The Jewish rulers did not love God; therefore they cut themselves away from Him, and rejected all His overtures for a just settlement. Christ, the Beloved of God, came to assert the claims of the Owner of the vineyard; but the husbandmen treated Him with marked contempt, saying, We will not have this man to rule over us. They envied Christ's beauty of character. His manner of teaching was far superior to theirs, and they dreaded His success. He remonstrated with them, unveiling their hypocrisy, and showing them the sure results of their course of action. This stirred them to madness. They smarted under the rebukes they could not silence. They hated the high 294 standard of righteousness which Christ continually presented. They saw that His teaching was placing them where their selfishness would be uncloaked, and they determined to kill Him. They hated His example of truthfulness and piety and the elevated spirituality revealed in all He did. His whole life was a reproof to their selfishness, and when the final test came, the test which meant obedience unto eternal life or disobedience unto eternal death, they rejected the Holy One of Israel. When they were asked to choose between Christ and Barabbas, they cried out, "Release unto us Barabbas!" Luke 23:18. And when Pilate asked, "What shall I do then with Jesus?" they cried fiercely, "Let Him be crucified." Matt. 27:22. "Shall I crucify your King?" Pilate asked, and from the priests and rulers came the answer, "We have no king but Caesar." John 19:15. When Pilate washed his hands, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person," the priests joined with the ignorant mob in declaring passionately, "His blood be on us, and on our children." Matt. 27:24, 25.

De jødiske rådsherrer elskede ikke Gud, derfor ville de ikke have noget med ham at gøre og afslog alle tilbud om en retfærdig afgørelse. Kristus, Guds elskede Søn, kom for at gøre vingårdens ejers ret gældende, men vingårdsmændene behandlede ham med åbenbar foragt og sagde: "Vi vil ikke have denne mand til at herske over os." De misundte Kristus for hans smukke karakter Hans undervisningsmetode stod langt over deres, og de var bange for den fremgang, han havde. Han gik i rette med dem, afslørede deres hykleri og viste dem, hvad der ville blive følgen af deres fremgangsmåde. Dette gjorde dem rasende. De følte sig krænket over de irettesættelser som de ikke kunne bringe til tavshed. De hadede den retfærdighed, som Kristus altid satte som målet her i livet. De indså, at hans undervisning havde til følge, at deres egenkærlighed ville blive afsløret, og de besluttede sig til at dræbe ham. De hadede hans mønsterværdige sandhedskærlighed og fromhed og ædelmodige sindelag, som åbenbaredes i alt, hvad han foretog sig. Hele hans liv var en irettesættelse af deres egenkærlighed, og da den sidste prøve kom, den prøve, som betød lydighed til evigt liv eller ulydighed til evig død, forkastede de Israels Hellige. Da de blev bedt om at vælge mellem Kristus og Barabbas, råbte de: "Lad os få Barabbas løsladt!" Og da Pilatus spurgte: "Hvad skal jeg da gøre med Jesus?" råbte de vredt: "Lad ham blive korsfæstet!" "Skal jeg korsfæste jeres konge?" spurgte Pilatus, og præsterne og rådsherrerne svarede: "Vi har ingen anden konge end kejseren." Da Pilatus vaskede sine hænder og sagde: "Jeg er uskyldig i dennes blod," forenede præsterne sig med den uvidende pøbel hob og erklærede opbragt: "Hans blod komme over os og vore børn!"