CCC 591

Jesus asked the religious authorities of Jerusalem to believe in him because of the Father's works which he accomplished.³⁷³ Jn 10:36-38. But such an act of faith must go through a mysterious death to self, for a new "birth from above" under the influence of divine grace.³⁷⁴ Cf. Jn 3:7; 6:44. Such a demand for conversion in the face of so surprising a fulfilment of the promises³⁷⁵ Cf. Is 53:1. allows one to understand the Sanhedrin's tragic misunderstanding of Jesus: they judged that he deserved the death sentence as a blasphemer.³⁷⁶ Cf. Mk 3:6; Mt 26:64-66. The members of the Sanhedrin were thus acting at the same time out of "ignorance" and the "hardness" of their "unbelief".³⁷⁷ Cf. Lk 23 34; Acts 3: 17-18; Mk 3:5; Rom 11:25, 20.