"Jesus rejected the temptation for spectacular display. He preferred the messianic secret. Throughout his ministry, he was slow to disclose his identity. He spoke in riddles and parables. Those he miraculously healed he forbade to speak. This was no arrogant, horn-blowing Messiah. This was no magician performing special signs so the crowds could clap. HIs life itself was the sign. Care for the lost, compassion for the poor, love for all. These were messianic signs.
The new heroes were the throwaways of institutional religion. They were repentant sinners and publicans, the tax collectors and harlots. And what of the old heroes, the scribes and priests, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the guardians of the old sacred way? They now were the villains, dethroned, brought low. No wonder they killed him."
(Donald Kraybill, The Upside Down Kingdom, p.72)
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