Jesus posed a decisive question to his contemporaries: Either he was acting with divine authority, or else he was an imposter, a blasphemer, and a violator of the Law and who had to be called to account. [574-576]
In many respects, Jesus was an unprecedented challenge to the traditional Judaism of his time. He forgave sins, which God alone can do; he acted as though the Sabbath law were not absolute; he was suspected of blasphemy and brought upon himself the accusation that he was a false prophet. All these were crimes punishable under the Law by death.
