Jesus Almost Stoned

Gospel JN 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.
Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father.
For which of these are you trying to stone me?”
The Jews answered him,
“We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.
You, a man, are making yourself God.”
Jesus answered them,
“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘? 
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside,
can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 
If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Then they tried again to arrest him;
but he escaped from their power.

He went back across the Jordan
to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. 
Many came to him and said,
“John performed no sign,
but everything John said about this man was true.”
And many there began to believe in him.

Imagine that.  The Jews were ready to stone Jesus.  Many rejected his message.  Many rejected his miracles.  Many rejected everything about him.  Jesus wasn't just an outspoken religious zealot but he threatened their very way of life - the religious rituals. traditions and dogma that they had come to know and cherish.  Jesus had to be dealt with - severely.  Eventually, the animosity would lead to His crucifixion and ultimate rejection.  Can I judge the Jews so harshly when I myself have had moments when I rejected Jesus and everything about him?  I can't in good conscience.  This part of the Lenten journey is when I understand that I am  responsible for Jesus humiliating death on the cross.  It is the direct result of all those times when I rejected Jesus.  And yet Jesus always welcomes me back into His loving arms.