The Jewish nation, ruled by Rome, would go through many wars and other trials. The Jewish nation would eventually go into decline. During Jesus’ time, Jewish nationals, who loved the Jewish nation and wanted to preserve Jewish religion, hoped Israel would one day be revived (Acts 1:6). Some may have taken a revolutionary stance, but the “zealots†are now believed not to have formed until years after Jesus died. However, even in Jesus’ time there was a tension between Jewish and pagan cultures. Many wealthy urban types went with the flow of pagan culture. However, many Jews were indignant to the encroaching pagan culture. The differences in thought and the grasping for power among the Jewish people resulted in an often chaotic, hypocritical, and deceitful social environment. Jesus once sighed, “When the Son of man comes, will He find really faith on earth?†(Lk 18:8). Jesus was not one to play along with the games of popular politics. From time to time, Jesus would denounce the crooked and depraved leaders of the people. Jesus saw how hard the hearts of people had become. He understood morality and righteousness was often compromised in his time. People then, much like today, were often indifferent to justice and mercy. The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates Jesus’ concern over the peoples’ compassion for one another and tense social relations (Lk 10:31–34). People had become self-centered and unfeeling. Jesus once told a parable illustrating the hardness of the times, saying the people were like children who complain to their friends, “We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament †(Mt 11:17).
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