Answers

Q:

Why were some people so opposed to Jesus? I would've thought everyone would have welcomed Him, instead of plotting against Him and eventually condemning Him to death. What they did just doesn't make sense.


A:

No, it doesn’t make sense, at least on the surface. Why would anyone turn against Jesus, who “went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil” (Acts 10:38)?

And yet it happened to Jesus—just as it happens to Jesus’ followers in many parts of the world today. Why? Some opposed Jesus because He said it was wrong for them to oppress others and treat them unjustly—and they didn’t want to change. Others hated Jesus because they were proud or greedy, and thought they didn’t need to repent or change their ways. Still others simply didn’t want to believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be: the divine Son of God, sent into the world to save us from our sins.

Behind it all, however, was the stark reality of human evil—evil that comes ultimately from Satan, the enemy of our souls. Satan rejoiced when Jesus’ enemies nailed Him to the cross; Satan thought he had won. But he hadn’t—because three days later Jesus Christ conquered death, and Hell, and sin, and Satan by His resurrection from the dead.

On whose side would you have been? Would you have joined the crowds demanding that Pilate, the Roman governor, crucify Him? Or would you have been among those who stayed with Him to the end—and then followed Him after His resurrection? God’s promise is for you: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Do you have assurance of eternal life?