In the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, Paul's sermon mentions that Jesus was innocent, but yet was rejected and Pilate was asked to execute Him. We examine many scriptures which state that Jesus' rejection was part of God's purpose. The Greek word dei is often used in Luke/Acts to denote the necessity of God's purpose being fulfilled. We discuss Luke 9:22 which explicitly says that it was necessary (dei translated "must" in the NASB) that Jesus be rejected: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” This leads to the issue of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Those who rejected Christ did exactly what they wanted to do. Yet God ordained that Messiah would be rejected in this way. Various other verses that state the same thing are discussed in class. Luke 17:25 says that Jesus must "suffer many things and be rejected by this generation." The rejection of Messiah by His own people was part of how God sent the gospel to the Gentiles and made the church the "one new man" of Ephesians 2:15.

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