One Sabbath, Jesus was on his way to dine with a prominent Jewish religious leader for a festive meal. Everyone was watching him to see if he would heal anyone on the Sabbath.
Later, they sent spies who pretended to be honest seekers, but who wanted an opportunity to entangle Jesus by his words. Their plan was to catch him saying something against the government, so they could hand him over to the jurisdiction of the Roman authorities who would execute him for sedition.
After Jesus finished saying these things, a Pharisee asked him to come for a meal at his home. When everyone had been seated at the table, the religious leader noticed that Jesus had not performed the cleansing ritual before he began eating. He was shocked.
And when these “friends” come to visit me with their pious sympathy and their hollow words and with hypocrisy hidden in their hearts, I can see right through it all. For they come merely to gather gossip about me, using all they find to mock me with malicious hearts of slander.
For as he thinks within himself, so is he. He will grudgingly say, “Go ahead and eat all you want,” but in his heart he resents the fact that he has to pay for your meal.
Jesus was once asked by the Jewish religious leaders, “When will God’s kingdom come?” Jesus responded, “God’s kingdom does not come simply by obeying principles or waiting for signs.