Your Excellency, you have raised one of the strangest mysteries of human nature. It seems always to have been the case that, when God speaks, the people we would expect to be the first to hear are in fact the first to object. Jesus himself pointed out that in previous generations the leaders of the Jews had killed the prophets. Yet Jesus was treated very well by Herod and Pilate until the Jews put pressure on them as well.
Yet it really did not begin like that. Except for the incident at Nazareth, Jesus was well received at first and even the Pharisees would invite Him home to dinner. But they had very narrow ideas about religion and very strict religious laws, and they did not like the happy, relaxed way of Jesus. Just look at what He did which offended them. He healed the sick - but on the Sabbath day. He taught people about God in a wonderful way - but the scribes were supposed to do that. He helped the poor and needy which the Pharisees didn't like doing. So they grew to hate Him. Possibly also they were jealous of His popularity.
The outcome was that when the time came for Jesus to reveal that He was the Messiah and to show that the Messiah could only be the Son of God, they were so embittered they could only accuse Him of blasphemy. That, according to their religious laws, is a crime punishable by death - and they were waiting for Him to commit just such a crime.
But why did they not recognise Jesus as Messiah? I think it is a consequence of man's pride. We are all inclined to think we know better than other people, and the more elevated our position, the more we assert ourselves. So, the ordinary people, who had little or no status, were ready to respond to Jesus, whereas the priests and Pharisees were not. And because Jesus was a religious teacher, it was the religious leaders who plotted His death.
As was said earlier, Jewish history shows it has happened before. Many times, when the Jewish people were in moral and spiritual decline, God sent a prophet. Most of these prophets were rejected by the leaders of their time. Elijah was harried by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, Jeremiah was thrown in a pit to die and his book was burned by King Jehoiakim. Amos was banned from prophesying by the priests of Bethel, and even John the Baptist was opposed by the priests and beheaded by Herod.
Later, Paul found the same problem. Although he had been a Pharisee himself, and should have been the more acceptable to them, they nearly killed him the last time he was in Jerusalem. It was the Roman soldiers who protected him. They were more honest and fair in their judgments than the religious leaders.
What will happen in the future? Will the church go all legalistic like the Pharisees have become? There are already signs of that. For instance, Paul had to write very sternly to the Galatians about it, and some of the problems at Corinth stem from it. If the Church does go that way, will God rise up more prophets... and will they be rejected too? Time will tell.
One thing I do know, your Excellency, Jesus trained His disciples to be humble and teachable, to discern what was good and what was evil through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And it is a good thing He did. You and I would not have heard the gospel if Peter had not learned to preach to the Gentiles after that vision from heaven, and the apostles together had not tested and agreed with Peter's conclusions (see my description in Chapters 10 and 11 of Acts).
We also need to be like the apostles, and, whatever our status, whatever our knowledge, we need to listen for the voice of God, whether it comes via the Holy Spirit or via some modern prophet. And when we hear God's voice, we should respond with all our being. It will bring us great joy to do so.
Author's Note:
- Has the church fallen into the position Luke prophesied, and are we listening for God's voice today?
Luke to Theophilus....
Your Excellency, you have raised one of the strangest mysteries of human nature. It seems always to have been the case that, when God speaks, the people we would expect to be the first to hear are in fact the first to object. Jesus himself pointed out that in previous generations the leaders of the Jews had killed the prophets. Yet Jesus was treated very well by Herod and Pilate until the Jews put pressure on them as well.