The Rise and Fall of Many (Luke 2:33-35)

Luke’s Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Luke chapter 2, and we're going to begin reading at verse 21. Looking today at verses 33 through 35, we'll begin reading at verse 21. And when eight days had passed before his circumcision, his name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, then he took him into his arms and blessed God and said, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

And his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed, and a sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Let's pray together. Our Father, we do pray that your word would reveal our hearts this morning, and that we would be laid bare before it, that we would see in your word wonderful things, that we may behold the glory and the honor and the dignity of Christ, and that we may see him for what he is in truth as your word has revealed him.

And we pray that we may love and adore you and respond in obedience to your word, and that you would help us to see this morning the importance of Christ and what he has done, that you would be honored and glorified in our time here, and that your spirit would be our guide, we pray in Christ's name, amen.

Good News and Bad News in Simeon’s Prophecy

So when somebody says to you that old adage, I have good news and I have bad news, which would you like to hear first? What is your typical response? Do you like to hear the good news or the bad news first?

Or you, like me, you want to hear the bad news first to get it out of the way, knowing that it can only get better after that, that no matter…then if the bad news is really not all that bad of news, you think to yourself, okay, so there's a lot of room for improvement obviously with this, and if the good news, if that's the bad news, then the good news has to be really good.

Or do you think to yourself, I would rather hear the good news first because I'm not sure that I really ever want to hear bad news, and I would like the good news to sort of prepare me to sort of soften the blow for when the bad news comes, I'm not as set back.

By it.

Which of those type of people are you? There's got to be some study done somewhere that would show that how you answer that question is probably going to have something to do with your success in life or the type of spouse you would pick or your personality.

There's probably a study somewhere that would tie all of that together, and it would be a government-funded study, of course, because that sounds like something that our tax dollars would be well spent researching.

Well, Simeon had both good news and bad news for Mary and Joseph. Last week we looked at what he says in verses 30 through 32, 29 through 32, where he is exultant over this Christ child that he has seen in the temple.

But Simeon's good news is somewhat subdued by the bad news which is to come, and the bad news is addressed to Mary, and you read it there. This child is appointed for the rise and fall of many in Israel.

A sword will pierce your own soul. That's the bad news for Mary, verse 25, to the end that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And last week we looked at that happy, joy-filled, exultant exclamation that Simeon gives as he held the Christ child in his arms.

This is on the account of Mary and Joseph coming into the temple to fulfill in… for concerning Christ all the things contained in the law, to name Him there, to present Him there, to offer a sacrifice and fulfill everything that was required of them, having now had a firstborn child.

And they meet this devout, obedient, faithful, expectant, messianic Jew who is there waiting to see the consolation of Israel, waiting to see the Messiah because he had been promised by the Lord that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ.

So Simeon, led by the Spirit of God into the temple that day, saw the Christ child, held the Christ child in his arms, and he was exultant when he says, my eyes have seen your salvation. Prepared in the presence of all the peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, the glory of your people Israel.

This was the hope, the fulfillment, the expectation of everything that as a Jewish man he was hoping to see in his own lifetime, and he got to see it. Now he knows that as God's bondservant, he can depart in peace.

His eyes have seen what God had promised him he would eventually see, and now having seen that, he knows that he can die peacefully. He has seen the Lord's salvation. This brings us to verse 33, now having said what he said to the Lord, that's verses 29 through 32, that was addressed to the Father.

This is the words of the Spirit of God that are on Simeon's tongue. So as he beholds the second person of the Trinity incarnate, he speaks by inspiration as it were of the third person of the Trinity, describing the second person of the Trinity to the first person of the Trinity.

So this is a very joy-filled exultation that he has in verses 29 to 32. Then he turns to Mary and Joseph, and we pick it up now in verse 33, his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about him.

That is, being said about the Christ child. Now I wonder that, and I say, how is it that they could be amazed at this? It kind of amazes me that they were amazed. Now you might say, well, why would it amaze you that they were amazed?

This is truly an amazing statement. He has declared that this is the Messiah, this is the salvation, the light of revelation to the Gentiles, the glory of Israel, the hope and consolation. It's right here in this Christ child.

