“According to Mark’s gospel, what was main issue dividing Jesus from the leaders of Israel?”
While reading the gospel of Mark, one thing becomes clear. The Leaders of Israel did not like Jesus. They were not jealous of Jesus. They were angry and envious. They saw him as a threat to the republic. He was lawless in their community of rules. The leaders of Israel thought of Jesus as a threat to their power. However, even though they were angry with him, they feared him, and what he could do. With Jesus on earth, all of their money, power and fame would fade away. They would fade away in the public eye, and that terrified them. Because of their now found fear of the man called Christ, there began to be issues between them. Whether ethical or moral, they disagreed with Jesus, and did not like him.
Jesus Christ is God’s son, while his time on Earth seemed to be brief, He had a lasting impact through the generations. Christianity is the biggest religion in the world. Without Jesus, we would be further behind in our religion and not understand God like we do now. He taught us things we could never think of. While he spoke in parables, his messages were deep and meaningful. Some could not understand what he was saying, yet he knew the meaning would come to them in a later time. Because of his power and influence, the Leaders of Israel began to see him as a threat. A menace to their power and strength. This began when people started going to Jesus instead of the Pharisees. The Pharisees taught religion in a long drawn out way, while Jesus taught religion in a meaningful way that was connected to the heart. This was breaking the tradition. That is what their problems boiled down to, was Jesus breaking the tradition of religion.
On several occasions the Pharisees challenged Jesus on his teachings, however he always had a response ready. At one time Jesus was asked what is the best commandment. Jesus responded with Loving God is above all things. Then Love thy neighbor like thyself. The Pharisees did not have a response for such a great answer. This upset the Pharisees because of how Jesus could handle himself and respond to questions, he was powerful physically and mentally. The main issue with Jesus and the powerful leaders of Israel was his ability to break up the traditional religion. Because of his break up of this, the traditional people would begin to lose their power and influence. Jesus’s teachings were about cleansing the heart to be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. This went against just following Jewish practices and religious tradition. He claimed the leaders to be hypocrites as well. He said that they were sinful and needed salvation. This caused people to stay away from them and go towards Jesus.
The main reason their was a problem because of how Jesus broke up religion. He was viewed as threat to their power and authority. In reality he was, he was teaching people a gospel that came from the heart. He taught kindness and compassion. He just didn’t force people to follow traditions, he showed them how to be better people. He was kind and gentle. While he wasn’t on Earth for long, his lasting impact will be forever.
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