our pride and the goodness we think we have achieved on our own. I am like them sometimes, Lord. I often try to prove myself, and I think I am better than others. Lord Jesus, show me my need for you, and show me your grace for people like me. We are sinners who think we do not have a problem, but we desperately need you. And you rescue us! Thank you, Jesus!

Note: the next post will be on Palm Sunday (March 29th), one week before Easter. I will post something each day of that week leading up to Easter (April 5).