(5) The Jews' Rejection. of Their Messiah. The Jewish people in Jesus' day were under the religious domination of the Pharisees. This po litico-religious party had arisen some two hun dred years earlier to resist the threatening in roads of Hellenism. The aim of the Pharisees was to defend and perpetuate the intensely re ligious, peculiar and exclusive character of Juda ism. They were the political opponents of the Sadducees, that party which was disposed to co operate with the Roman officials who were their masters, and to take up with the freer life of the Gentiles who surrounded them. In their zeal to maintain the separateness of the Jews from the Gentiles, the Pharisees placed great emphasis upon the law. They extended their legislation by the addition of innumerable cere monial distinctions and observances, until a hedge was grown about the Jew to prevent his absorption into the great empire of which they unwillingly formed a political part. They looked upon the Romans with unrelenting hatred, and lived in the hope that their long-antici pated Messiah would come to bring them free dom from the odious Gentile yoke. It fol lowed, therefore, that the Pharisees found nothing to their liking in Jesus, for he in no manner responded to their intense, exclusive national pride and expectation. He showed no disposition to undertake the accomplishment of Jewish po litical independence; on the contrary, he in sisted that the obligations to their Roman masters be fulfilled. All the temporal power, national glory, and material prosperity which characterized their Messianic hope, were ignored by Jesus. Generations of misinterpretation of the Old Testa ment prophecies, and persistent disregard of the spiritual realities of life, had led them astray, un til their hearts were set, not upon things which were above, but upon things which were upon the earth. They seem even to have stumbled at the fact that Jesus came from Galilee, and therefore could not be the Messiah of promise (Matt. ii: 5, 6 ; John i :45, 46; vii :4i, 42, 52), Another important reason for the Pharisaic op position to Jesus was his open transgression and criticism of their legal regulations. They had en grossed the religious life of the Jews with rules, forms and cereanonies. The general prohibitions of the Old Testament law were expanded by specific application to all phases of daily life until the individual was enmeshed with external per formances. This mass of casuistical legislation was known as "the traditions of the elders" (Mark and it took precedence over all else. It robbed life of all its freedom, spon taneity and joy. In Galilee little attention was paid to this type of Judaism. Jesus had not been. brought up in bondage to it, and he had no sym pathy with it. He publicly disregarded this Pharisaic code, and on many occasions emphatic ally condemned it. The outstanding conflict be tween Jesus and the Pharisees in this matter was over the observance of the Sabbath. Jesus refused to keep it or to countenance it in the way they demanded. They were enraged by his in dependence and opposition, and entered upon a course of violent hostility to him (Matt. xii:i-i4; Luke xiii :to-17 ; xiv:i-6; John v But most of all the Pharisees hated Jesus be cause he tore off their masks, and exposed their despicable characters to the people. Many of the leading Pharisees were hypocrites. Ostentatiously pious, scrupulously observant of religious cere monies, loud in their professions of goodness, they were in fact guilty of the worst sins. Jesus did not spare them in his denunciations (Matt. v 2o; xxiii :1-33). And there could result nothing but the bitterest enmity and conflict. The Phari sees only awaited the opportunity to get their hands upon 'him, and they would avenge them selves by assassination (Matt. xii :hi; Mark iii :6; John viii :59; x 39; xi:53, 57).
The -attitude of the Jewish common people to ward Jesus was of quite another sort. They were faithful to their national religion, but did not live under the bondage of Pharisaism. The influence of the Pharisees was strong in Judea, but reached only weakly into Galilee. It was
from this environment that Jesus himself arose. He was one of the Galilean common people. He appreciated them and sympathized with them (Matt. ix:to-13 ; Luke vii:16-18; John i:9-14)• His work was mainly among them, for the Phari see-ridden Judeans would not hear him. The Galileans regarded him as a great prophet and an authoritative teacher (Matt. vii :28, 29; Mark i :27; Luke vii :16). It was from this class of the Jewish nation that Jesus drew his twelve apostles (Judas perhaps excepted). He was eagerly wel comed by the .common people when he began his public minitry. Multitudes came to hear him, and he taught and healed them (Matt. v:t ; xiii: 1, 2 ; Mark iii :7, 8; vi :32-44, 53-56). For a con siderable time he worked among them, and gained many adherents. But all the time they were hop ing that Jesus would proclaim himself the Mes siah of their mistaken expectations. They looked anxiously from day to day for the indications that he was about to set up his temporal, visible king dom, to the freedom and glory of his people. When they had waited until their patience failed, they undertook to force him into this action. This precipitated a crisis, for Jesus could only refuse them (John vi:14, 15). Overwhelming disap pointment fell upon his enthusiastic followers, and most of them withdrew (John vi :66-68).
The doors of public teaching were closed against him. There remained the possibility of a last appeal to the nation. This he determined to make in the most impressive manner available to him. Up to this time he had not claimed to be the Messiah, except to his closest disciples, and then with strict charges of seGrecy. The proclamation of it would have put a stop to his work by the excitement of false hopes and futile efforts. But now that he could accomplish no more by his public ministry, it only remained to go to Jeru salem, announce himself as Messiah to the pass over multitude, claim the allegiance which they would not give (Matt. xxiii :37), and receive the martyrdom which he clearly saw lay at the end of such a course (Mark x :32-34).
The triumphal entry was arranged. The throngs of Galilean celebrants of the passover feast gathered about him and hailed him as Mes siah, for it looked now as though their ardent hopes would at last be realized. Jesus accepted their homage, and entered Jerusalem in their company with the demonstrations of a king re turning to his city in peace and victory. The enthusiasm and confidence of the multitude was at the highest pitch. The strength of the popular following was so great that both Pharisees and Sadducees became alarmed (Luke xx :6, 19; John xii :19). The Sadducees had paid little atten tion to Jesus up to this time, for they took small interest in anything but the politic§ and amenities of life. But now that Jesus seemed to threaten a popular religious uprising, they were aroused to strenuous opposition. The Sadducees were the Jewish office-holders, responsible to the Ro mans for civic peace in Judea ; and if an anti Roman insurrection took place, as this threatened to do, the Sadducees were liable to be deposed for negligence or inability to preserve the peace (John xi :47-5o). The Sanhedrin was, therefore, united in its purpose to put Jesus to death (Matt. xxvi :3-5 ; John xi :53).
But in the face of the popular support, how could this be accomplished? Only by treachery. A traitor was .not lacking. When once Jesus was in the hands of his enemies the people could be turned against him. In fact, the reaction had set in among his followers. For again Jesus was failing them, their Messianic programme was be ing forgotten. The old disappointment was settling down upon them with fatal force. It was still only a spiritual kingdom that Jesus meant. The Jewish leaders knew how to turn this disappointment into flaming indignation. And when this was done (Matt. xxvii :20-26), the multitude joined hotly in the cry, "Let him be crucified !" Phari sees, Sadducees, common people, all were lost. The rejection was final, and, with the exceptioil of a few hundred faithful souls, complete.