How is it that they could be amazed that, Jim, why would you be amazed that they would be amazed at this statement? And I would say to you, given the track record of the last 12 months in this couple's life, is it really all that odd to run into a Jewish man in the temple who makes a few statements like this?

Joseph had seen an angel who appeared to him. Mary had an angel appear to her. Mary's cousin Elizabeth had an angel appear to her. Elizabeth conceived in her old age, which though not a miracle, was quite rare because she had been barren up to that point.

And then Elizabeth's husband Zacharias was struck mute and was not able to speak until John was born. And then he spoke and named John. Before that, when Mary walked into Elizabeth's presence, when Elizabeth was six months, remember Mary spoke and the baby leapt in Elizabeth's womb at that point.

And then on the night that the Lord Jesus was born, the angel appeared and spoke to the shepherds, and then all of the angels appeared and sang to the shepherds. And then the shepherds went in to Joseph and Mary and told them what they had seen out in the field when they had watched that.

That's the last 12 months. It's miraculous, supernatural encounter after miraculous, supernatural encounter. You would think that the awe factor would wear off after a bit. And now running into a Jewish man in the temple that they would just think, yep, yep, you're just telling us something we already knew.

Didn't Joseph and Mary already know that? How could they be amazed at this? Of all the things that have happened that we would consider remarkable for the last 12 months, this would have to be the most unremarkable of all of the remarkable things.

Would it not? Now what amazed them? Because verse 33 says his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about him. See, it wasn't amazing to them that they would see this Jewish man in the temple.

What was amazing to them was not that the Holy Spirit might providentially guide this man's steps. What amazed them was what was being said about the Christ child. What is it that was being said that would amaze them?

I'm not the first person to ask that question. In fact, one commentary that I have suggested that Luke's inclusion of that detail is evidence that he was borrowing from a source who really didn't know much about the story, and he just included it in here and forgot to edit that out, which is just bonkers.

That's nonsense. Bonkers is a theological term that I use when I'm going through quite a few of my commentaries from time to time. So what amazed them? I would suggest there's a couple of different possibilities here.

First, it is possible that what Luke includes for us in verses 29 through 32 is not the full extended account of everything Simeon said, that this is sort of a condensed interaction, as it were, between Simeon and Mary.

We have that often in the Gospels. We don't have every word that was ever…we don't have every word recorded that was ever.

Said.

The Gospel writers did sort of telescope down sometimes or condense down into smaller sections, extended discussions. And that's what I think we could have here. So it might be that there was a lot of things that Simeon said and that this is just sort of a brief outline, an explanation of it, and that that was amazing to them.

I would suggest to you that maybe what amazed Joseph and Mary was the statement that he would be a light of revelation to the Gentiles. You see, of all the things that they have heard concerning their child up until this point, this is new information.

That he would save his people from their sins, they had been told that. That he is the hope and consolation of Israel, they could have expected that. That this was a supernatural conception conceived by the Holy Spirit, they would have understood.

That.

But this piece of information is new. The angels didn't sing anything about this. The shepherds didn't say anything about this. The angel appearing to Joseph or Mary from what is recorded, they didn't say anything about this.

But now this man comes in and says, this child is not just the consolation of Israel, he's a light of revelation to the Gentiles. Through him, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. That's a new piece of information.

Now they should have expected that that's what the Messiah would do. They should have expected that if this was the child who was to fulfill the word promised to Abraham, that he would bless all the nations, and that blessing obviously would come by way of salvation to them, revelation to them.

They should have expected that. But I think it might be that statement that suddenly this child is not just the hope and consolation of Israel, but this is going to be a light of revelation to the Gentiles.

Now everybody is going to be included. This child is not just going to save his people from their sins who are Jewish people. This child is going to save his people from their sins who are Gentile people as well.

That's a new piece of information. Maybe that is what amazed them so much. Notice that in verse 34 that these words then, as Simeon blesses Joseph and Mary, and by the way, the blessing here is probably a word of benediction, some word of a positive encouragement to them, a blessing issued upon them and upon their family in the temple.

