The Widespread Bad Will & Unbelief At The Time Of Our Lord

“We see from the context in the three Evangelists that the people’s unbelief in our Lord’s previous lessons and miracles had manifested itself in the saddest manner.  According to St. Matthew and St. Mark, the leaders of the people in the case of the man with the withered hand had set a trap for Jesus ‘that they might accuse Him’ (Mt. 12:10; Mk. 3:2).  They made a consultation against Him, ‘how they might destroy Him’ (Mt. 12:14; Mk. 3:6).  When He healed the man who was blind and dumb and possessed with a devil, they said: ‘This man casts out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils’ (Mt. 12:24; Mk. 3:22) and they also said: ‘He has an unclean spirit’ (Mk. 3:30).  After He had worked countless miracles before them, they wanted a sign from Him (Mt. 12:38).

     Furthermore, from our Lord’s lament over the want of faith in Israel (Luke 7:9); over the impenitence of the cities in the neighborhood of the Sea of Galilee (Mt. 11:20-24); over the wicked generation which on the day of Judgment shall be condemned by the people of Niniveh and the Queen of Sheba for their unbelief (Mt. 12:40-45) – the generation which said of the Son of Man: ‘Behold a man that is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners’ (Luke 7:34) – from these lamentations, we see that not only the leaders, but a great part of the people also remained unbelievers. 

     Even His ‘[family]… went out to lay hold of Him.  For they said: He is become mad’ (Mark 3:21)… Thus it became more and more clearly manifest that the people of Israel were unworthy of their eternal destiny as God’s chosen people.  They had brought upon themselves the sentence of reprobation pronounced against them by the justice of their offended God.  Therefore, only to a few chosen witnesses from amongst them should the decrees of the eternal Wisdom and Love regarding the new kingdom of God amongst men be made known.  Not through the people as a nation, but only by means of these chosen instruments was the realization of those eternal decrees to be accomplished.” (Leopold Fonck, S.J., The Parables Of Christ, 1918, pp. 34-35).