He was indeed _rejected_; that fact stands out as painfully here as in
the others. He was rejected by the little inner clique that held the
national reins, and held them with fevered tenacity, and drove hard. And
the reason for it is made to stand out as plainly as the fact. The envy
and jealousy, the intense bitterness and viciousness and devilish
obstinacy back of the rejection stand as boldly out to all eyes as to
Pilate's.

But the other side stands out sharply too. Jesus was _accepted_. He was
accepted by all classes, by the cultured, and the scholarly, by
thoughtful studious leaders and officials of the nation. He was accepted
by the great middle classes and by those in lowest scale socially, and
by the moral outcasts. Intense Hebrews, Roman officials of high rank,
half-breed Samaritans, and men of outside nations group themselves
together by their full acceptance of Jesus.

He was listened to, doubted, questioned, discussed, thought over, _and
then accepted._ And He was accepted with a faith and with a love that
counted not suffering nor sacrifice for the sake of Him whom they
believed and trusted and loved. John makes this clear, rejected _and_
accepted.

Jesus divided the crowds. Down the road He comes, with quiet strength,
witnessing to the great simple truth of the Father's pure strong wooing
love. And the crowd looks and listens and--_divides_. Some reject;
clearly they are a minority, but entrenched in a position of power that
proves quite sufficient for their purpose. Though it took all the power
at their command to carry out their purpose.