It wouldn't have been uncommon to see that. So you have this elderly, older Jewish man who is now providing a blessing to this couple as they are obviously commissioned with raising the Christ child. So that's verse 34.

He blessed them. And then he said to Mary, his mother, and notice that Joseph is not included in that. They together are there. They together are amazed. But what Simeon is about to say is directed to Mary specifically, suggesting that by the time that this would come true, that a sword would pierce even her own soul, that Joseph would be out of the picture.

He's addressing Mary specifically because beginning in chapter 2, I should say later on in chapter 2, verse 41, when Joseph and Mary appear in Jerusalem with Jesus there and Jesus is 12 years old, that's the last reference to Joseph in all of the Gospels.

We have no record at all from history or from the Gospels or from anywhere in the New Testament that Joseph was with Jesus and with that family any time after Jesus was 12 years old. So we can speculate that by the time that this happens, that a sword would pierce Mary's soul, that Joseph himself would not have been around to see that, probably because he died some point before Jesus started his public ministry.

So he says in verse 34, after blessing them, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed, and a sword will pierce even your own soul. That piercing of her soul by a sword, it's obviously a metaphor, it's a figure of speech that's described there, but it is going to result from him being opposed.

This child is appointed as a sign to be opposed, and that opposition really is the key to the rest of the passage. It results in two things, first, a sorrow for Mary, and then second, a sifting for all.

Men.

And we'll deal with it in that order. Even though he mentions the sifting of all men first, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed, you'll notice that parenthetical statement, and a sword will pierce even your own soul, that's in parentheses, as it were, to the end that the thoughts of every heart may be revealed.

So he's addressing something that's going to be true of Mary, but the first and the last part of those two verses, they really go together. He is a sign to be opposed. This is going to be for the rise and the fall of many in Israel to the end that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

So we'll deal first of all with Mary's sorrow that's going to result from this. We do not have to reflect long and hard about what it was that would have been the piercing of Mary's own soul concerning the destiny of this Christ child.

The public humiliation, the national rejection, the scandalous shame that would have accompanied the life of the Lord Jesus Christ was enough to pierce Mary's soul. The salvation that Simeon describes, if you notice it in verse 30, my eyes have seen your salvation.

That salvation would be purchased and would come through an event, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, which would pierce Mary's soul. And that is what Simeon has in mind. This is the good news, bad news.

The good news, he's the salvation of all your people. The bad news, that's going to happen through something that is so tragic, it would crush Mary's soul. It would pierce her own soul. She would suffer in her affections because of her affection and her love for Christ.

She would suffer as well. Now, let me be clear. Mary's suffering is in no way at all salvific or redemptive. This is just, we're not Roman Catholics here, we're not saying that Mary suffered and in some way her suffering helped pay the cost of our sin or merited some salvation for herself or from other people.

That's not what we're describing. We are describing something here that every parent would understand, that if you had to see your child endure that, you understand exactly what you would have to. If you've ever lost a child, imagine losing it in the most horrific and excruciating way.

Possible.

It's not just death, it's death on a cross. Millions of people have lost children, but to lose through a death on the cross and to not understand fully until it was all accomplished, what exactly is intended there and what is accomplished there, that would have been just grief to Mary.

Some have suggested that this statement that a sword will pierce even your own soul is Simeon's prophecy that Mary would be martyred. Some have suggested that Mary was martyred. There's nothing in history, there's nothing in Scripture that says that Mary suffered.

Martyrdom.

There's no record in the New Testament of Mary after the day of Pentecost. In Acts 1 and Acts 2, she is there with those people gathered in the upper room and after that there's no mention of Mary. She disappears from the scene and from history there's no record she was martyred, there's no record of how she died at all or where she lived.

It's believed and speculated by some that she eventually landed in the church at Ephesus and that Timothy was her pastor and then later John the Apostle was the pastor in Ephesus because you remember that Jesus committed to Mary, or sorry, to John the care of his mother Mary.

Well, John later went on to be exiled to Patmos, but before that he was pastoring in the church at Ephesus according to church history. So some have speculated that she died in Ephesus and of course if you wander around the Middle East long enough, you'll find all kinds of places where Mary lived and her house was there and she ate a breakfast here and of course she washed her clothes over here and.

