The political, social and religious situation of Palestine during the 1st century AD The situation in Palestine at the time Jesus began his teaching was very unstable and "ready for trouble." This was mainly due to the Roman invasion and the fact that they still occupied the territory. This meant that distinctly different groups of people formed, who had different beliefs and attitudes towards each other. Overall, there were five different groups of people, who had differences between each other. I will explain the five groups and expose their beliefs and attitudes that led to the problems. The first group is the Romans. They had conquered many lands before the region of Palestine (now part of Israel). When the invaders to conquer the land did it by force, their army was very important to them, so they were proud of it and therefore it became very powerful. When they conquered a place you really had to surrender because they were so powerful, but when people surrendered to the Romans their rules were pretty fair. They had their religion and they let you have yours. They built roads and cities, established law and order, and generally kept the peace. While the Jews may have submitted to Roman rule on the surface, deep down they never surrendered. They really hated the Romans because of their religion, the fact that they had to pay tax to the Romans, and probably the main reason: they were taking over and occupying their country. The Jewish people who showed their hatred and often tried to rebel against the Romans are the second group called Zealots. The Zealots were Jews who wanted to get rid of the Romans, by...... means of paper...... Many hated the Romans and constantly tried to attack them, because their land was being stolen from them and they could not worship properly. The Romans wanted to take power peacefully, collect money from the people of the country and have everyone obey them, which made everyone hate them. Finally, the people who just wanted to have a more comfortable life, all they wanted was the Messiah that God had promised them. I think ordinary people would have detested the Temple to some extent because it cost them money and before the advent of Jesus brought no benefit. The implications of each group's feelings meant that eventually, sooner rather than later, something would happen. Overall, I think Jesus would have been loved, and seen as the one saving them, or hated, and all people's bad feelings would have been poured out on him..