You will be hated by all because of my name

From the Acts of the Apostles, we know that with Jesus' return to the Father, the believers start to experience the persecution that Jesus predicts in the Gospel reading.

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Matthew's Christian community, believed to be living in Syria, would come in conflict with the Roman authorities there, as they would not join in public worship of the deified emperor and of pagan divinities. They would also be in conflict with the Jewish authorities, as can be deduced from Jesus' conflict with the scribes and the Pharisees in chapter 23 of Matthew's Gospel.