All of that nonsense.

It's easy to find all of the relics built up to Mary, but we just have no record that she was ever martyred. It seems most natural simply to understand this as a statement of the grief that she was going to expect in watching the death of her son, and she was there for that.

I think this is a very gracious thing that the Lord does through Simeon in preparing Mary for what was to come. This little piece of information here that your own soul will be pierced, you're going to be crushed by what happens to this son.

Yes, he is light and revelation and glory and salvation, but all of that would come at a great cost and it is gracious of the Lord to bring Mary into that at this early stage and even though it wouldn't happen for decades to come, at least three decades.

The fact that she is warned of this is something of a gracious thing for the Lord to do simply because later on as this child would develop and he would grow in favor with God and man, and eventually the opposition would come, eventually he would start his public ministry, eventually he would be opposed and spoken against, and eventually she would see him die on a cross.

I can only imagine, I can't say this because Scripture doesn't say this, but I can only imagine that Mary's thoughts would have gone back to this warning time and time again. Yeah, I was warned about this.

He is appointed as a sign to be opposed. And so even when watching him die and suffer on the cross, this is something that Mary had at least information that was going to come. Some sort of pain, sorrow was going to come to her own soul.

Remember, for three years she would have seen him opposed, and this is something to keep in mind. It wasn't just the crucifixion that would have been a source of great grief to Mary. For three years she saw him opposed.

He was rejected by the religious establishment of his day, all of the religious leaders, all of the political leaders. His own family members doubted him. His brothers thought he was crazy. At one point they accused him of being out of his mind.

They didn't believe that he was the Messiah or that he was anything special until after the resurrection. Controversy surrounded him for his entire ministry, and for most of the three years of his public ministry he was hated and hunted and hounded by the religious leaders of the nation of Israel as the worst kept secret in all of the nation was the fact that the Pharisees wanted him dead.

They plotted and planned his murder for years before they ever actually murdered him. Mary had to have been aware of all of that since everybody in Israel was aware of the fact that the Pharisees hated him because he called them out publicly.

The worst anguish she would experience would come in the events surrounding the crucifixion. His disciples would abandon him. His best friend would deny him, and all of his followers would go into hiding.

His public trial would consist of him being humiliated and scandalized and falsely accused. He would be publicly hung on a cross on the busiest day of the calendar year along the busiest street coming into the busiest city in all of Jerusalem.

He would be hung there naked and made a public spectacle for all the people walking by. They all would have seen it. And then he would have been rushed off of the cross and put without any kind of burial ceremony, without any kind of dignity at all, he would be put into a borrowed grave.

All of that was tremendously humiliating for the entire family, and Mary would have been a witness to all of it. A sword will pierce even your own soul.

Yeah, good news.

Good news.

He is salvation and revelation and the glory of your people Israel. But in hindsight, we understand exactly what that cost, not just the Lord Jesus Christ, but what Mary would have suffered in the anguish that she was warned of.

The Fall and Rise of Many in Israel

Now let's look at the sifting or the sorting that would come to men as a result of this. Simeon told Mary not only what awaited her, but what the birth of this child would mean for all men and women. Behold, this child is appointed for the rise and fall, or the fall and rise of many in Israel, a sign to be opposed to the end that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

The word appointed here is referring to two things. He is appointed for the rise and fall of many, or the fall and rise of many, and he is appointed as a sign to be opposed, his opposition. And the result of both of those things is that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

The word appointed there is a word that means to put in place or to lay down or to lay aside. It was used of laying an ax to the root of the trees. It was used of the grave clothes which were laid in a certain spot inside the tomb on resurrection morning.

It just simply means to put something someplace with an intention to lay it somewhere or to set it somewhere. So used in a context like this to describe this child, it would simply mean that by God's providence, by His sovereignty, this child was appointed or set into this place and into this time for this purpose.

He is set as a sign to be opposed and He is set for the rise and the fall of many in Israel. This is what God has put Him there for. He is appointed for this. He is set there for this purpose.

Two of them.

