HE CAME TO FULFILL - PERSECUTION: STUMBLING BLOCK

Messiah was to be a stumbling block to the spiritual leaders of Israel. It was prophesied they would stumble over His teachings, His upbringing, His origins. 

They marveled at the authority with which Jesus, Yeshua, taught. He was rejected by them as confirmed in 1 Peter 2: 3-8 (NIV).

Even thousands of years later, His very name still provokes great controversy and hatred from the wicked. It is true. There is no other religion more hated than Christianity, except perhaps the Jewish one. 

All others are respected and actually talked about a lot. But the first minute you mention Jesus, some people are willing to fight you, disrespect you, and curse you. 

Why? Why are they so bothered? Well, simply put, they are being called out for their sin. Our religion makes it clear that you must repent to be saved. Repenting means turning away from sin, turning the other way. So one actually needs to want to change. 

But what if one does not want to? And that is where the problem lies. Some do not want to change. They want to live in sin and still enter heaven. That is not how things work. 

Yeshua has become a stumbling block to many, as He was in His time. They stumbled over His message because He claimed to be God, yet they knew Him as merely a man. They stumbled at His teachings, not understanding that He was calling them even higher. To clean out their hearts and not follow the Most High only with their lips but with true worship - good deeds!!!!