They Received the Word with Joy

When we studied Acts, we observed that the apostles always went first to the synagogues.  Sometimes the people would just eat up everything the apostles preached.  Other times the people listening got all hacked off and decided that murdering the preacher was a good plan.

When Jesus sent out the seventy, He told them to go preach.  He warned them that in some towns they would not be received. 

Jesus said on several occasions that the Old Testament Scriptures were about Him.  They testified of Him.  They told what the Messiah would do.  And yet, somehow, the Jewish leaders of His day didn't want that.  They had a different concept of what the Messiah would be ... and it certainly included some pats on the back for them and their self-made holiness.

It makes me wonder if the response to the preachers might have been indicative of the faith beforehand.  Yes, I know that the preaching could and did soften hearts.  I know that the preaching of the Gospel created faith where there was no fear, love, and trust in God before.  But do we also see people in the Bible who were firmly committed to a [false] faith in how good/nice/helpful/obedient they were?  If Jesus or an apostle came and had no regard for their self-made goodness, people would be ticked.  On the other hand, Jews who already believed in the promise of the Gospel shown forth in the Old Testament, the ones who trusted that the Messiah would save them, those folks would receive the apostles' Word with joy.