First, the fall and rise of many. These are two opposite destinies, two opposite things would happen as a result of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Men would be sifted or sorted, as it were, and divided into these two categories, those who have fallen and those who rise.

The word fall there is only used twice in the New Testament. It's interesting. It doesn't just describe, you know, like the tripping. You trip and you fall. Or somebody said to me today that they fell on the way into the church today on the icy parking lot.

It's not that kind of falling. In other words, it's not the kind of falling where you fall down, you get up, and you come.

On in.

This word means a destruction, a complete and utter ruin. It's only used twice in the New Testament, once here, and it's used in Matthew chapter 7 where Jesus is giving the parable of the story about the two men, one who built a house on the rock and one who built a house on the sand, and the one who built the house on the sand, the winds came and the rain, I was going to say the rain blew, I almost said that, the rain came and the winds blew, and then that house fell and Jesus said, great was its fall.

That's the word, fall. Great was its destruction or its ruin. In other words, it is ruined by the fall, the falling ruins this. This is utter and complete and final destruction that is being described here.

He is appointed for the final destruction of many in Israel, and he is appointed for the rise of many in Israel. That word rise is the word for resurrection, and it is used consistently in the New Testament in that way of literal physical resurrection.

It's used of the resurrection of Jesus on the third day. It's also used of the, generally speaking, of the doctrine of resurrection, the resurrection.

Of the dead.

It's also used to describe the resurrection at the end of time, both of the righteous and the wicked. So it seems to be in view here of the fall and rise is not just a temporal salvation, but it is an ultimate and eschatological salvation that is in view.

He is looking forward in time and saying that this child is going to sort all men into two categories. In the one hand, you will have those who are destroyed because of what they do with this.

Child.

And on the other hand, you will have those who rise again on the last day because of what they do with this child. In other words, the destiny of all men hinges upon what they do with this child. He is established and appointed as the one who will determine whether men are finally ruined because of their rejection of Him or whether men finally rise because of their embrace of Him.

And He does both of these. If He is the Savior of men, then men rise because of Him. And if He is the Judge of men, then men are ruined and destroyed and suffer eternal loss because of Him. So it is an eschatological concept that is in view.

It's final salvation and final ruin. The destiny of all men hinges upon Him. There's only two options. You either fall, you're destroyed, or you rise again and receive eternal blessing and.

Delight.

There's no third option. There are only two. And the same Christ who is salvation to some is a judge for others. This is what the prophecy said, Isaiah chapter 8, verses 14 and 15, describe the Messiah as a sanctuary and a stone over which men stumble.

These two things. Listen to this, Isaiah 8, then He shall become a sanctuary, but to both the houses of Israel a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Many will stumble over them, then they will fall and be broken. They will even be snared and caught. And Peter quotes this passage in 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 7 and 8, this precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom they were also appointed.

You see, the same Christ who is savior to some is the judge of others. And there is no third option. He is the saver of life to life, or He is the reeking scent of death to death. And all men because of His birth and because of what He has done are divided into one of those two categories.

And so to receive Him is to receive all of the blessings of eternal life and salvation, all of the joys and delights that He has secured on behalf of those for whom He has died. And to reject Him is not to simply suffer some harm, it is to suffer ultimate loss and ultimate and final and eternal ruin and complete destruction.

Those are the two categories into which all of humanity falls. And there is no third alternative. There is no option of indecision with Him because simply put, He doesn't leave open the option of indecision.

Since it is true that He demands repentance and He demands faith and obedience and fealty to His commands and to His truth, since He demands that men divorce themselves, men and women, divorce themselves from their sin and turn and embrace Him entirely by faith and faith alone, since that is His demand, there is no such thing as an indecision.

You can't stand back and listen to the claims of Christ and hear the proclamation of the gospel and then say to yourself, I will make a decision later. No, that's not making a decision later, that's making a decision now.

That is to decide that I can deny Him and disobey His demand that I repent now, and I can repent later. It is to deny Him. It is to choose against Him. It is to choose instead to take one more step toward eternal ruin.

