For you will be excommunicated from the synagogues, and a time is coming when you will be put to death by misguided ones who will presume to be doing God a great service by putting you to death.
(Now the parents were obviously intimidated by the Jewish religious leaders, for they had already announced to the people that if anyone publicly confessed Jesus as the Messiah, they would be excommunicated.
When the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw gathered under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and because they had the testimony of the Lamb.
Yet there were many Jewish leaders who believed in Jesus, but because they feared the Pharisees they kept it secret, so they wouldn’t be ostracized by the assembly of the Jews.
“How favored you become when you are hated, excommunicated, or slandered, or when your name is spoken of as evil because of your love for me, the Son of Man.
Hear the words of Yahweh, you who tremble at what he says: “Shame on your own people, who reject you and hate you, claiming they do it for my sake. For they mock you, saying, ‘May Yahweh be glorified; let us see you rejoice.’ ”
When we are slandered incessantly, we always answer gently, ready to reconcile. Even now, in the world’s opinion, we are nothing but filth and the lowest scum.
Some of the Jewish leaders were enraged and said, “Just who do you think you are to lecture us! You were born a blind, filthy sinner!” So they threw the man out in the street.
They tell others, ‘Stay away! Don’t come near; I’m too holy for you to touch.’ These people are like a stench in my nostrils, a smoldering fire that doesn’t go out!
And concerning the righteousness of the Torah, no one surpassed me; I was without a peer. Furthermore, as a fiery defender of the truth, I persecuted the messianic believers with religious zeal.
“These who are filled with wisdom will help many understand what is happening. However, for a season, they will face severe testing. Some will go into captivity, some will be robbed, and some will be killed by the sword and by the flames.
From now on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with a right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”
“I have spoken to you using figurative language, but the time is coming when I will no longer teach you with veiled speech, but I will teach you about the Father with your eyes unveiled.
And the time has come when you will all be scattered, and each one of you will go your own way, leaving me alone! Yet I am never alone, for the Father is always with me.
Enraged, they demanded of Joash, “Bring your son out here and we will kill him! He tore down the altar to Baal and chopped down the Asherah tree beside it.”