Jesus Christ has been set in history, set in God's redemptive plan and established in this world. He has been put here for this purpose, for the saving of some and the judging of others. And all men fall into one of those two categories.

He is the rock under which men will seek refuge, or He is the rock under which men will be ground to powder. He is the stone under which people will seek shelter, or He is the stone over which men will trip and fall to their eternal destruction.

There's no third option. He is the Savior to some and a judge to others, either a sanctuary or a snare. And you'll find in Him either healing for your soul, or you will find in Him, ultimately, because you reject Him, your soul's utter and complete and total ruin.

And the preaching of the gospel sorts men into these two categories all of the time. Every time a group of people like this or any other group of people hears the gospel proclaimed, anytime anybody hears the truth of the gospel, the gospel is accomplishing something.

Nobody walks away from hearing the gospel unchanged. Because if you reject the preaching of the gospel, then you are hardening your heart and your heart is being hardened, and you are pushed closer and closer to destruction, or your heart is being softened by the gospel to the point where you will eventually embrace.

It.

But the gospel is always accomplishing one of those two purposes, either softening the heart so that that person may come to an understanding of the truth and be saved, or it is hardening the heart and serving the purpose in God's eternal plan of simply announcing to that individual the judgment that they most certainly face for their rejection.

But the gospel always sorts men and women into those two categories. Jesus Himself said that the Father doesn't judge anybody, but He has committed all judgment to the Son so that everybody will honor the Son even as they honor the Father.

And he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. So it is not the Father who is going to be judging on the final day. All men are going to stand before this One who has openly embraced and offered salvation to all of the world on His terms on that final day.

They'll all stand before Him and be judged. This Christ was appointed for the rise and the fall of many, second, as a sign to be.

Opposed.

He is a sign to be opposed. A sign is something that signifies something else or points to something else. Jesus referred to Himself as a sign. He called Himself the sign of the Son of Man. There is something about Christ that points to a lot of things that are true about God's nature and God's truth.

He is a sign in many ways. He is a sign or a symbol of God's coming kingdom. He is a sign pointing to a future judgment. He is a sign of the Father's love, of God's grace, of the new covenant, of fulfilled promises, of blessing and resurrection, eternal life, peace with God, joy, eternal judgment, damnation, the wrath of God.

Jesus points to all of those things. Since we see in Jesus Christ the fullness of God in bodily form, He is a symbol or a sign pointing to realities that He is part of, namely, the eternal destiny of all men.

And He is opposed. That word opposed means to speak against or to rail against or to speak in opposition to something. He was opposed when He walked this earth and He is opposed today. During His lifetime, there is nobody who has ever lived a life and received more verbal abuse and been spoken against more in their own life than Jesus Christ was.

In His own lifetime, He was called a wine-bibber and a glutton. He was disparaged as a friend of sinners and a tax collector. He was spoken against by all of the people of His day, the religious leaders and the political leaders of His day, who charged His disciples with being uneducated and illiterate.

And that was intended as a slander against Jesus because a student, when he is fully trained will be just like His what?

Teacher.

Well, if you say to the student, you're untrained, you're illiterate, what are you saying about the teacher? You're saying something about Him. So a slander against His disciples was a slander against Christ.

Even for His gracious deeds, His miracles were blasphemed. When He healed somebody on the Sabbath, they accused Him of being a lawbreaker with the intention of trying to use that as an excuse to kill Him and tried to stone Him for it.

When He cast demons out of people, they said that He was doing that by the power of Beelzebub, suggesting that He did all of His deeds by the power of the devil, and therefore He was indwelt by Satan and He was Satan's servant.

They questioned His legitimacy, suggesting that He was born of fornication. That was what was behind the Pharisees' remark when they said, hey, we weren't born of fornication. The implication being, you were.

Because the reality of His virgin birth was well known. So they tried to slander Him as being a bastard child since His mother was not married when He was born. Some suggested He was out of His mind, as I mentioned earlier.

Even His own family members thought He was a lunatic. They rejected His messianic claims and accused Him of being a liar and leading people astray, being a false teacher. And even while He hung the cross, by the people who walked by Him, they hurled abuses at Him and slandered Him and reviled Him.